#but i'm so impressed by kaiju no 8 that i had to
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Why Kafka Hibino & Vice Captain Hoshina's dynamic gives me life [Kaiju No. 8]
I cherish these characters so damn much that I just had to express my love for their dynamic. So... um, here we go...
Spoiler warning- i'm all caught up with Kaiju No. 8, so this analysis expands to some of the most recent chapters. Also, before I begin, lemme just say, if you haven't read Kaiju No. 8, READ IT. It'll blow your mind.
First and foremost, It was Hoshina who pushed for Kafka to be a general officer. "He has faith in you."
Next, here comes Kafka, willing to risk everything and exploit his identity, all to save his vice captain. He didn't have to in the end, thanks to Ashiro, but not soon after, Kafka did have to reveal his identity to save the division. DESPITE, Hoshina's initial suspicions, his own weariness never stopped him from liking Kafka. He even ignored all the warning signs in favor of believing in him. If you look at the bottom right panel here, as Ashiro is aiming her gun at Kafka, Hoshina won't even look. He's the only one who isn't aiming at Kaiju No. 8, and that says a lot.
Now, in this first snapshot here, we've got our boy, Kafka, doubting his own abilities. We can't blame him, especially when he's only considered a Kaiju with most of everyone in the first division. Without Kaiji No. 8, believe it or not, our boy Kafka doesn't harbor the physical skills or the extra power to take on other Kaiju. "I'm not the one who's needed around here. It's kaiju No. 8." OH??? BUT WAIT. Check out that next snapshot. Hoshina thanks him for saving everyone the day Kafka revealed himself, and he's not thanking Kaiju No. 8. NO, he's thanking KAFKA himself and thoroughly contradicting Kafka's own beliefs about himself.
NOW. THIS SCENE. THIS SCENE!!!!! This whole chapter was beautifully crafted. Kafka says in the last snapshot, "he's always been the kindest person around." After realizing that the more Kafka transforms into Kaiju No.8, the less human - and the more kaiju he becomes, Hoshina is willing to give it his all to defeat Kaiju No. 9 in his stead so that Kafka doesn't have to risk losing his humanity. TALK ABOUT A FANTASTIC BROMANCE- sorry, I live for this kind of stuff.
NEXT
SO, okay, we knew Kafka wasn't just going to let Hoshina fight Kaiju No. 9 while Kafka kicks back and takes things at his own pace. OF COURSE NOT. So, what does Hoshina decide to do??? He decides to train Kafka. Why? So that way, even though Kafka will still transform into Kaiju No. 8, he won't have to rely on the Kaiju in him as much if he can actually kick physical ass in his human form; therefore, Kafka can continue to fight whilst staving off the effects of losing his humanity.
Also, another example of Hoshina baiting Kafka- the two snapshots above ^ he knows that it's Kafka's goal to stand beside Ashiro, yet, that doesn't stop him from building upon that goal. He just pushes and inspires Kafka to strive for it all the more.
SKIRRRRT to Kafka fighting Hoshina. Near the end, after Hoshina is beating the shit outta him, Kafka begins to doubt himself once more, claiming that he can't do anything worthwhile without transforming into a Kaiju, but we've got Hoshina over here (and i swear, it always feels like Hoshina can read Kafka's mind. He reads him like a book), and he pulls the best damn face and says, "Kafka, you've gotten stronger." :,)
Who is Kafka's number one fan? IT'S HOSHINA!
#ik i don't ever write stuff up like this#but i'm so impressed by kaiju no 8 that i had to#kaiju no. 8#kafka hibino#hibino kafka#soshiro hoshina#hoshina soshiro#manga
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Last-minute panics to do a task is real; it's a constant habit of mine and something you should, on a general note, never, ever, ever, EVER do.
I am, of course, talking about buying up any of the 3DS games I wanted before the eshop closes (as of this writing, tomorrow.) So the last two or so weeks have been a mad dash as I tried to fill my l'il handheld with whatever game that piques my interest. I can only hope I'll enjoy them!
So in fashionable alphabetical order, they are... under the "Keep Reading."
Attack of the Friday Monster! A Tokyo Tale: Just the sound of exploring everyday mundane life in a small-time quiet, rural Japanese town was enough to draw me in. The Kaiju battles that happens every Friday was just incidental.
BoxBoxBoy/Bye-Bye Box Boy: I already owned the first one and though I never finished it, I didn't feel particularly guilty about it. The whole series is one of those pick-up-and-play-for-a-few-minutes kind of puzzlers, so it'll still be there waiting for me whenever I feel the urge to return to its monochromatic world.
I'm just relieved I don't love Box Boy that much to invest in the far-too-expensive Japanese exclusive amiibo.
Bravely Default: "You gotta play Bravely Default!" "If you like Final Fantasy, play Bravely Default!" "Hey! When are you gonna play Bravely Default?" "Are you gonna get Bravely Default?" "YOU GOTTA PLAY BRAVELY DEFAULT!"
Jesus Christ, alright already! I got goddang Bravely Default! I swear, this had better be the JRPG equivalent of ambrosia.
(Exaggerated joking aside, I do love JRPGs and am always on the lookout for any intriguing potentials from its massive library.)\
Crashmo: I mean, I already got Pushmo. I did pick up Stretchmo, but I'm not going to waste more money buying the packs that come with it. These are enough and like the Box Boy series, they're games that'll do on a whim.
Dillon's Rolling Western: Honestly, I don't care about tower defense games and even though this is one of the rare, new Nintendo IP (well, "new", this game came out a decade ago, which says a lot about Nintendo's reliance on tried-and-true franchises nowadays), I don't particular find the artwork or setting (I can take or leave westerns) appealing.
I guess I'm getting it since it's a digital-only game and I'm not confident I'll see any of these ported or remastered to newer consoles anytime soon. Who knows, maybe I'll dig it.
I'm also kind of kicking myself, because when I purchased Dillon, I thought I got the first game. What I accidentally bought was its sequel (The Last Ranger), and me being a stickler to try and play the very first game whenever possible, double dipped to get Game 1. So I guess I have two Dillon games. I guess. :/
Dragon Quest VIII: I have no excuse for this one. I have literally played the PS2 demo before it first came out almost twenty damn years ago, impressed as hell, and dead set on buying a copy when it came out.
Then I got lazy.
Then they announced the 3DS version and I was dead set on getting that.
Then I got lazy.
And now, both physical copies of the game went soaring up in price.
Only now have I finally moved my ass and fulfilled a promise to my nineteen-year-old self to get this goddamn game.
I've only played the DQ Builders series, so this will be my first mainstream DQ game... unless I get to DQ11 first, which I got for my Switch a while back. In any case, I couldn't pass up on entry number 8, the one that people cite as "one of the best in the series."
Which... well, I can't compare since I'm both Dragon and Questless, but I am looking forward to a fun role-playing experience.
Ever Oasis: My criteria for getting most of these games were, "Will it be difficult to buy on ebay that it's just better to get the cheaper digital version because no one has heard about this hidden gem?"
Hence Ever Oasis.
Fantasy Life: Ditto this, too.
I've been told Fantasy Life and the one before, Ever Oasis, are JRPGs with farm/town management and I'm moth to a flame for both genres, but even more so when combined.
Kid Icarus: Uprising: Generally, I try to play at least one major Nintendo franchise unless I reaaaaaaaally don't care for its aesthetic or genre (Yeah, I'm good, F-Zero.) The bar is admittedly low for Kid Icarus since prior to the 3DS game, the series only had two games from nearly thirty years ago and I just do not have the time or patience nowadays to play a lot of 80s-era games.
I'm fine if my only Kid Icarus exposure is the new version that comes with a hat.
Picross 3D Round 2/Pokemon Picross: My other criteria is to find the digital-only 3DS exclusive that may or may not ever come out in other consoles, such as the Picross series.
I didn't buy all of them because there's like twenty dang versions. I picked up Pokemon Picross because it's free and Picross 3D because it looks neat and different from the 98% 2D versions out there.
I fucking love Picross.
Pocket Card Jockey: I wasn't going to get this game because it supposedly came out for phones, but I couldn't find the damn thing in my android's store. So I just got it on the 3DS. I like Solitaire. And it was seven dollars. *shrugs*
Radiant Historia: Perfect Chronology: It's a JRPG that uses time travel as its gameplay gimmick, 'nuff said.
I should play Chrono Trigger again.
Rhythm Heaven Megamix: I've never played a Rhythm Heaven game before, but I've been told if I didn't buy at least one, Rhythm Heaven will personally come into my apartment and break my kneecaps.
Rhythm Thief: The Emperor's Treasure: I've heard the game has some issues, but it's a Lovable Rogue thief wearing a sharp as fuck suit wrapped up in a theater's kid rhythm game. It was a thousand times designed for me and my aesthetic.
Rusty's Real Deal Baseball: Honestly, I think I just want it for the novelty than anything else. I'm aware this game will be totally useless come the 27th, but I don't wanna buy its micro-transcation-before-micro-transcation-were-a-thing mini-games, so I guess it'll remain forever in my 3DS as the little oddball that it is.
I'm alright with that.
Yo-Kai Watch: Boy, I'm gonna really regret it if I only bought the first game in the series, end up liking it so much, and then crying because the physical copies of its sequels are currently forty billion dollars on ebay.
I got to admit, this carries some serious Dubbed-By-4kids energy, which either means it's gonna be annoying or charmingly cheesy. But also, I kind of bought it because the game's art style got me nostalgic for 90s-era anime.
It certainly looks fun for that alone.
I also got Demos for Chibi-Robo: Photo Finder (just to experience at least one Chibi-Robo game), The Legend of Zelda: Triforce Heroes (I've been told you can play by yourself, it's just not recommended, and since I'm a single-player kinda gal, I might as well test out the demo and see how clunky the solo session supposedly is), Bravely Second (sure, why not), and Puzzles and Dragons: Super Mario Bros Edition (suuuuure, why not?)
There are other 3DS games I'd love to get, but those are going to be physical hunts later down the line. Some I know will still be easy to nab (The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds), others probably shovelware that I can find in a bargain bin (Doctor Lautrec and the Forbidden Knights), and others ebay is selling at a higher price than normal, but I still might want (Warioware Gold), etc etc.
Regardless, I feel like I picked out a nice selection of games that will tide me over whenever I get the chance to play them. I guess it was, ultimately, a happy hunt for me.
Buy physicals whenever you can. Don't be like me, who has to resort to digital-only for these games because I waited till the last damn minute.
...WiiU? What about the WiiU?
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Silver Talks AniManga (17/09/23)
turns out we actually got jump today after all let's go babyyyyyy
also one more new series in this serialization round next week but it's about ice skating so not super interested, but we'll see how it is
blue - finale/completed
green - new series/new to me
Anime
Atelier Ryza Ep12 (Finale)
nice and chill finale for a chill anime. no sequel announced or hinted at so I guess that was the point of them adding that plotline with empel and lila hunting down the philuscha monster thing.
anime was nothing to write home about, the animation was serviceable and never really dipped in quality because of that, the music was from the game so it was good and the voice acting was good as well. some episodes felt really slow but it just be like that when you're adapting a JRPG let alone an atelier one lol. I enjoyed it overall anyway, ryza is super cute and I love her so this anime was basically just an excuse for me to indulge myself in her cuteness for 20 minutes. they also had a lot of klaudia ryza moments which I greatly appreciate.
if you've never played the game and want to know if this is a good introduction/starting point.. you should just play the game. you don't really get anything out of this you wouldn't out of the game and you get the whole story instead of just like half of it.
Pokemon Horizons Ep22
nice and action filled episode for once with the return of the original villains and the appearance of this pink chicken. I thought it was p funny moltres is another of the ancient party members since the other is shiny ray and the arboliva which isn't legendary but we'll see how the rest of the party is. also the episode ended on a cliffhanger and I thought that was fucked up since the anime is gonna be on break 2 weeks between cours but that's apparently only next week tehe
Manga
Do Retry Ch19 (Finale)
nice final chapter for do retry, 18 felt a lot like a finale too but this one was a timeskip, all the way to present day, following aozora's grandkid, him going to his funeral and learning about his past.
as for the series overall it was...ok. it started with a good impression with some strong art fruit of the author's previous assistant work for matsui but the quality wasn't consistent. the story felt alright at first but as soon as MMA entered the magazine you could really see the gap in their quality. ofc it's not that fair to compare a newcomer to a veteran but still. and then came the cancelation which made the story speed up even more which didn't help it either making it end up as a pretty weak series. I'd say the author could do a better job on their next series but I think they'd be better suit to do some more assistant work for a bit before trying again, but hey I'd rather read another do retry than ichinose so it's not all bad.
Kagurabachi Ch1
hey that was pretty good, I liked it a lot more than mamayuyu last week. the art looked serviceable during the downtime scenes but I really liked how the action looked. also, as is known, I'm a huge slut for swords so having a katana based series like this is like a treat, just for me :). not much to say about the story since they didn't really reveal much either, seems like a standard fare revenge story but we'll see how it goes.
Kaiju 8 Ch93
the hoshina fight is finally over, it was a lot longer than I expected considering the others but it was VERY cool I've always liked hoshina since he's a Swordsman™ and this fight really showed how cool he is. was pogging out my gourd when he went santouryuu. only 2 more fights left now til we get the big climax one with hibino
MamaYuyu Ch2
oh hey would you look at that, I guessed it right last week and their world is getting invaded by demons. we'll see next week how the action goes cause it'll be mc's first time fighting. also gonna take some more time to get used to the weird paneling but it had some neat ones like chap 1 again
Blue Box Ch117
great chap, not only did taiki get his first major w but we also had this cute moment with him saying natsu's name without the honorific
Martial Master Asumi Ch13
great chap too, nito's first official fight started off with a bang and we finally got to see his long teased super move. ofc the next fights won't be so easy but that makes me look forward to them more
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I know I probably asked this question before, but how would you rank all the Ultra Brothers in this day and age and why give each the rank they would get? This includes Ultras that could or already be Ultra Brother material as well, mind you.
I actually posted a long ass analysis for the feats of most ultras on this list before so I'll just pick out some main ones and/or sunmarize their capabilities
1. Taro
Because:
2. Zoffy
Based on his age and as pointed out in a way earlier post, it seems that M78 Ultras get stronger as they age (with exceptions like Taro etc) Also the M87 Ray is stated to be the "strongest in the universe", tho that last one could be neither here nor there
3. Ultraman
4. Ultraseven
Was able to lift an entire kaiju with ultra willpower while being human sized
5. Ultraman Jack
Managed to prevent a tsunami hundreds of meters high with his Ultra willpower
6. Ultraman Ace
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So the reason why I rank them like these is essentially because I realized that one of, if not the most OP abilities of M78 Ultras is their Ultra Willpower, which kinda supersedes the other abilities cause u can literally just tear apart yr enemy or use for zoning with just yr mind. Which I assume also scales with age (I assume Jack is younger than Seven but older than Ace from trend) Because or else we're gonna be arguing whether one hax ability trumps another as well as dealing with ambiguities like can Ace's ability to time travel back into the past cast faster than Jack or Seven can cast their Ultra Willpower etc
7. Leo
8. Astra
I put the L77 Ultras here mostly because they don't have Ultra Willpower and have no way of defending against said attack
And even tho Leo has planet-busting feats (1 beam to obliterate Black Star), we would then have to argue if that necessarily supersedes Jack's feat of defeating Vacuumon, essentially a black hole that consumes planets using multiple attacks via his Ultra Bracelet
9. Toregia (Parallel Isotope)
I placed him here because after absorbing some Absolute Particles, he was able to at least take on 3 exhausted Ultra Brothers at once, but I just don't see him being able to take on Leo or Astra in a 1v1 at max power
Rank may change depending what does he do with his retrieved Toregia Eye
10. Hikari/Mebius
Tbh idk to rank them because Mebius would have a massive drop in power with a massive drop in age
And Hikari is a blue ultra, whose abilities lie more in their intellect rather than their physical prowess so idk which scales higher
Even considering Brave mode cause we just don't know how blue ultras scale with red ultras at more relative levels, plus the only other blue ultras we have on this list aren't accurate benchmarks either cause their powers have been altered by external influences
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And below are the ultras that I really how to rank them cause we just haven't seen enough of them
Joneus
While he had an impressive feat of fighting Tartarus to a standstill in UGF2, everyone knows that neither of them were taking each other seriously, and even Seven in the last ep of UGF3 was able to seemingly take on a more serious Tartarus as well
So we need to see more of him
Toregia (Present, Corrupted)
I'm bringing him up cause as said, I believe he's definitely still alive based on his revealed abilities in the Blue Phantom novel
And I don't know where to put him cause he hasn't fought anyone else other than Taro, whom has never fought him with killing intent, even in Taiga ep 1 where we saw Toregia seemingly "killing" Taiga and the Tri Squad (Tho Taro likely knew that Taiga wasn't dead, just exhausted), Taro was still focused on bringing Toregia back to the LoL
And even in the Taiga Movie, Taro never even used his serious moves either like the Cosmo Miracle Series which we definitely know since Ginga that he could do it
So in all, we just don't know how far up the ladder would Toregia reach
Regulus (Parallel Isotope)
Yeah I consider him to be ultra brother level based on hype for now.
Also him managing to at least fight Diablo to a standstill several times speaks volumes.
Need to see more of him to be able to accurately place him. The upcoming Regulus series would definitely give us more answers to this.
The rest of the great eight
No idea where to put them because we haven't seen enough of them
Nexus (Anphans/Junis/Junis Blue)
Yeah him managing to solo both Titan and Ribut easily has opened ALL of our eyes to the power of Nexus if he's actually in control of himself
But the beings he has fought at the minimum places him above 10 but we need to see him fight more people at a different power scale to be able to accurately judge how powerful he is
And idk if he should be mentioned at all since he's literally Noa
Thanks for the question!
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ANIME SEASON SPRING 2024: FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF THE ANIME I'LL BE WATCHING (PART 3)
part one here
part two here
And here are the last 4! Honestly they were 3 but I started one more today and I wanted to share my thoughts on it too in case I continue it lol
Seiyuu radio no ura omote
From what I understand it translates to ''The many sides of voice actor radio''. Also I've heard that this is one of the three yuri/gl anime that will release this season (I'm counting Jellyfish Can't Swim as one too for now) so I'll be 100% watching it through to see if it's true lol
Honestly yuri or not this was a nice and good first episode, I like the dynamic between Yasumi and Yuhi and I wanna continue watching it to see how they both become friends or at least grow closer together, good start for what it seems to be a good show
Astro Note
ngl I wasn't even aware of this anime until like two days ago, saw some small clips of it and I went to watch the first episode to see what's up.
It's a cute one, I dig the style of it being like an homage to the 80s anime style more or less and well, it feels a bit strange how it has heavy sci-fi elements to it at the end (and beginning) given how grounded it felt for the rest of the series, not a complain tho, I think it can be done well but we'll have to see in future episodes
Kaiju N°. 8
The only Shonen I'm watching this season lol, from what I've seen a lot of people have been waiting for this one to come out and honestly it was a really strong start. Really liked it and I've been meaning to watch something kaiju related for a while so this definitely scratches that itch lol. Designs are cool, nice story and the end part was something I didn't expected at all (now seeing the posted I should've known lol), I'll be surely continuing it to see how it goes
Whisper me a love song
Ever since it was announced I've been hearing a lot of good things about it in the gl community, so this is the one I've been waiting for the most this season and it seems like it was 100% worth it!
This first episode was just too precious; the animation, the lightning, the characters, everything was just too precious and cute and good it's crazy
It'll definitely be a highlight for the season in the romance department and if not, then just this episode alone is one for sure
So yeah that's it!! lots of nice stuff here and while I feel that I won't finish every single one, a lot of the ones I put here had a start that at least make me interested in watching a bit more to see how they go on. I'll probably make one of these when the animes end too but for now these were my first impressions
#anime#anime 2024#spring anime 2024#the many sides of voice actor radio#kaiju no. 8#whisper me a love song#astro notes#seiyuu radio no uraomote#sasayaku you ni koi wo utau#kaijuu 8 gou
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June in media (2023)
📚 readings
Kaiju n° 8 (vol. 1 to 8): I'm overcome by the sheer dad energy Kafka manages to exude 4/5
Insomniacs after dark (vol. 1-4): extremely sweet slice of life and I love the style 4/5
🎦 movies
Cyrano (2021): the songs kept taking me out of the immersion but Dinklage is incredible in this and the dynamic between Roxane, Christian and Cyrano is so good 4/5
Now you see me (2013): neat! I had a lot of fun 3,5/5
Train to Busan (2016): oh god oh fuck 4/5
Spiderman - Across the spiderverse (2023): I need this movie injected in my blood stream. I need to eat it frame by frame. I am going to fling myself into the sun 5/5
Lupin the 3rd vs Cat's Eye (2023): as someone who grew up with the originals, the style hurts me, but I love the fact that Lupin keeps sort of adopting kids 3,5/5
Lupin the 3rd vs Detective Conan 3 (2015): loved the first, loved the second. The Jigen-Conan dynamic is hilarious 4/5
The boy and the beast (2015): how dare they unfind my family 4/5
The legend of 1900 (1998): I absolutely adore the original story, and the movie still manages to keep some of that mesmerising quality. Tim Roth is impressive 4/5
📺 series
Questo mondo non mi renderà cattivo (2023): the reality of life, growing up and fighting for what you think is right. It will give you an existential crisis 5/5
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2021's Top 10 Games
2021 was the year of a new console generation for me, sort of? The PlayStation 5's visuals and haptic feedback are impressive, but outside of a few games (Astro's Playroom, Returnal, Ratchet & Clank) I spent very little time with the system. My family, myself included, spent far more time with the Xbox Series X. That had more to do with Game Pass than with any console exclusives though.
I also spent some time with Google Stadia™ and Amazon Luna™ this year, which I did not expect. I got access to UbiSoft plus, or select, or whatever (just to complete the axis of evil here) for $1 and my PC wasn't quite up to running Assassin's Creed Valhalla, but it ran fine on Luna. Google Stadia had a timed exclusivity for Young Souls, and I had a coupon. Both services ran better than I expected. AC Valhalla continued my long tradition of getting sucked into open world checklist games for abooooout a dozen hours, then losing interest.
The last game surprise of the year was League of Legends. Not the game itself so much (it's a game I respect at a great distance) but the...*sigh*....the brand...?
They made an RPG based on League of Legends characters, and it was really good. And they made an animated TV show based on League of Legends characters. And it was really good! If I can't blindly hate things, what am I doing with my life? Why am I even on the internet???
10. Bowser's Fury
Bowser's Fury felt familiar in the way that all Mario games do. It also felt fresh and unique in that it's an open world 3D Mario. It has a giant kaiju Bowser that shows up to fuck with your day pretty frequently, and Mario can become a kaiju kitty Mario to battle him. It's weird and cool as hell. I'm 100% hoping the next full Mario game (this one is pretty short) runs with the open world formula.
9. Fuga: Melodies of Steel
Not since Dragon Quest: Rocket Slime have I been able to declare "MY TANK IS FIGHT!" when playing a video game, so that was nice. Fuga is an RPG where you play as orphan furries in a story that seems to be allegory for World War II. Different orphans have different abilities in the TANK VS TANK BATTLES, and the combat sections are broken up by time spent performing tasks within your TANK like cooking and cleaning and being social. You can also load an orphan into the tank's SOUL CANNON if things get desperate. You probably shouldn't though.
Anyway, the characters are charming, the gameplay swapped back and forth at a comfortable clip, and it ended just before it wore out its welcome. And the boss fight music is just the right dose of melodrama. This year had a couple of good turn-based RPG's that clocked in at about 30 hours, which is A Good Thing to have between the Persona's and Dragon Quest's of the world.
8. Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy
I'm surprised at how much I enjoyed this game. I fall somewhere between apathetic and annoyed when it comes to the omnipresent Marvel craze of the past several years. That means I came into this game with no expectations or preconceived notions of what Star Lord looks like, how Gamora should act, and so on.
The game starts off pretty slowly for the first couple of hours, but ends up fleshing out each character and made me care about every member of my team. Each character got their own backstory (except for Groot, who is Groot) and I found myself kind of a fan of Guardians of the Galaxy by the end of the game? I laughed at Rocket and felt sympathy for him and also wanted to punt him into the sun at various points, which feels right. Drax always calling Peter Quill by his full name reminded me of Colin Robinson in What We Do in the Shadows. The game's frequent chatter between team members never bothered me.
I actually gave a shit about everyone on my team. The game's combat is serviceable, and controlling Star Lord only while having your other guardians fight on their own and activate their special abilities on command feels like the right battle system for the game. In battle when your meter thing fills up, Star Lord holds up his Walkman™ and calls time out like he's Zack Morris. He gives a rousing speech to his team, then they go back to combat while Culture Club or Judas Priest or something plays. It fucking WORKS.
The voice work is also terrific, and I think Mantis might be the best character of the year for me. Her take on "space cadet girl who can see all the timelines" feels appropriately overwhelmed, but never stops being a joy. Sad that the game's relatively poor sales make a sequel unlikely.
7. Resident Evil: Village
Before 2019's excellent Resident Evil 2 remake, the series has always been a miss for me. Survival horror has never been my jam, but RE2Make ReMake 2 The Resident Evil 2 Remake was my game of year in 2019. So naturally I decided to see what other games in the series I'd missed out on. The answer was kind of "none" for me. Most had aged in a not-great way, even the various remasters and rereleases were pretty cludgy compared to RE2MAKE. Resident Evil 7 is very good, but VR seems to be the best way to play that game and I'm a coward, so I didn't get very far into it. I don't like the anxious feeling that game gives me in my tum-tum.
Anyway, so Resident Evil 8 comes around and I'm sitting this one out. Then my firstborn took an interest in the game and asked if we could play through it together. I'm not gonna say no. It's the right amount of unsettling and spooky, and it's full of best kind of dumb video game shit. Eagle-shaped recess in the wall? Good thing I found an eagle-shaped pendant in the other room. Ethan lost a hand? Pour some medicine water on it. Besides, if you swap weapons fast enough you can see that he clearly has at LEAST three hands.
And it's a good thing, because that dude goes through a bloody gauntlet of horrific situations. He does get stepped on by the tall steppy vampire lady though. And he gets all his baby pieces back together, so that's nice for him. I don't know why, but the hilarious moment where least-loved sibling Moreau triumphantly screams "I'm the BEST!!!" has stuck with me all year.
I do wish the back third of the game was less of a dull shooter and had more of the personality of the earlier parts. Overall, though? I'm glad my kid made me play it. And the way the internet wanted to be choked and jerked off by the 9 foot tall vampire lady was entertaining, though Heisenberg was probably the best character in that game.
6. Ruined King: A League of Legends Story
I have zero interest in League of Legends. I do, however, like me a good old turn-based RPG. This is a very good one of those. Moreover, it's immediately recognizable as a spiritual successor to 2018's very-good-but-fatally-flawed-and-horrifically-named Battle Chasers: Nightwar.
Ruined King keeps its predecessor's turn-based combat, adding some strategic depth in the form of a timeline everyone's turns and actions are charted upon. Most abilities have 3 different modes: Balance, Speed, and Power - speed is faster and weaker, power is slower and stronger. Each character can customize their skills to grant extra effects (the group healing skill can also cleanse debuffs if used in the speed lane of the time chart for example).
Ruined King doesn't really do anything groundbreaking. Every part of the game from combat to music (Gareth Coker does a great job with the soundtrack) to writing to visuals just works. By ditching the old XP system and allowing inactive party members to gain full XP, the Battle Chasers experience of slowly painting myself into a corner has been replaced with a tight 25 hours that didn't overstay its welcome.
5. Life is Strange: True Colors
The original Life is Strange is one of my favorite game experiences ever. Despite all its flaws, it had a lot of heart and a strong core. It's impossible to untangle my love of the game from the circumstances in which I played it (as with all games, movies, music, etc.). I played it concurrently with a few friends, and we all discussed it and compared outcomes and choices.
Its follow-up, Life is Strange 2 didn't land quite the same for me, neither did spiritual partner Tell Me Why. Like these two games, I played True Colors with my wife and firstborn, passing the controller around and discussing major story choices. True Colors might be the best of all these games.
Alex Chen is an incredibly likeable protagonist. As with all Choices Matter protagonists, she finds herself dealing with some serious shit. She has the superpower of mega empathy? Which works better than it sounds like it might. She can read people and, when they are feeling strong emotions, she can take on those emotions for better or worse.
The game has a few emotional moments that hit hard without feeling cheap. True Colors doesn't quite stick the landing with the way the story wraps up (it asks us to accept what was - for me - one coincidence too many) but I don't care. Loved my time with the game, and it makes me want to move to small Colorado town and smoke marijuana cigarettes.
4. Griftlands
Klei makes its hay with the Don't Starve franchise. Their other games I've played (Mark of the Ninja, Invisible Inc, Oxygen not Included) fall squarely into the "I respect this a lot but don't enjoy playing it" category. With Griftlands, there's finally a Klei game that properly hooked me. A deckbuilding game with a focus on story and characters, the setting sets it apart from the rest.
The game's setting is off-kilter just enough that I can't easily pigeonhole it into a genre. "Dirty back alley steampunk" is my closest approximation. It's a deckbuilding card game with 3 unique characters, each with their own story. The game's conflict play out in either good old-fashioned combat, or in conversation. In the former you have punches and guns and dodges, as you'd expect. In the latter you have brags, apologies, and hunches and the such.
Each character has their own pool of cards for each encounter type. Throw in items and allies, and cards and outfits to unlock and the game has a buttload of replayability. It takes a little while to get rolling, but the time investment is super worth it.
3. NieR Replicant
NieR Replicant v1.4921467089079801 is the 2021 remake of the original NieR game from the Playstation 3 era. Instead of playing as sad androids like in 2017's NieR Automata, you play as sad people. I think, maybe. I'm not actually sure. I need to read the NieR wiki again.
Where NieR Automata famously made you play through it three times to see its full story. NieR Replicant does something similar, but the changes from one playthrough to the next feel very minor in a way that feels like the game does not respect my time. That said, I still enjoy spending time in that world. Replicant's world is melancholy and beautiful, and the soundtrack is likewise a gorgeous companion for this repeated journey. There are areas in the game that are a surprising departure from the rest of the game's third-person action gameplay. There's some text-heavy, choose-your-own-adventure stuff in the game, and a haunting, foreboding section that felt like it belongs in a Resident Evil game.
It's a game that I came back to again and again throughout the year. Like its successor/predecessor NieR Automata, it's a game that punches above its weight, an experience greater than the sum of its parts. The characters' stories are full of tragedy, but they are given life and depth. I found myself invested in Kaine, Weiss, and Emil. Like most video games it didn't quite reach the heights of NieR Automata for me, but I loved my time with Replicant just the same.
2. Rogue Lords
Every year seems to have one of These games. These run-based, unlock-new-shit, one-more-run games that I am absolutely glued to until I unlock every last goodie and overcome every challenge the game offers. The best comparison I can make is Darkest Dungeon meets Slay the Spire, with a classic horror theme layered over top of it.
You choose your party from the likes of Dracula, Bloody Mary, and Dr Frankenstein. You then travel from node to node engaging in combat, browsing shops, and hitting little one-off story scenarios in an attempt to find and kill Van Helsing. It's not a card game, but you find, improve, and swap out skills for your crew so the customization activates that same part of my brain.
Oh, and you play as the devil, which feels like a dumb throwaway explanation for why all these powerful entities will do your bidding. It ends up making a difference in what feels like the game's most unique mechanism though - you can spend your life essence (when it hits zero you lose) to "cheat." This can be used to play a card for free, alter the health of an ally or enemy, change the type of encounter on offer, and more. It feels cheap until you realize that doing this too often will leave you very, very vulnerable.
The customization, unlockable, strategic and tactical elements of the game combine for a delicious stew that I could not get enough of. It was just about all I played for a solid month.
1. Inscryption
For most of 2021, no game stood out enough to be my game of the year. I've enjoyed plenty of games this year, but none really felt special until Inscryption came along. I almost missed it after I spent 5 minutes with the demo and thought "Eh, this card game seems fine but nothing special." And, taken all on its own, the card game is perfectly fine but, as a fan of lots of card games both digital and tabletop, isn't anything special. It's a lane-based card game with a few mechanics and a very small pool of cards.
If you've heard of Inscryption, you've probably heard that the game Goes Places and little else, as it's very hard to talk about this game without spoiling what makes it so special. My understanding of what the game is on a fundamental level changed a few times during play. There are little "Huh? Uh, THAT seems weird" moments here and there that slowly pile up. "What's this? I wonder if I can...oh holy shit, YUP."
The game's aesthetic is incredibly effective. You start off in what seems to be a cabin, trapped by a sociopath who insists that you play a creepy little card game with him. It involves animals and blood sacrifice and teeth. The music is a low thrum that slowly gets under your skin and accentuates the game's sense of unease. The sound effects are likewise wet and upsetting.
The game even hit me with an unexpected emotional moment. I don't think every part of the game is perfect, but it is greater than the sum of its parts. It's a game that used up my brain's idle cycles for the couple of weeks I was playing it. It's a strong candidate for "I wish I could erase the experience from my brain and play it for the first time again." And I can't say too much apart from "Even if you don't normally like card games, you should play Inscryption."
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6.23.20
One thing that I was just reminded of in a dream:
Part of the reason why I don't feel completely myself, no matter how well I fix my algorithm?
No real dancing.
I've been swing dancing since I was 13. I don't know the official date of my swingiversary (unlike some folk) because I was dragged along. My sister's then-boyfriend's sister was a regular there and had gotten my sister involved. My sister had been trying to get me to come for weeks. In theory, I was down - she'd taught me the East Coast basic and two turns years before, but only the lead's footwork. (This was very quickly discovered at a volleyball teammate's swing birthday party, where the instructor asked for volunteers for a demonstration. I was so excited, and then did so terribly because I kept trying to start on my left foot.. it was a learning experience.)
I distinctly remember the day she got me to come. She was in the downstairs bathroom, door closed, and I was chatting with her from just outside. I don't remember any of our previous conversation, but just the following:
"Hey [my name]"
'Yeah?"
"Guess what day it is"
[I knew it was Thursday. There was a moment of silence.]
I can't remember the exact words of my reaction, but I'm certain I started fumbling around trying to make excuses for my completely open evening. Sequins just kept firmly saying, "Nope. It's Thursday, you're coming to [Lindy]."
Little did I know..
.. Just how TERRIBLY I'd do my first night!
Of course I jumped into the beginner Lindy lesson. This was when they still taught an actual lindy basic in that time, plus one move.
I don't remember the lesson or most of the evening. I only remember my first actual dance on the floor - the first one they played after lesson - where a kind gentleman asked me to dance and I could not get through a count of 8 without stopping. I may have once or twice in the whole song. We just stuck with lindy, no East Coast.. It did not go the greatest.
Part of it might be terrible memory (as previously found out this last week), but I don't remember being upset.
As mentioned, I don't know how the rest of the evening went, but evidently I kept going.
I don't have too many early memories - mostly things like wearing the red dress that was really a Latin dress but was the only dance-y dress I owned. Then wearing a different dress that I was.. hmm.. not old enough to fill, and one embarrassing dance related. With the addition of dresses came the one night that taught me to wear dance shorts. (I'm certain nothing actually happened, but that concern when you normally wear baggy shirts and jean shorts, and you feel the skirt lifting higher than you'd like? It changes you.)
My first most common outfit (though I can't remember how soon this was after I started) was my red latin dress, a red flower clip in the back, and my slightly-too-big red flats. (A.k.a. the ones I wore EVERYWHERE through ninth and tenth grade.)
Eventually [Haute] gave me my black and white, polka-dot diner dress. I still have that one, and wear it on occasion, but it's just getting old. (It started my Heart of Haute collection though, which was all I would wear for years.)
But that second common outfit was that diner dress, the red flower, and red flats.. clearly there was some easing that needed to happen. Somewhere around there I must've gotten into a single red lip color I had - but I only applied on the main lip area, no edges and most definitely no shape. Ah. Oh very grateful we've come a long way on that end.
I would stand immediately left of the door, cause that's where our friend and Sequins would stand. That stuck even when Sequins stopped coming. (I don't remember why.. but our friend and her friend kept coming for a bit and then stopped too.)
I remember learning the subtle art of asking for/declining a dance even before partners asked - I thought it was the coolest, subtlest thing. I remember watching follows do swivels and admiring them. If I wasn't dancing, I was standing with my arms behind my back, leaning against the wood of that door-left area.
I learned to love dance so much.. in tenth grade my teacher (and mom of my dear friend Caesar - one should also note the class consisted of Rose, Caesar, and I) told us about a dream she had about me getting all the boys from dance. I was mortified, everyone laughed, and it's been a tease since.
Oddly enough, somewhere in there I had the first gentleman ask me out. We were great dance friends! Tried to get a dance with him each time - we got along so well. At one point he asked if I had a boyfriend. I laughingly replied some variation of no. He asked if he'd have a shot. I kindly (and genuinely!) explained that I was 14, but sincerely appreciated it and if I'd been older, absolutely! (I never got his age but knew he was older than me.) He was embarrassed, and I don't really remember seeing him much after.. I understand the embarrassment but still miss him. Alas.
(And there-related, I'm either impressed with him or myself - either he had a very kind eye or I looked relatively together at the time, cause let me just tell you, compared to today's get ups? Oh honey. Oh I was so not properly dressed. Pretty sure this was still when I'd slick my hair back into a tight ponytail.. oof nope not my best look.
That said, we all start somewhere, but dang..)
I definitely had regular partners through that time, though they've changed drastically! It wouldn't be for a couple years that I'd meet Kaiju, Respect-women-juice, and Steals - my longest running, in-and-out-of-dance friends! Let alone more recent friendships..
Oof the early days. Parents dropping me off and picking me up. Then me driving myself but having to be home by 11 for the first year of my license. The different parking lots - North, South, and finally the underground (and my SPOT. I miss my spot. And B. I hope she's doing okay.)
I miss Lindy so much. I relatively regularly attended from that point on. It was a key part of my week for almost half of my life. It's definitely shaped so many parts of my life - respect, communication, kindness, joy, confidence, self-respect.. and much more I know. Heck, even gender roles - I remember getting so excited about leading and talking to a non-dance person as I got better. They were confused as to why being ambidancetrous was a goal and thought it was odd for people to be swapping around the 'fundamental dynamic' of a guy leading and girl following. Meanwhile I was so excited about leading I forgot that was even a view.
(My feelings were captured in the in image below:)
I miss dance. I miss the feeling of a good swingout. Of hitting the break perfectly. Of a favorite song coming on and despeRATELY NEEDING TO FIND THAT PERSON. I miss seeing other dancers in public and getting all excited. I miss trying a dance with a stranger and having it go REALLY FREAKING WELL. I miss finding story songs with Sandman and playing all sorts of characters. I miss laughing when messing up. I miss messing up but playing it off. I miss playing off an entire song cause neither of us are feeling it so we both just act ridiculous. I miss switch dances. I miss getting more confident in my lead. I miss dancing outside Lindy and Peanut-Butter & Dance. I miss hugging my friends. And getting good dips. And everyone's "dance outfits." I miss the Sisters' elaborate themes. The regular FEAST of snacks. I miss Heroes sneaking me in. I miss helping afterwards and catching up with everyone. I miss the peppermints at Lindy and having to move my "spot" for my stuff when the corner would get crowded. I miss the friends I'd make in the ladies lounge. I miss dance shoes. And space. And Camp Hollywood.. frick I miss Camp Hollywood. Days of dancing. The whole mindset being different. (And I was even going to bring ACTUAL food this year! (Not that protein bars and bananas aren't great, but.. variety)
I miss the music. The go to songs. I miss the smells of each of my favorite dance places. I miss feeling like I'm "coming home" every time.. And even if I have very low energy, still having a lovely night talking away to someone.
Especially Lindy. It did feel like home. I knew so many folks there. It was a wonderful home outside school, outside Old Street/New Street. It was my own space where I'd created myself. (Not in a facade way - quite the opposite. Where I'd built myself and my adult identity up from the roots.) It was my space. Not in an owning way, but in an independence way. Before I attended professional mixers and conferences, before I started at Engineering School, before I'd really had full on interviews - I was already my own person, forged by way of jazz music and incredible dancers.
That last part of the sentence is still off. Mostly cause it reduces dance to two things. But eh.
Of course as an adult there's so much more to learn about dance. Now is the perfect time to catch up on my swing history. It's changed over the years and I want to know that change. It's meant more than just light-hearted movements, and I want to catch up.
It's not stagnant. There's much more to know.
I've ignored dance due to "new physics" and therefore subconsciously not letting myself connect with that part of me. But there are other pieces I can learn without actually dancing.
Now is the perfect time for that.
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Hey (I'm doing a terrible job of staying dead amn't I?)
Heyo! Glad you’re alive Unerring!
1. First impression: Your herring motif was so cool and interesting! You also made conversations informative as well!2. Truth is: You’re super rad! I appreciate you as well! I mean I haven’t seen a Godzilla fan in like? Forever? It’s nice to be able to find someone else who likes that kind of stuff! Very passionate about animals and that’s A+ to me! 3. DR Character You Remind Me Of: A mixture of Gundam Tanaka and Gonta Gokuhara to be honest! 4. Have you ever made me laugh: Oh heck yeah, tons of times! 5. Have you ever made me mad: How? Just seeing your changing icon and I’d start laughing! 6. Best feature: Well versed in biology and Godzilla / Kaiju lore! Plus you change your icons to the most hilarious things and you care quite a bit about your family as well! 7. Have I ever had a crush on you: Nope, nope!8. You’re my: Dear friend for sure! It’s always nice to have you around!9. Name in my phone: It would be “The Legendary Fisherman” 10. Should you post this too? If you want to!
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Silver Talks AniManga (28/05/23)
no imas or jigokuraku anime this week cause they were both on break
nothing else of note I don't think, p chill week
Anime
Megumin Ep8
honestly there's not much I have to say about the episode itself
BUT
last episode, I thought the cook guy sounded super familiar but I didn't look it up but at the start of this ep he was talking and I was like "man no way they got majima for this random guy" but they actually did
and also, there was an animation error, right before this screen there's a far shot of the scene and she has her hood on in it, despite not having it on before AND after it so that was funny to spot
Mashle Ep7
we're finally really in the first battle arc, tho the animation continues to be nothing impressive as expected. hoping that at least the big fight with the boss looks good but we'll see. I also forgot that razor showed up here too so that was nice, hope that his fight gets some love too cause he deserves it. tho I did like how the text at the bottom there sunk in sync with mash that was a cute touch, it was also all wobbly while he was talking underwater
Pokemon Horizons Ep8
what the hell bocchi the tuber has a face
good ep tho, the livestream with her reading the baddies' goon's comment was funny and riko's reaction to having her comment read was great too, average chatter moment lmao
also in 2 more weeks we're getting anime nemona so very excited for that, hopefully she has a good voice
Manga
Blooming Love Ch5
she just keeps getting better and better
really cute chap, it's a shame that this series is gonna switch to be every other week instead of weekly but with how fast it's moving (for a romance) it prob won't be that bad
Dandadan Ch107
we finally out of the vamola backstory and back into the action
very cool chap, especially seeing the pay off of momo seeing all that and regretting how she treated vamola
my favourite part were these 2 panels, in opposites pages, after the exact same amount and layout of panels above it. the parallel of how soft momo's eyes are when she's reassuring vamola and then how sharp and serious they are when glaring at the aliens is extremely good
Kindergarten WARS Ch7 - 9
it's p funny how much of a lover boy dough is
anyway good chaps, mostly action but it was good
Saihate Quarter Ch13
you know, for a series that has the risk of getting axed it sure doesn't feel like it's building towards a conclusion so maybe it won't happen that soon
Kaiju 8 Ch86
you know, since #9 took over the old man, this makes a lot of sense but since they didn't mention it in the shinomiya fight I hope it isn't just a thing for this one kaijiu cause of narumi's relationship with isao. it's still cool anyway, but it would be kinda lame for the baddies to have access to something like this, giving the number kaijus isao's knowledge and not doing it but we'll see
Pension Life Vampire Ch7
what the hell?? a serious chap? I know it had some goofs but it was still surprising to see something serious happen. tho it most likely won't be as bad as it sounds next time
Shuumatsu no Valkyrie Ch78
nothing much going in this chapter other than setting up the fighters for the next round leonidas and apollo, totally expecting apollo to win but we'll see how it goes
ST☆R: Strike it Rich Ch3
it was good timing to check yesterday when the new chap was gonna come out cause I didn't realize it'd be today. anyway, this was the end of the lil introductory arc so should be getting a lot more fights from now on
The Ichinose Family's Deadly Sins Ch26
SEE I CALLED IT however many weeks ago I did, I said that him waking up from the dream wasn't real and he was still in the coma and looks like I was right. god this shit just keeps running around in circles while I'm begging it to end.
Fabricant 100 Ch23
very convinient for her to suddenly get a new hidden power she had all along and was never hinted at when they're fighting the final boss
Nue's Exorcist Ch3
introducing some more eye candy to the series isn't a bad idea, tho that one panel of fanservice was pretty unnecessary. still nothing great so far, but he's finally met one of the exorcists nue mentioned before and they're setting up a club to deal with spirits and stuff, which will help give some structure to the series in the coming chaps. we'll see how it goes from here but I'm still not very hopeful about it's chances with how bad ch1 and 2 were.
Kill Blue Ch6
interesting choice to have the first 5 pages of the chapter have no dialogue but it worked well enough I think. this was basically all about the cliffhanger from the previous chap but I didn't expect things to progress this fast
Do Retry Ch4
this guy jacking it WAY too much but anyway, they're using the money each fight is worth as a sort of power level so that's neat, tho it doesn't mean much at the moment that this guy's worth 10k when there's nothing else as a point of reference
Witch Watch Ch110
you know fran only got introduced semi recently but her chaps are some of the most fun ones, tho this one felt like it repeated the same joke a bit too much for me
Cipher Academy Ch25
nice chap finishing setting up the next arc which will be 1v1 tournament style battles between the different classes, tho we'll most likely only see the class A ones for obvious reasons. I also liked to see iroha using others' mannerisms like they talk about here and later in the chap too, it's cute and it also reminds me of medaka
Blue Box Ch102
good chap, especially that big scenery shot very pretty. the ending is very exciting too the confession may be happening sooner than expected
Spy x Family Ch81
very weird to have a whole chapter with not yor or anya and with no jokes either, tho it's a good change of pace I think
Tenmaku Cinema Ch7
nice chap, like I said last time it's good that's already doing filming and not wasting much time
Undead Unluck Ch160
phil's arc is over, it wasn't as good as the other ones of fuuko putting back the team together but I liked that for once fuuko's plans didn't go like expected from her previous knowledge
Mashle Ch157
cool chap, it was nice seeing the baddies mash has beaten helping out. also not related to the chap but me and mega were talking about it yesterday and we're p sure mashle won't end while the anime is airing which would explain all the stalling not that long ago
The Elusive Samurai Ch111
weird to see a chapter without the main cast, but not a bad chap, just setting up the current situation of the country and the various faction after tokiyuki's failed war, just some more chaps and we'll go back to them. tho I'm curious to see if matsui is gonna follow historical fact or do something original when that happens, but I'm leaning more towards the latter
Sakamoto Days Ch120
extremely good chapter to end the flashback sequence, more than half the chap had no text boxes and was all great action. just makes me hope and pray even harder than when it does get an anime adaptation it gets the treatment it deserves unlike what mashle has been getting
Akane-banashi Ch63
nice chap, I knew the salesman wouldn't lose to this guy that didn't get any screentime before this competition, tho I didn't expect to see his backstory, hopefully it'll only be a bit of next chapter instead of dragging on for too long
Ayakashi Triangle Ch131
suzu.............
not much to say tho, it was mostly set up for this next lil arc tho that ending was p funny. yabuki reading doujins for these ideas
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