Well_known_bear's recent activity
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Comment on Games at the press of a button: The Rip-O-Bot (1989) in ~games
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Comment on What are your favourite anime and/or manga? in ~anime
Well_known_bear LinkProbably forgetting a few, but ones that come to mind: Anime Mawaru Penguindrum Shirobako / Girlish Number / Eizouken ni te wo dasu na! (the 'anime production trilogy') Yuru Camp / MONO: Weekend...Probably forgetting a few, but ones that come to mind:
Anime
- Mawaru Penguindrum
- Shirobako / Girlish Number / Eizouken ni te wo dasu na! (the 'anime production trilogy')
- Yuru Camp / MONO: Weekend animation
- Yojouhan Shinwa Taikei
- Teekyuu
- Yondemasu yo, Azazel-san
- Psycho-Pass
- Joshiraku
- Ano hi mita Hana no namae wo bokutachi wa mada shiranai
- Working!
- Gyakkyou Burai Kaiji
- Bokura no
- Code Geass
- Mushishi
- Hachimitsu to Clover
- Aria
- FLCL
- Read or Die (OAV)
- RahXephon
- Fruits Basket (the first adaptation)
- Jungle wa itsumo hare nochi guu
- Azumanga Daiou
- Love Hina (TV)
- Tenkuu no Escaflowne
- Slayers (S1-2)
Manga
- Sora ga haiiro dakara
- Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou
- Sayonara Zetsubou-sensei
- Kuutei Dragons
- Soredemo Machi wa mawatteiru
- Dungeon Meshi
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Comment on What have you been watching / reading this week? (Anime/Manga) in ~anime
Well_known_bear LinkI feel like the chaps at Kyoto Animation responsible for this cut this week had something on their minds.I feel like the chaps at Kyoto Animation responsible for this cut this week had something on their minds.
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Comment on From millionaires to Muslims, small subgroups of the population seem much larger to many Americans in ~society
Well_known_bear LinkThis is a minor point, but I take issue with the usage of 'millionaire' in the title when the actual question in the survey is "Have a household income over $1 million" (much rarer). Would have...This is a minor point, but I take issue with the usage of 'millionaire' in the title when the actual question in the survey is "Have a household income over $1 million" (much rarer).
Would have been interested to know the results specifically for net worth of $1m.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Well_known_bear LinkBeen dabbling in a couple of Super Famicom games. The great thing about the NES and SNES is that their libraries are so vast that every year, I come across stuff that I've just plain never heard...Been dabbling in a couple of Super Famicom games. The great thing about the NES and SNES is that their libraries are so vast that every year, I come across stuff that I've just plain never heard of before.
1996 JRPG from golden age Square. I came across a guy on a Japanese forum who really rated this and being someone who generally loves old Square JRPGs, I had to check it out.
Man, it's not for me. There's some good stuff here like a pretty original setting involving Indian mythology and the whole story taking place in the days leading up to the end of the world as part of a cycle of destruction and rebirth, but the moment to moment gameplay isn't really enjoyable from a modern day perspective.
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The encounter rate is high, fights play out slowly and there's no twist to the standard turn based combat to give it some sauce.
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There are some large maps, but there's rarely anything interesting to find. The castle at the very start of the game is emblematic of this - it's huge but empty other than a few places blocked off by NPCs. It's the same with the island you start out on - you can walk to other villages, but there's no real reason to. You can't afford any better gear there and there are no side quests.
For a game that came out 2 years after FF6, it's not nearly as engaging.
Marvellous: mou hitotsu no Takarajima
Despite this being:
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a first party Nintendo title;
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inspired by Zelda: A Link to the Past; and
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directed by Aonuma Eiji who went on to lead the Zelda team,
I'd never heard of this game until last week. LTTP is easily my favourite Zelda, so I had high expectations going in.
It's... okay. Fun to try for the novelty, but I can understand why it didn't get pushed to a worldwide release.
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The game focuses on a group of 3 (presumably American) kids camping on an island that turns out to have buried pirate treasure. Each of the kids can be controlled separately and has their own items that they can use. It's kind of like if you had 3 Links but they each only had 1/3rd of his tools.
You can move around as a party or leave the others behind and go solo, which is sometimes necessary to position the kids to solve puzzles. This mechanic is quite neat and reminded me of The Lost Vikings, although it is a bit unpolished in that sometimes the kids you aren't controlling will just decide to stop following you and you have to whistle to get their attention.
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From what I've seen so far, there's no combat in this game, but the puzzles can be fairly involved and some require pen and paper notetaking. Many involve investigating things more closely by going into an adventure game style first person view where you can click on things directly (although there's no mouse, so moving the cursor feels kind of bad), but there are also a fair number of action and environment-based puzzles once you start unlocking more of the items and skills.
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Visually, it looks very nice. The Zelda inspiration is definitely visible in the big colourful sprite work and some of the assets like the stakes may well have been lifted directly from it. The tone is also very lighthearted and makes me wonder if the devs took inspiration from stuff like The Goonies.
For anyone who wants to check it out in English, there's also a fan translation available.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Well_known_bear Link ParentGreat recommendations. I hadn't heard of any of these but feel like we probably have similar tastes in Japanese indie games. It's wonderful that devs in Japan have finally come to the party on...Great recommendations. I hadn't heard of any of these but feel like we probably have similar tastes in Japanese indie games.
It's wonderful that devs in Japan have finally come to the party on Steam in the last decade. Once upon a time, the only way to access games like this would have been to show up at doujin events and buy them on home burned CDs.
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Comment on Mobile Suit Gundam RG XARX-ZERO | Teaser PV in ~anime
Well_known_bear Link ParentThey have. There's been a mix of UC and UC-like traditional Gundam (some of which has been really good!) and more G Gundam-like experimental series. Some of the ones I've enjoyed: Gundam Build...They have. There's been a mix of UC and UC-like traditional Gundam (some of which has been really good!) and more G Gundam-like experimental series.
Some of the ones I've enjoyed:
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Gundam Build Fighters / Divers - About kids in the 'real world' who build Gundam models and use them to fight in VR competitively. Tons of references to the various different series.
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Gundam Thunderbolt - Gritty alternative history UC series with mech battles over jazz.
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Gundam: The Origin - Prequel to the original UC series about Char. Does a great job of filling in the stuff which you kind of have to infer when watching the original series.
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Iron-blood Orphans - Gritty drama about a band of Martian gangsters, done by Okada Mari and Nagai Tatsuyuki who made Ano Hana.
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Witch from Mercury - Utena in space with mobile suits.
I'm not sold on this specific trailer, but I don't want to give the impression that Gundam in the last couple of decades hasn't been worth watching. There's a ton of great stuff!
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Comment on Mobile Suit Gundam RG XARX-ZERO | Teaser PV in ~anime
Well_known_bear Link ParentYeah, that's it. Maybe it'll make more sense once it airs.Yeah, that's it. Maybe it'll make more sense once it airs.
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Comment on Ebenezer | Official trailer in ~movies
Well_known_bear LinkAre people secretly rooting for Scrooge? I would have thought that went against the point of the novel, but then there's Duck Tales, this movie, the Ebenezer Scrooge Metroidvania...Are people secretly rooting for Scrooge? I would have thought that went against the point of the novel, but then there's Duck Tales, this movie, the Ebenezer Scrooge Metroidvania...
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Comment on Mobile Suit Gundam RG XARX-ZERO | Teaser PV in ~anime
Well_known_bear Link ParentIt's a bit of a dilemma since it's the old timers who are dropping money on the model kits and other merch (i.e. where Bamco is actually making the money), so you can't piss them off too much by...It's a bit of a dilemma since it's the old timers who are dropping money on the model kits and other merch (i.e. where Bamco is actually making the money), so you can't piss them off too much by making it radically different from what they like to see.
At the same time, Bamco has to also build new audiences for the franchise. I can't imagine any kids these days caring about Gundam at all (in Japan or elsewhere), which is going to be an increasingly serious problem for them going forwards.
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Comment on Mobile Suit Gundam RG XARX-ZERO | Teaser PV in ~anime
Well_known_bear LinkNew Gundam TV series airs 2027. Set in the same universe as the Gundam Rogue Orbit game Directed by Kamiyama Kenji (GITS SAC, Eden of the East) Animation will be by Sola (GITS SAC 2045) The...New Gundam TV series airs 2027.
- Set in the same universe as the Gundam Rogue Orbit game
- Directed by Kamiyama Kenji (GITS SAC, Eden of the East)
- Animation will be by Sola (GITS SAC 2045)
The concept of Gundam vs aliens sounds like it might be good, but this trailer honestly feels a little bland. Also not doing themselves any favours with that name...
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Mobile Suit Gundam RG XARX-ZERO | Teaser PV
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Well_known_bear LinkAll JRPGs all the time lately. Finished up Dragon Quest XI S. If Final Fantasy aspires to be fine dining, then this is mum's home cooking. One hundred hours of mum's home cooking. The world itself...All JRPGs all the time lately.
Finished up Dragon Quest XI S.
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If Final Fantasy aspires to be fine dining, then this is mum's home cooking. One hundred hours of mum's home cooking. The world itself is not even particularly expansive, but the assets and areas are recycled smartly enough that it never felt like a slog and I ended up finishing everything other than the super bosses at the end. I must have played that blacksmithing minigame for at least 5 hours by itself...
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The thing that really struck me as I played this game is that against all odds, Dragon Quest still retains all of the politically incorrect sensibilities of the Showa era in which the original games were released. There are still bunny girls, porn magazines and dirty old men. You can still gamble at slots and pay ladies to shove their breasts in your face. You can still give your female party members racy underwear and dress them up as schoolgirls, exotic dancers or cats. A little difficult to imagine Square Enix (which is, after all, now a global facing games giant) giving this kind of leeway to any other franchise - see in particular the counterexample below for its other flagship series.
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I wish this game would let you use the double / triple / quadruple techs all the time, Chrono Trigger style. There are so many combos and the devs obviously put a ton of work into creating custom animations for all of them (some of which are super goofy), but most players are never going to see like 80% of them because you can only use these skills when all of the relevant characters go into their super Saiyan 'zone' state, and that's complete RNG.
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Speaking of RNG, I want to give a special shout out to the worst RPG side quest in history which is featured in this game. Anyone who has played this game will likely know the one I mean:
This quest features a little orphan girl who entrusts you with what scarce money she has so that you can help her buy a statue - a gift for the kind man who runs her orphanage. Unfortunately, the last statue available has been purchased by a man who has disappeared into the casino (which understandably doesn't admit minors), so she wants you to go in and buy the statue from him.However, once you get in there and find the man, it turns out that he's a degenerate who refuses to part with the statue unless you show him a jackpot in roulette, which is when the ball lands on the specific number and that number also lands in the jackpot space.
There is some debate online about the exact odds of hitting the jackpot and whether you can improve them, but no one has come up with any method that demonstrably does so, and some unlucky players have reportedly spent dozens of hours grinding roulette without success. I personally spent about 2 hours save scumming it myself during which I tried every method I could find in Google - no dice.
What's worse, there is no other way to complete this quest. You cannot have your thief steal the statue. You cannot seduce him for it. You cannot knife him in the face and take it. You can't even give the money back to the little girl. You are committed to praying to the RNG gods indefinitely or forever being the hero who misappropriated money from an orphan.
I ended up downloading a mod which lets you win the jackpot in one spin and can heartily recommend this solution to any other PC players.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
What more is there to say about this game that hasn't already been said? Great visuals, great music, great gameplay and just enough game.
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I was a little apprehensive that this game would melt my modest PC given it's UE5, but it runs fine at around 70-80fps once dropped to 1080p with DLSS. I grew up gaming on CRTs so have absolutely no issue with 'low' resolution, but I am feeling the limitations of 8GB VRAM more and more these days with these AAA releases as the pop-in and level of detail shifts are pretty noticeable.
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The reporting around this game really made the parrying sound a lot more important than it is. If that isn't your bag, it is still completely playable as a regular JRPG where you ignore the parry button and just make best efforts to learn the enemy attack patterns and dodge. I played the whole game this way on the regular difficulty and am convinced that you could probably even just facetank the damage and not dodge at all if you're setting up your equipment and skills properly.
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As undeniably JRPG influenced as most of the game is, I had to laugh when I saw the camp system and how the character socialisation worked. It's the most Dragon Age / Baldur's Gate 3 western game design imaginable.
Final Fantasy XVI
If you're playing this in Japanese, you'll quickly realise that something feels off:
- All of the tutorial screenshots are from the English version.
- A whole bunch of the in-game text is also in English, like the pop-ups during combat and the '[Boss name] slain' banners.
- None of the lip synching matches the Japanese voices. It's clearly made for the English script.
Between this and the Game of Thrones sex and violence presentation, it's difficult to avoid the impression that the devs were trying their damnedest to make something first and foremost for western audiences rather than Final Fantasy, and while I don't want to say that this game is bad as a result, it's kind of hard to recommend:
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The level design isn't far off from FFXIII's trashmob corridors followed by a boss, and even where it seems to have some options for exploring, you aren't rewarded with anything more than expendable potions or crafting materials for stuff you can often just buy with money.
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The combat feels like Nier Replicant (i.e. not the fun one). You're just repeating the same combo over and over, but it's even worse since your only weapon is the sword, there's no real choice of magic, equipment (+7% to the effectiveness of one move or +9% to a different move!) or items to speak of and your movement speed is so slow that I would often barely manage to stroll outside AOE attacks telegraphed an eon in advance. There is a teleport move, but it's not in every loadout and our protagonist only learnt how to teleport to enemies, so it's useless when you want to move away.
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The subquests are largely fetch quests for randos reminiscent of Xenoblade 1. In some cases, there's at least an attempt at adding exposition to the depressing world inhabited by the characters, but none of them are actually fun to play.
But wait, there's stuff I like too!
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The game looks great. It's some odd internal engine instead of UE, but it looks every bit as good. It's also reasonably performant, although it absolutely chugs on the world map due to the weird decision to load wherever you're going during the world map transition animation.
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The idea of certain people being Dominants who can transform into gigantic kaijyuu Eikons (funnily only referred to as shoukanjyuu or 'summon beasts' in the Japanese script despite this being the one game where they're not summons) and turn the tide of battles is really cool in an Attack on Titan kind of way, although the story doesn't always follow through on it. For example, right at the beginning of the game, you have a nation that just abandons their Dominant entirely when leaving the battlefield, which is kind of akin to just leaving your nuclear deterrent behind. A real head scratcher.
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Middle aged bad ass Cid is great and an obvious homage to the game breaking 'Thunder God' Cidolfus from FFT. I appreciate them giving a Cid a relevant story role again.
I may stick with this just out of morbid curiosity. It's a striking comparison with how confident FF7R is in sticking with its JRPG roots (switch to action combat not withstanding), weirdness and all.
Dragon Quest I Remake
The grand daddy of JRPGs which stole the fire from the Olympus of Wizardry and Ultima and gave it to Final Fantasy, Megami Tensei and all the others to follow.
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Famously, this is the one which doesn't have a party - it's just you, the hero, against all of the monsters in the world. You might expect that this implies a pretty chill experience where you just grind fights, level up and roll through dungeons, but that's not where this remake is at. It takes every opportunity to send gank squads of 4-6 enemies your way, and often they'll hit like a truck, take two actions per turn and/or mercilessly spam the instant death spell Zaki (in a single party member game!?) The result is that you're constantly switching equipment to do crowd control and thinking about all of your options, because again, there's no designated healer or DPS or whatever - it's just you and your one action per turn. It's surprisingly engaging in a way that DQ XI isn't with its death squad of 8 party members, especially for the bosses that serve as a wall if you aren't hard countering their mechanics with your own strategy.
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The original NES game is rough to play today, but this remake mostly solves the issues with a boatload of quality of life changes. No more buying keys, torches, etc. No more cryptic clues about what you need to do next. The only pain is from the usual garbage DQ inventory system, which is somehow even worse than DQ XI here since there's no 'equip' menu. Instead, you have an equip command which does nothing if your character's bag is full - it just asks if you want to empty the character inventory that you painstakingly picked out (you don't), even though all you want to do is replace one old piece of equipment item with one new piece of equipment. I ended up just using the workaround of opening the party inventory and manually replacing the relevant equipment in the character inventory, following which the game automatically asks if you want to equip the thing you just moved in. It's incredibly byzantine to have to do this each time and it baffles me how this wasn't raised by playtesters as the number one thing to remake.
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In addition to the nice HD-2D graphics, the characters and story also get a bit of a modern overhaul. The original has very little story to speak of at all let alone characterisation, but characters in the remake move about, emote and actually have a bit of personality and relationship to the protagonist. I don't fault the original for not having this stuff, but it is something that people later came to expect as a given in JRPGs, so it's nice that it's in here.
Dragon Quest II Remake
Basically all of the above (it comes in the same package as a twofer), but significantly easier since you have an actual party in this game. I'm enjoying it and will likely also play DQ III Remake to round out the Roto trilogy.
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Comment on Question for those who played both the original and remake of Final Fantasy VII in ~games
Well_known_bear (edited )LinkI think they're doing a good job with the remake series overall. There's stuff I don't like here and there but it's overwhelmingly outweighed by the positives. This varies a lot depending on the...-
I think they're doing a good job with the remake series overall. There's stuff I don't like here and there but it's overwhelmingly outweighed by the positives.
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This varies a lot depending on the character. Tifa and Barret are pretty much what I imagined. Red and Cid feel significantly different - Cid doesn't even swear anymore (in the Japanese script - maybe he still does in English?) I also liked the expanded roles for Yuffie and Cait Sith. Both were pretty forgettable in the original but really feel like part of the team in Rebirth.
In the case of Cloud, my first impression was that they made him too unable to handle a human conversation (some of the stuff he says in Remake is just off the planet), but by Rebirth I think they find the right balance as he opens up a bit to his friends.
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It's a bit difficult to compare the vibes 1:1 since the pacing is different and events don't play out exactly the same way, but I think they hit the right notes for all of the big scenes people remember from the original. It's goofy where the original was goofy and dramatic where the original was dramatic. Some of the redone scenes like
the date at the Gold Saucer and the scene where Aerith prays at the city of the ancients and you can hear what she's thinkingI like much better than the original versions. -
I kind of hated the action combat system at first. It's not ATB, but it also doesn't really feel like a proper action game with i-frames and cancelling, especially if you're playing as one of the slower characters or waiting for a skill or spell to activate - it can feel like you're drinking from an estus flask at times! This is especially bad in Remake where half of the characters are ranged types with a very short and slow dodge.
It does feel a fair bit better by Rebirth, though, with the new fast party members, the parry and the combination moves that incentivise you to switch around.
I also think all the stuff they added around Sephiroth is rubbish (and having him constantly pop up is borderline comical), but you can't stop Nomura from being Nomura.
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Comment on What have you been watching / reading this week? (Anime/Manga) in ~anime
Well_known_bear Link ParentFor people who just found the manga exhausting to read, I definitely think the anime is better in that respect and worth checking out. There's less effort required to follow it when you can...For people who just found the manga exhausting to read, I definitely think the anime is better in that respect and worth checking out. There's less effort required to follow it when you can visualise the action and hear the characters speak back and forth.
It's interesting to compare it to the 1995 film which is based on the same material. I think having a whole season to cover the story will likely make it much more digestible.
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Comment on What have you been watching / reading this week? (Anime/Manga) in ~anime
Well_known_bear (edited )LinkStill watching cour 2 for LIAR GAME and Yomi no Tsugai. The former is growing on me. I expected it to be a story about how the naive protagonist becomes world-wise and crafty, but it's the...Still watching cour 2 for LIAR GAME and Yomi no Tsugai. The former is growing on me. I expected it to be a story about how the naive protagonist becomes world-wise and crafty, but it's the complete opposite - it's a story about how her good natured and trusting personality is an asset in a game about deception. Kind of an interesting take that I haven't seen before in this genre.
On this season's shows:
Mushoku Tensei S3
All right so far, but it's mostly a side story that happens in parallel to S2.Despite how disappointed I was with S2 as a whole, there are parts of the story which I do find compelling (Orsted and Nanahoshi's plotline in particular) and I hope the main story focuses on those rather than the whole wife harem thing.
Youjo Senki S2
In many ways, essentially a grittier Strike Witches (not a high bar).Surprisingly decent animation. I remember S1 as being pretty inconsistent, so either this got a higher budget or these guys just got better at making anime in the last 9 years.
S1 was generally a WWI setting, but we're now well into a weird mix of WWI and WWII with figures like Churchill and Stalin showing up. I don't love the fact that the protagonists are either Imperial Germany or the Nazis (take your pick), but I suppose they're not really portrayed as the good guys per se.
Nijuuseiki Denki Mokuroku
Very interesting visual style that renders everything other than the characters with an oil painting aesthetic. This works particularly well with the steampunk setting where there's constantly just steam and smoke swirling everywhere.Unfortunately, the actual story and characters don't grip me at all. If you compare it to Kyoto Animation's previous Netflix project Violet Evergarden, there's nothing like the incredible 'you're still burning' scene from the first episode which really sells the premise.
There's also something about the way they deform the facial expressions on this show that I really dislike. I suppose it's meant to be a call back to older, more cartoon-like animation, but it just looks weird when juxtaposed with the more realistic character and setting design.
THE GHOST IN THE SHELL
Absolutely incredible adaptation of the manga.-
The pacing is fast and it can be easy to lose the flow of the plot, but that's unavoidable due to how dense the manga itself is and I had the same issue when reading it, often having to re-read the same page again when my attention lapsed. They even manage to include some of the margin footnotes!
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Visually, it looks amazing and completely faithful to the original 90s look. It feels like this is what animators from the 90s would have made if you had given them modern computers.
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Sakamoto Maaya is as good as you'd expect as the new Major. What a range on this actor! I couldn't believe my ears when I saw she also did Aerith in FF7R. The new Batou is also great.
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The music is everything you could ask for from a GITS soundtrack without getting Kanno Youko back. Everything from the jazzy action pieces to the dreamy ED is right on point.
I can't remember the last time a series delivered so well on the promise of the trailers.
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Comment on What have you been watching / reading this week? (Anime/Manga) in ~anime
Well_known_bear Link ParentFor what it's worth, the manga does explain why everything is low tech. Your mileage may vary as to whether it's a good explanation :PFor what it's worth, the manga does explain why everything is low tech. Your mileage may vary as to whether it's a good explanation :P
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Comment on What have you been watching / reading this week? (Anime/Manga) in ~anime
Well_known_bear LinkPicked up Tenmaku no Jaadugar this season and loved it. Everything from the setting to the design work is a breath of fresh air in a time when the medium is dominated by shows leaning on well-worn...Picked up Tenmaku no Jaadugar this season and loved it. Everything from the setting to the design work is a breath of fresh air in a time when the medium is dominated by shows leaning on well-worn tropes.
The supervising director is prolific Kyoto Animation alumni Yamada Naoko who also directed Heike Monogatari, which is probably the closest thing in visuals and feel to this show.
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Comment on What have you been watching / reading this week? (Anime/Manga) in ~anime
Well_known_bear LinkWatching Mahoutsukai no Yome during the seasonal gap. Nice and clean animation from WIT Studio. The 'I'm going to buy this teenage girl from an auction so I can marry her' premise is a rough one...Watching Mahoutsukai no Yome during the seasonal gap.
Nice and clean animation from WIT Studio.
The 'I'm going to buy this teenage girl from an auction so I can marry her' premise is a rough one to lead with, though.
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Comment on Physical disc production ending in January 2028 for new games releasing on PlayStation consoles in ~games
Well_known_bear LinkPretty bold move even given the current climate. If I'm a consumer, what's my incentive to buy into a system where Sony and Sony alone sets all prices and availability forever? The alternatives:...Pretty bold move even given the current climate.
If I'm a consumer, what's my incentive to buy into a system where Sony and Sony alone sets all prices and availability forever?
The alternatives:
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Nintendo: Broad range of retailers competing and regularly selling at significantly below Nintendo's set price, even for new releases. GKCs continue to enable used game market.
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PC: You can buy from Steam, Epic, GOG, etc who all compete on price with regular sales and bundles. Broad range of key resellers. Games stretching back into antiquity remain available because deeply passionate people have saved them and kept them compatible with modern PCs. Making backups is trivial. Indies release here by default and third party AAA makers can no longer afford not to release here, so you have access to everything other than first party games.
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Great article.
Miyamoto is the only game creator I can think of who approaches how prolific Tezuka was.