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0poole · 4 years

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The Best and Worst parts of past Pokemon games

I’ve watched ShayMay’s 7-hour analysis on Omega Ruby and as you’d expect it’s getting me to think about what are actually the best and worst parts of Pokemon in the past. I’m still glad he literally goes through the entire game going into both the good and the bad of the game, and I’m basically only bringing it up because of the sheer amount of effort put into it. Obviously the video was made before Sun and Moon came out so thankfully some of his quandaries have been solved, but still it’s interesting to see the on and off of certain things throughout the series. Most of the time it gets better as time goes on, but still, it feels like you could get an amazing Pokemon game just by piecing together the features of past games (even if you’d definitely need a few additions to get it perfect, if that’s even possible).

To be honest I really am slowly falling out of favor with Sword and Shield, and it kind of makes me hope that Gamefreak can still get better. Even though the games sold like hotcakes, hopefully they have the heart to realize a ton of people didn’t really like the direction, even though it still isn’t “bad,” just worse than it feels like it should be. Even though bad direction can’t be remedied by other things, the fact that they are a multi-billion dollar franchise really makes it feel like they could afford to make it better, especially when past games did do what people wanted...

Since it’s the most relevant...

DLC/”Enhanced” Versions:

I will genuinely take DLC over “enhanced” versions any day. Even though you’d think a lot could be improved between the base versions and enhanced ones, that’s usually not the case. The only ones that truly changed the game were Black and White 2, since they were treated more like sequels. Even golden games like Platinum didn’t divert much, even if it is an objectively better version than Diamond and Pearl. Considering the games are now going to be a solid 60$ each, it would be even crazier to expect someone to buy the base and enhanced versions. Only paying 30$ for multiple expansions (at least two, could be more) with the content of said expansions being put out as a free update otherwise is a much better deal. The only people this hurts are the types who reasonably wait for the inevitable enhanced version and only buy that instead, since it’s always better, even if only a little. As far as I know, however, Pokemon is one of the only game franchises that releases enhanced versions of games soon after their release (as in, not years later when technology advances and they can profit off nostalgia), so really they’re just becoming more normal by doing this.

Of course there’s the argument that there shouldn’t be any DLC or “enhanced” versions, and all the content of the game should be included in the base game. It would obviously be preferable to not pay for it, but as is painfully obvious, even the richest groups can still be money hungry. Considering they’re inevitably going to make one or the other, DLC is going to be the better choice overall because it’s much more expandable. You rarely got to see a substantial amount of content added on in the enhanced versions. If they made us pay 30$ for the Isle of Armor and Crown Tundra separately, that would be crazy. But, since it’s 30$ for both, they could easily insert more bits alongside the rest of the Expansion Pass, maybe allowing them to carry a game for multiple years under less resources on their part compared to trying to make a whole new game. That way, maybe they can devote even more resources to future generations and remakes. That’s all just speculation though. I’m kind of impatient, writing all this before the day it releases and when we get more info for the future, so basically just take this as my opinion the whole time before the DLC came out.

Honestly, though, I almost always fall into the camp of gamers completely misrepresenting the concept of DLC, saying they just cut off some of the content and made you pay extra for it. A few bad apples really soured the bunch in this case, because, even though Sword and Shield did feel kind of lacking in some places, saying the Isle of Armor or Crown Tundra would’ve been a seamless part of the game no matter what is just obviously wrong. The games felt “complete” in the sense that it is all they wanted it to be, and it has a clear start and end. Just because you don’t like it doesn’t mean it’s unfinished. Again, obviously it would be better if it was free/included already, but that’s just a given.

In a similar vein…

Remakes:

Basically, I love the usual formula for remakes. I actually really liked ORAS, and I feel like it improved on so much, making me actually like Hoenn as a region. Even though I played them closer to when they game out, RSE feel like a slog compared to modern stuff, especially with the lack of the physical/special split. I can definitely feel some nostalgia for the originals still, but 90% of the time I go back to those games looking for nostalgia, getting bored by the time I get to Rustburo, and turning it off. As mentioned by Shaymay, there’s still a ton wrong with it, but I’d much rather play them all the way through compared to the originals. I do still want to force myself through them eventually, though.

Heartgold and Soulsilver are widely considered to be the best games in the whole franchise, so I don’t have to say much. I’m not a Johto nut so I’m not the best at selling it, but I will say it feels so much more colorful and polished visually than the rest of Gen 4.

Firered and Leafgreen have the same problems that make me dislike RSE, but Let’s Go Pikachu and Eevee are the strange cases that make the future so uncertain. I liked them for what they were, but I swear God if they do that one more time it’s going to make the fanbase erupt. The Let’s Go formula worked for Kanto because a lot of the people playing Go are people who knew the original games but not the newer ones, making Let’s Go a good entry point with mostly familiar territory and slightly dumbed down gameplay. It may work again if they do a Let’s Go in Johto, but if they do it for Sinnoh, since it’s the next one on the chopping block, it’s going to fall insanely flat. Barely anyone who only loves Go also seriously wants to play through Sinnoh. There’s little nostalgia there, and the nostalgia with Sinnoh resides in everyone else who loves the games as they are/as they originally were. Plus, people say they’re some of the hardest games, so dumbing them down ruins part of the appeal more. Since remakes pretty much entirely profit off of nostalgia (and partially from people wanting to experience a region without the limitations of its origins) they really need to just, you know, remake the game. Same deal as any Pokemon game, just with better (if you’d call it that) graphics and modern sensibilities. Considering all remakes (IMO) look better than their originals, I don’t think we have to worry an insane amount about them looking as iffy as SwSh. I don’t think they look THAT bad already, but I definitely think they’re some of the ugliest in the series.

I will say that I do still want remakes to happen. I’m a sucker for nostalgia, and I love seeing graphically enhanced versions of past regions. Also, my favorite region is up next, so I really just want to see what happens. I’m a shill so it can’t make me hate the originals more. Or, you know, maybe that just makes me a normal, reasonable person...

Graphics:

Obviously we just want texture quality, model quality, etc. But, I think there’s something to be talked about with the overall art style.

I’m not gonna lie, I was kinda into the chibi-esque models of X/Y and ORAS. It did feel like it trivialized the more serious characters, like the villains and major legendaries, as they looked too cute, so it’s probably for the best if we stick to “normal” proportions. It felt weird when I first saw Sun and Moon, but I got used to it. I always wanted to make my character look as cute as possible so the chibi style helped with that, but I have gotten some good results from Sword and Shield.

For character customization (if it even counts as “graphics”) I think Sword and Shield really hit the nail on the head. I’m kinda biased, because Moon and Ultra Moon had a really shitty shade of purple as their designated “purple” clothing, and SwSh really got my favorite shade of it right. I do think it’s great to have one style of clothing under different, generally standardized colors. But, I definitely think we need more body types. Like, one of the main reasons I play as a girl in games like this is that the boy character doesn’t even look like me anyway, so there’s really no good reason to play either. Even if it’s just one separate character option for each gender, like a Skinny male/”Round” male/Skinny female/”Round” female I’d be fine. Obviously I’d want some character sliders at some point, like pretty much every other game with character customization does, but I can settle for one more generation. The alts could even be more shoehorned rivals like in X/Y, so they basically have the design cut out for them.

One weird graphical thing I want brought back is the little circular platform your Pokemon lands on in a battle. For some reason, I really liked that. It does make the battle feel more in tune with the overall environment without it, but sometimes the battle fields look really bland and flat without it. I’d at least want the floor to be designed in a way to look like there are devoted spots for each Pokemon to stand on, even if it’s not a separate thing like in X/Y. It just feels more satisfying. Not really a big deal though, since I’ve been able to ignore it for this long.

The big thing is animations. I am getting extremely tired of the X/Y models. That’s 3 generations so far that use them, and some of them aren’t even good. I’ll never hesitate to drive this point into the ground, but I really wish Pokemon like Xatu, Charizard, Dragonite, and Salamence are permanently floating/flying in air. If it isn’t obvious, this is the way it is because of Sky Battles in X/Y, since they didn’t want to do extra work for the Pokemon permanently suspended in air. The problem is that those four Pokemon (and probably many others) really don’t feel like they are supposed to be in the air 24/7. According to their official art and sprites, they’re all on the ground. Xatu especially was made to look super tall and stout with its geometric wings flatly put on his torso, like the totem pole it’s supposed to be. In the air, it basically just hovers with his wings out, and for some reason it looks like there’s a large gust of wind keeping it afloat. It looks really weird. Salamence is also in the same boat, since its wings are so weird and not wing-like that making it constantly fly just looks so unnatural. Mega Salamence was at least designed to look like it’s supposed to be flying, but normal Salamence really should just rest on the ground. He’s too fat to be permanently lifted by his weird wings. Charizard and Dragonite aren’t as severe, since both are clearly shown to be otherwise super capable of flight, but they do feel better on their feet. I remember watching TyranitarTube’s series on one of the Extreme Randomizer hacks of the game, and in there somehow they made a Dragonite use it’s Amie/Refresh animation of sitting still on its feet in battle. It seriously felt so much better to look at, instead of this giant, poofy dragon being carried by its comically small wings. Basically, the way you should tell whether to keep them on the ground is based on the official art/sprites. That is the way the designers intended them to be depicted, so that’s the way they should be. Some exceptions that I’m actually fine with are pretty much all the regional birds, except Unfezant. They all look pretty decent flying, since flying’s basically all they do… Even Swellow, who has the same strange gust of wind as Xatu, feels more fitting like that because it seems so much more aerodynamic.

Apart from that, I just wish they were at least a little different. I’m not super against the muted colors they have compared to the sprites, but I wouldn’t be against more saturation. Considering how much work was put into all the different animations of the battles, Refresh, and both walking AND running animations, I unfortunately don’t think they’re going to change any time soon unless they explicitly say they’re going to change them for quality improvement. I would say the Pokemon from Gen 6 up are still pretty fine, since they were more meant for 3D.

As for battles, one of my favorite Pokemon games is, in fact, Pokemon Battle Revolution on the Wii. Not only was it super Sinnoh-focused, but it had multiple body types (even if I still look like none of them) with character customization for all, and great graphics for the time. People always look to it after citing the lacking Double Kick animation from SwSh, saying how animated the models were and how they liked the Pokemon actually running up to their target when using a physical attack. I will say that the model quality for a lot of them were still kind of iffy, and that some of the animations were a little too much. Specifically Pidgeotto, who was on one of the rental cards, was super energetic so as to seem a bit crazy, and felt a bit low-poly for the otherwise high quality of the environments and humans. However, going back to such a formula would be extremely welcome. I’m totally fine with the Pokemon not running up to their targets, but I wouldn’t be mad to see it put in, especially since the walking and running animations are already in the game. They would need to be balanced in terms of speed, though, since some of the animations in PBR felt really, really slow with that animation in there. Plus, some moves just need speed, like Quick Attack.

In terms of the move animations themselves, I do think some of the water effects in PBR felt too realistic compared to the rest of everything. Also, people say Double Kick looked bad in SwSh (like it ever looked good), but a hell of a lot of Fighting type animations in PBR were literally just the Pokemon walking up to their target, smacking them with nondescript flashes, and that’s it. So many of them could hardly be pieced apart depending on whether they were kicks, punches, or whatever. It would’ve been better either way if they put the physical move attack animation in for Double Kick, but PBR has its fair share of shitty move animations too. Moves like Seismic Toss looked fucking insane though, and I loved it. Seismic Toss specifically is the true test of move animation quality.

Also, it’s kinda irrelevant to anything, but I could totally get down with the Announcer from PBR returning for major battles like Gym battles or League battles. He was so much fun, even if a bit repetitive. All you need for that is a setting to turn him off, and bam. He’s a true classic.

More generally, though, I think Sword and Shield is a seriously mixed bag of graphical quality. I give the SwSh haters a lot of flack, but the one thing I 100% agree with is the texture of the trees from the Wild Area. They are god awful, even if it was in a game a decade ago. I seriously don’t know how they messed that up, since you can download better bark textures for free on the internet. Surely someone at Gamefreak could’ve done better there. If this was just a random tree in the background of some random route, then who cares, right? But no, this is practically every single tree in the Wild Area, the biggest selling point for the region and the game, where you would always spend the most time. You see so many of these trees everywhere, and they look horrible. I also hate the look of the berry trees, since they don’t seem to use the same lighting effects as everything else (just a guess though), but even apart from that the batch of lighter leaves on top of the bottom ones just looks so artificial. It looks as if they dumped a sphere of leaves on top of another sphere of leaves, like it was ice cream. Maybe some trees in the real world look like that, but sometimes it’s an artist’s job to take what sucks about reality to make it better for fiction.

On the other hand, I think locations like Motostoke look genuinely amazing. The brick textures are pretty good (compared to the tree), and all the colors and shapes of the place look really good. Also, when they go into full-on cutscene mode, the models, scenery, and everything else really shine. Obviously I’m not the king of all visual media, but it’s just weird to see that. It’s hard to compare to past games, because everything else was either 2D or on the 3DS, which wasn’t as powerful. Even though the Wii is definitely less powerful than the Switch, it doesn’t really count since there’s infinitely less content to worry about in PBR. Much more of the work could’ve gone into the graphics. Really, there doesn’t feel like there’s any excuse unless crunching is involved on the business side of things, which I really hope isn’t an issue for their sake. I would honestly love to see them announce that they’re taking a year or two off to devote themselves fully to a new generation, instead of trying to keep a yearly schedule. Something something Miyamoto quote something something.

Stylistically, it’s also a mixed bag, but at least this time it’s all just subjective. It feels like a lot of the game is meant to be somewhat blobbed together in some ways, like its a painting meant to be looked at from afar. It feels like there aren’t major outlines for things. Specifically with the Pokemon, they don’t have that outline they’ve had for the 2 generations before. It’s never been a big deal, and I really hate how low quality the outline made the models feel, so I don’t really know which style I want. Even though it’s still decent, I feel like most 3D models made to have a super notable outline on them look a little funky sometimes with it, so I don’t know if I want that, but without it they just don’t feel as solid. I really just don’t know there.

Music:

It feels like, even if a franchise is kinda iffy, the music is still consistently top tier. Like, no one thinks Sonic games have objectively bad music, even if they don’t like it. If they do, they’re just wrong. Pokemon’s the same, so thankfully this isn’t a test of which past game had the highest quality music. I do think the Wild Battle theme in SwSh does feel like it has a weird melody, but that is super outclassed by universally acclaimed bangers like the Slumbering Weald, and the battle themes of Marnie, Bede, Oleana, and the Battle Tower. Those aren’t just the best the generation has to offer, they’re seriously amazing themes.

Back in Gen 7, we have the Kahuna Battle, all themes of Team Skull and the Aether Foundation, Lillie’s theme, the Ultra Beasts (which might be more contentious but I like it) and Hau’oli City at night. In Gen 6, I at least liked the themes of Laverre City, Team Flare, and ESPECIALLY the Xerneas/Yveltal battle theme. Don’t even get me started about Pokemon Battle Revolution. I could go on and on, but I at least want to spotlight ORAS here because they knocked it out of the park with Archie and Maxie’s battle theme. It was the perfect drop, because the intro felt super muted and boring, and I was afraid they completely snubbed it, but the drop completely blew me away, and absolutely perfected the theme with the crazy trumpets Hoenn is known for. Also, Zinnia’s theme is amazing, as well as many other themes that are just improvements over the originals. The one thing I’m semi-iffy on is the Regi theme, an amazing theme for my favorite trio, but I never think anyone really makes it feel as lumbering and deep as it should, considering what it’s supposed to represent. The beat is arranged as it should, but it never feels punchy enough for me.

I’m really just praising the music here. Frankly, I see no reason to think the music is getting any worse.

Difficulty/EXP Share:

They’re basically the same thing, at least according to Gamefreak.

I always keep the EXP share on, but I do think that making it a permanent addition to the game was a major mistake. As explained in Shaymay’s video, it actually increases the overall experience you gain in battle, at least before. That seems absurd to make a permanent addition (although they likely changed it in SwSh because of that). I honestly just use it because I’m not into a challenge in games, but it should definitely be optional, if for no other reason than to be a bootleg difficulty slider. However, What about the difference between the Gen 6+ version and previous versions?

I think it’s easy. Make it like pre-Gen 6, but give you multiple shares. So, if you want to train up two underleveled Pokemon, make it so you don’t have to swap it between them. That way, if you really want to just spread the EXP thin, you can give one to everyone you have, and that’s that. Also, I think it should perfectly split the EXP, not adding anything onto it. If everyone on your team has one and you get 120 EXP, that’s 20 EXP for everyone. Of course, I do actually love the mechanic of being able to switch the share holder in to give them a disproportionately larger amount of EXP compared to everyone else. It just doubles the effectiveness of switch training, and makes it better for when you want to train them up but specifically not the higher level Pokemon you’re using to fight.

Some part of me wants to keep my precious easy mode in, but then I realize… Just make actual difficulty differences. Just give us a choice. Even if it’s just a “How well do you know the Pokemon world?” with a “I know all about it/I’m a bit unsure” text box in the beginning. In the harder variant, tutorials will be skipped automatically, trainers will have higher AI, and better teams. However, I don’t think higher levels is a perfect foil, because that can just be beat with grinding, and grinding is boring. Also, I’d have to guess the main reason why Gamefreak didn’t do this in the first place is that trading Pokemon would differ a bit between difficulties with different level curves, although apart from it just sounding like a bad thing I’m struggling to think of a genuine reason why it is. But, for the sake of playing, grinding sucks. It’s not fun, and I honestly think you shouldn’t just bump up levels and call it difficulty, because you don’t actually need skill to beat a higher level, just a better level and maybe RNG. But, if you actually had to effectively train a team of more than six, with Pokemon you swap out depending on your opponent, you would actually need to think of how you play the game. I think the main reason Pokemon games are so easy is that you can basically choose whatever you want and do almost whatever and still win. Some fights, as far as my playstyle goes, are still decently challenging because I just choose what Pokemon I like and not as much what’s good (unless something genuinely just sucks), and those battles, even though I would probably get annoyed at losing over and over, feel so much more rewarding to beat. And, of course, that’s only like a few major fights. I’ve never had any real trouble with trainers. I only think I’ve had a bit of trouble with the elite trainers in Let’s Go because I always try to use my lowest level Pokemon first to level them up, and keep my team at completely even levels. If I always just switched in the foil to my opponent, which I inevitably had, I would almost never lose a single Pokemon, mostly because of the “switch” battle setting.

But of course that begs the question of Pokemon being balanced for children and inexperienced players. I know way too much about this game, so obviously it’s a piece of cake for me no matter what, and what I want is supposedly what would frustrate everyone else. But… again, just put in the choice. People can choose whether they want to be challenged, or if they just want to play Pokemon, and if they choose wrong that’s on them, not anyone else. They could just reset the game and try again on an easier difficulty. It’s crazy to have to vouch for this, since it’s a staple in pretty much every other game in existence. Even in my casual state, I want to play a harder Pokemon. I want to test myself. Online competition is a bit much for me, but the AI is too little. Even in me replaying Pearl right now, I’m trying to use weirder and weaker Pokemon than I usually use for difficulty, and even that game was mostly a cakewalk. I’m only stuck at the Elite Four because I was somehow super underleveled. In the generation where I experience the AI switching out the most, they still just do that at random and keep in certain Pokemon that get completely walled by what I have out, only for me to stall them to death. AI definitely should switch out (and I honestly can’t remember it happening once since Gen 5, if even then) so if anything, just give them a more solid switching ability. Considering we have the opportunity to switch in whatever we want when they are about to send out something, they really need to take advantage of the power of switching.

Gyms are a big piece of difficulty that falls apart 90% of the time. The gym puzzles are rarely hard, with only a few notable exceptions requiring major thought, like the Circhester, Snowbelle, Snowpoint, and Sootopolis gyms. See a pattern? Why the heck to Ice types/themes get the worst resistances yet the best gym puzzles? Otherwise, if you’re not just fighting trainers (which you were going to do anyway) you’re bashing your head against a wall until something sticks. The Trials of SM/USUM were universally a joke, and were it not for the Totem fight they would’ve actually made me mad by how easy they are, considering they had the opportunity to revamp the whole system and knock it out of the park.

As for the Gym Leader, assuming we have to stick with the idea that they can only use one type still, they really have to cover their bases. Like, a Water gym leader would really have to have Flying type moves or Pokemon to counteract the easy Grass weakness, or something. You can’t get to the top with just one single type and nothing else. I do kind of think a master with no specific type speciality should only be reserved for the Champion, since it makes them more special, and because it seems like any old trainer can become one if they beat the last one, meaning it’s illogical for too many of them to have one special type. I can appreciate the choice philosophies of the Gyms like Raihan and Volkner, and Flint of the Elite Four, where they do specialize in one type, but they have a lot of different Pokemon involved who only have moves of that type. It still feels consistent, but also more varied. Also, I love the 1v2 dynamic of Totem fight. Not only does it blatantly put you at a disadvantage, but since the battles aren’t explicitly type based, they can put together some seriously unique strategies, like the Sunny Day Castform partner to the Totem Lurantis. It’s literally the most basic plan you can formulate, but it sure as hell made that one of the hardest early boss fights in the series, at least for me. It was pretty good stuff. Too bad other bosses like the Ultra Necrozma fight was just kind of cheap, with a +1 to all stats and super high level… Better than nothing though.

Versions:

I get that it’s a staple of the franchise, but I really hate version exclusives/differences. They’re just dumb. Specifically the differences of Black 2 and White 2 pissed me off the most, because guess what? They did have difficulty options! But… they were version exclusive. Like White Kyurem more than Black Kyurem? Or, maybe Reuniclus is your favorite Pokemon? (not bitter) Well, too bad. You’re only allowed the expressly easier mode of the game, which you only unlock after beating it normally????? That’s just stupid. I’d sort of be okay with it if you unlocked easy mode after normal mode, then unlocking hard mode after beating easy mode (like how I thought it was before I looked it up), but limiting stuff like that is just ridiculous. I mean, it’s dumb to have to unlock an easy mode after beating the normal game to begin with. I’m honestly considering trying to beat easy mode without evolving any Pokemon though. Self-imposed difficulty is fun sometimes, but yeah…

Also, the differences of Sun and Moon also are dumb. Like playing in the day, but like Lunala more? Maybe Purple is your all-time favorite color and you want to wear it? Well, too bad. Go ahead and flip your 3DS’s internal clock around, messing up all other time based games you play. It’s a gimmick that transcends Mega Evolution, Z-Moves, and Dynamax.

Now, there’s a completely new problem: Some people bought the wrong expansion pass for their game. Because there were two versions, people literally just wasted money on absolutely nothing. To be fair, those people are blind idiots, but still. I really just want one version. Please.

The whole semi-in-grouping that happens when the version exclusive Pokemon are first revealed is kinda fun, but 90% of the time people have to settle for a few Pokemon they like and a few they don’t. For example, I bought Sword specifically because I like Zacian more, and the legendaries would be much harder to come by than other version exclusives. In the meanwhile, I preferred practically every other version exclusive over Sword’s, including but not limited to my boy Reuniclus. I don’t use old Pokemon in newer generations anyway, but it still sucks to have to choose like that.

It was obviously meant to give people much more to look for, since they physically can’t get some Pokemon, and have them interact with others to get them. The only problem is that we just have the Internet now. It doesn’t help to just ask someone online for a trade for a version exclusive. It’s just an extra stepping stone that really isn’t that fun to deal with.

I was originally going to say that the games/console cost more so less people would buy them, but considering SwSh absolutely knocked it out of the park, overselling even the highest selling games from the past, that’s clearly not an issue. My sister even bought Let’s Go Pikachu after buying Let’s Go Eevee for herself, since we both initially got Eevee. Thankfully she seems relatively into buying the games now, so we can coordinate and get different versions. That’s how I was able to complete my Pokedex for the first time in Sword (although obviously there’s less Pokemon to find). I think she even bought a separate Sword version for herself too… Is this what the average consumer is like?

Honestly all of this is just sort of subjective because really it’s not a big deal, but it would be so much less of a deal and make the games much more perfect and reasonable story wise if they just used one version. For example, Circhester is clearly an Ice-themed location, but in Sword you face a Rock gym leader, instead of the Ice one. And, the opposite is true in Stow-on-side, because Sword has the more logical gym with the boxing gloves punching you around and the tough city that feels as Fighting as Fighting could be without being a literal dojo. But, in Shield you face some Ghost kid. To be fair, I do like that version exclusivity is bleeding into some of the characters too, so if there is to be version exclusives at all let there be version exclusive characters, but it would just feel so much better to have it all sorted into one place. Also, to consider past installments, Ho-oh is clearly more important to the overall plot of the world than Lugia is, as shown by Ho-oh always being an important, mystical lore figure in the Anime and such, while Lugia is just like “Wow, there’s Lugia! So powerful!” Thankfully the plot didn’t entirely revolve around them, but it could’ve if they just focused on Ho-oh.

Story:

Pokemon has definitely had its fair share of dumb stories, which is excusable because it’s not actually the focus of the game, but it doesn’t hurt to have.

You obviously can’t talk story without talking about Black and White. Also, you really can’t talk a Pokemon story without talking about the evil Team in each game, because they’re basically the entire motor for plot. Still, though, Team Plasma is easily the best Team in the franchise for story purposes. The biggest thing is that they seem like the most reasonable team, making them seem like people who are just so into their ideals that it looks like a cult. Also, in B2W2, they actually split up into the friendly division of Plasma, where they actually carry out their goals of wanting Pokemon to be happy and free, while Neo-Plasma does all the Team Rocket-level shenanigans that mess everything up. Not only is it just reasonable, but it answers a question that comes with the overall concept of the franchise: How can Pokemon want to battle for the sake of humans, etc? It doesn’t make sense, and naturally someone in the world would take that to the extreme when they realized it. It also makes sense why the grunts are so hellbent on wreaking havoc around Unova, because they are each led to truly believe what they are doing is right for the world. Other villains like Archie and Cyrus are just like “humans are bad, let’s destroy them” which is like a lite version of this idea, but it feels almost too supervillain-y to take seriously, and the grunts just feel like henchmen. Plasma feels just real enough, with somewhat level-headed people like N making it seem like they’re almost not crazy.

People always say Team Rocket is the best, but even though their motives are so simple enough so as to seem real and good story-wise, they do feel like they don’t really add anything to the overall idea of Pokemon. At the time it was just “Pokemon are strong so bad people can use strong Pokemon for bad” which makes sense, but really doesn’t feel like it extends beyond that. Don’t get me wrong, I would say they’re objectively second best (because subjectively Galactic is my #1) but I do think Plasma is better.

Since they’re the most recent, Team Yell is the most nothing out of this list. That only makes them second worst, above Team Flare, who felt like they were trying to do something big but fell flat. Team Yell as the resident “evil Team” feels weird, because they do almost nothing. They are only similar to Skull on the surface, that being all rough-and-tumble teenager types, as underneath them being a toxic fanbase is somewhat interesting, but they, again… just felt like nothing. The plot wasn’t even close by to them, like with Skull was, being tied in with the Aether Foundation. They’re just there to be goons and go away. At least they did lead to the first Dark type gym leader, but again… their leader is a Gym leader. We would’ve seen him no matter what he did, so it feels less interesting. I do want the Team to actually do something.

The problem is that, since Plasma already did good, how do you do something that’s original but still good? To be honest, I want it to involve Foundations, like a morally good alternative archetype to the evil Team. Our first run-in with a Foundation was led astray by a crazy leader, but it seems like they’re still good overall, so I at least want to see more of them. Maybe instead of the Team searching for world domination by using the box legendary, maybe you and the Foundation have to search for the box legendary so they can help you defeat the Team, who may or may not have the third/another legendary on their side, and you have to prove yourself to it to get it to trust you. Sort of like Sword and Shield, but more involved. Zacian and Zamazenta just sort of appear when things go bad, and that’s it. You just hear stories about them before that. That’s at least better structure-wise, although the motives and themes would still have to be dealt with. There are so many possibilities there it’s hard to choose.

One thing, though: I definitely believe that Pokemon was never even close to an open world game, and people thinking the new games are too linear compared to the old ones just have rose tinted glasses on. Kanto had bad crossing over, where you’d sometimes find yourself severely overleveled when interacting with a story event, and beyond that all other games were pretty linear too, with only a few slight special, optional areas that aren’t involved with the plot. Of course, I still think the game would benefit from being open world. Some games don’t have to be open world, and that makes them feel sort of empty, but Pokemon as an idea is exactly perfect for that. They were toying with the idea a bit with the Wild Area, and I do think if they really went crazy with that idea it could be fun. Everyone always wants to compare it to Breath of the Wild, but I do love how seamless everything is in that game. Even with the enemies popping up out of the grass/flying down from the air/just romping in a set area like Pokemon would. Gym leaders could just use different teams based on how many badges you have, like how they imply it works in that Pokemon Origins series. Then, you might be able to scale up the Pokemon you can find too that way, like with the Wild Area. BotW’s story was very light, but if you just either use a quest system/map markers you can still manage a decent story in an open world. Plus, Pokemon has a ton of side quests anyways, like all the ghost quests they always seem to put in. You can literally “get” the quest, get distracted, and completely forget you were even doing any sort of quest because they don’t remind you in any way. Side quests could even get you extra doses of EXP for your team, giving them a use.

The Gimmick:

I don’t want every generation to have a gimmick. Ideas are severely limited in that front, and when everyone’s special, no one is.

Mega Evolution was kinda cool, as it improved on old Pokemon without making them another part of an evolutionary chain. Also, it lets some Pokemon get different forms with entirely different strategies to them (even if they’re version exclusive…) But, as someone who plays Pokemon for the monster designs themselves, I actually kinda don’t like it. No, not because Mega designs are bad, but because they completely trump the designs they evolve from. For example, Mawile isn’t just “Mawile” anymore. It’s more of a “Not-mega Mawile.” It feels so much less complete now that it has a form on top of it that isn’t permanent. Same goes for starters like Sceptile, who feels kind of boring compared to its Mega. It always sucks when a Pokemon you like evolves into something you don’t like (Popplio for me) and you have to deal with the fact that, even if you like a Pokemon, you aren’t supposed to keep it like that, and it’s brought down because of it. I mean, I guess this is all just personal. Obviously it’s easy to like an early evolution, but it feels so much better to like a final evolution. Since Megas are both temporary in battle, not available outside of battle, and limited to the very late game usually, liking a Mega feels kinda pointless for in-game purposes, where you interact with your Pokemon the most. Plus, for Pokemon like Mawile, you’re using an “incomplete” Pokemon for as long as you don’t have the right Mega stone. It’s obviously fine when all your other Pokemon are incomplete as well, but yeah… Just kinda sucks sometimes. Plus, anything achieved by Mega Evolutions could just as easily be achieved by normal evolutions. The only issue is Pokemon like Beedrill not being able to evolve again, and Pokemon like the starters or legendaries who are already too good to get another stage. I feel like weak, 3rd stage Pokemon like Beedrill deserve that kind of treatment the most, but no one else. If they can evolve normally, evolve them normally, and if they’re already too good, just let them be.

Then there’s Z-moves, which solves one problem of Mega-Evolution: All Pokemon can get involved. No matter what, your Pokemon can unleash super cool but sometimes questionably named moves. And, apart from new animations, the special Z-moves aren’t so insanely preferable to the normal ones. It’s cool, but if every Pokemon gets to use them, it kinda gets old after a while. Also, it’s a one-time use, so if you fuck it up it’s wasted. It’s definitely not perfect, but I will say I love the special Z-move animations, mainly because it’s not just Pokemon doing stock animations for a quick little attack. They animated that Pokemon specifically for this attack, which is basically a cutscene, and it always looks better. It is a bit strange, though, that even though Z-moves are seemingly named after Zygarde, it doesn’t even get a special Z-move of its own. That dude really got the shaft when it comes to 3rd legend attention...

Now we have Dynamax and Gigantamax. I just want to say that, when it first was revealed that you can turn your Pokemon into Kaiju I was extremely hyped. More hyped than I had any right to be. Considering nothing else, Dynamax definitely is the winner in terms of visual concept. Not only does it just look cool, but I love how Gym stadiums are designed specifically to accommodate them. It’s a nice touch of worldbuilding (even though it’s basically necessary). Unfortunately… It’s easily the Jack of all trades, master of none in terms of gameplay. It’s like Mega Evolution in how you change the appearance and power of your Pokemon, and it’s like Z-moves because they have super powerful moves with special effects. Sounds alright I guess, but I really just wish they kept the previous two gimmicks instead of just making a new one that checks them both off. Also, Gigantamax actually annoys me. They try to make it seem like your Pokemon changes, but the vast majority of them either look worse or hardly change at all. Specifically, Copperaja looks like an absolute joke, even though normal Copperaja is one of my favorites of the region. But, ones like Hatterene, Corviknight, Garbodor, and Grimmsnarl hardly look any different at all. Even Appultun and Flapple have the exact same Gigantamax. Who cares? Even their moves have almost exactly the same animations as their type’s counterparts, with a slightly different particle effect. It’s so much less interesting than they make it seem, and it has all the problems of liking Megas over their base, but worse, since they’re more temporary and only allowed in certain areas. Plus, Gigantamax isn’t even a thing possible with all members of a single species. Obviously now they’re introducing a way to change that, but at that point why not just do it Mega style? It’s not even that much better, but there’s so much more work in it. It’s like less rare shinies. It did bring about a decent event in the games, those being the Max Raid Battles, which both have good rewards and good challenge to them. I don’t have friends so they suck for me, but with friends it looks awesome.

I feel like the worst part is that they probably are just going to retcon these gimmicks in the future, like they did with the Pokedex. It makes sense, but each thing was made to be such a massive deal in their respective regions, it feels lame that they’re just gone now.

But, oh my god. You have no idea. Regional Variants are the best thing to happen to Pokemon since, I dunno, whatever. They’re amazing, and something that should never leave the franchise ever. Like a Kantonian form more than an Alolan form? Sure. It’s still there with all its power, it just has a different style in this region. That is not only biologically logical, but it brings back interest in a Pokemon without outclassing the classics. Plus, now it feels like every single Pokemon has a possibility to shine that is both permanent and preserving of the original. I just can’t get enough of it. Then Sword and Shield introduced the idea of Regional Evolutions, which can be both plain evolutions and split evolutions from the normal form like with Cofagrigus and Runerigus, meaning the possibilities are endless. Then, even further, regional LEGENDARIES. It doesn’t make sense lore-wise but who cares, the new birds look awesome as all hell and I actually like them now. It’s so perfect, I don’t want anything more than this in future games. I would kill for some Sinnoh variants of post-gen 4 Pokemon in the remakes. Hell, I hope Sinnoh gets revamped with a ton of different options across the later generations so it feels significantly different from the originals.

As for things like Primal Reversion, I honestly don’t even know. It’s even less significant than Gigantamax, but since it has more interesting lore I’m sort of fine with it. I do hope they use it for other legends too, especially since Palkia and Dialga are just asking for it, with their respective orbs, and Dialga already having the “Primal” title elsewhere. And yes, I know he’s called “Dark Dialga” in Japanese.

If I may be so bold, I think a neat gimmick that can be both unique, interesting, and completely alter the strategies of battle, would be some sort of temporary type inversion. That is, everything going out of and coming into the inverted Pokemon will have reverse effectiveness. It’s like the fringe little Inverse battle you can go through in X/Y, but turned into a mechanic that’s inserted into normal battles. Visually, it would give the Pokemon a negative look, as in inverting their colors and shading. I don’t see how this could single out certain Pokemon in a special way, like with a form change or anything, but maybe there could be one specific Pokemon that has an ability that does something special when it inverts. Maybe items could be made for a special use too. I was sort of half-using it for a fan region I’m half-devoted to that will likely not be a full fledged idea, but I do like it.

Roadblocks/HMs:

I’m entirely fine with the way things are now, where you just get the HMs as key items you use whenever you want, but I can sympathize with the small contingent of people who like using their Pokemon to traverse the world, instead of anything else. I definitely think anyone who prefers HMs beyond that reason is an absolute lunatic, but I think there is some sort of a point to be made, and I think a combo of Let's Go and Sun and Moon have the answer. It is so much more fun to ride your Pokemon around than it is to get a bike (and put on some seriously ugly clothing, mind you), and I think Let's Go with giving you the option to ride your Pokemon instead of using a bike is seriously fun. I used a Rapidash almost exclusively for that purpose in my run of that game. Who the hell wouldn’t want to ride a Rapidash, assuming you weren’t going to catch fire? Plus, it’s YOUR Rapidash. Ride Pokemon in Sun and Moon were still pretty good, because they served functions you wouldn’t normally expect from HMs, like Tauros being both your bike replacement and Rock Smash, while Stoutland is a dowsing rod. It does get a bit weird when you “ride” a Machamp just so it can push rocks for you, but it’s better than forcing you to teach one of your team members a normal type move at the very end of the game since you absolutely need it to move on, and having to keep it until you can fly back to the move deleter. Honestly, if you could just delete HMs on the fly, they would be so much more acceptable. Still would be worse than what we have now tho.

Basically, I think Pokemon should have inherent HM abilities in them. That is, every single Tauros you catch can smash rocks, and every single Machamp you catch can push rocks. Each Pokemon would either be capable or incapable of a task, and you only need that species to go through it. That way, you’re both using your own Pokemon, while also not limiting their moves. It also makes it easy to tell why birds like Starly shouldn’t be able to carry you and fly you around, while birds like Staraptor can. I also think any road blocks using Rock Smash or Cut should be entirely optional, and for secrets only. In order to make Fly a limited option, maybe only fully evolved Fly-logical Pokemon can use it, so you can’t just fly somewhere in the early game. But, another thing: if you can fly early, so what? It’s not like you get extra options, you only can go back to places you’ve already been to. Even though it doesn’t make sense logically, it’s a very fair piece of game design that really doesn’t have a super obvious reason why it’s limited to the middle few gyms. If you have a strong bird that can pick you up, you obviously worked enough to get some convenience.

But then, what would be a roadblock to keep you from going too far? A horde of dancing men? Honestly, that’s just one of those things fixed by my open world idea. Maybe some areas can be super strong so as to tell you that you shouldn’t be there, and maybe implement the idea of the Wild Area where you can’t catch the strong-looking Pokemon, but apart from that make most of the world scale up with you. Surely some areas would be slightly higher leveled then the rest, though, for the sake of variety. The Wild area does get a bit stale when literally everything you encounter is exactly lvl 60. Obviously there could be some pointless story-focused roadblocks that only clear when you progress, because that is how it is in real life. You can’t just walk into some business’ office unless you have business there. Of course, you can’t exactly walk into random strangers’ houses either, but still.

I do want to praise ORAS again because the Soar feature with the Latis was extremely cool. It was like Ride Pokemon but using the objectively coolest possible HM to control. If they sort of nerfed the Fly mechanic and made it so you did have to ride your Pokemon and fly them there like the Latis I wouldn't mind that at all. Although, surely some other people would...

Other Bits:

- I still think that, even though having every Pokemon in the game would be great, I think if it can improve the game elsewhere I wouldn’t mind them saving some space. The problem is that Sword and Shield really wasn’t the best way to suggest it would vastly improve anything. I’ve gone on ad nauseam elsewhere about that so bleh

- I love seeing Pokemon in the overworld. I do think it would benefit from the Let’s Go treatment, where you can at least see if a Pokemon is shiny or not. Either way, it gives them so much more personality, like how some charge head-first at you while some walk up and casually examine you.

- I don’t really care too much about Pokemon following you to be honest. It would obviously be preferred over the alternative, but I’m not gonna riot if it doesn’t happen. It did give a lot of personality I didn’t expect in Lets Go, like Bellsprout being so darn speedy.

- I could probably make a whole nother giant rant about the overall designs of Pokemon but needless to say I’m fine with it overall. I do sort of wish they’d do something else with the starters though, since I haven’t genuinely loved a starter since Gen 4. Honestly Chesnaught was pretty close, but I still get the urge to replace him with something more interesting. Outside of them, though, I think things are going good. Some are duds, but some are bangers like Corvinight, Grimmsnarl, Hatterene, Frosmoth, and a bunch of others which I could easily list but this is supposed to be succinct comments so

- There definitely has to be some sort of endgame content, but everyone already knows that. Seriously though, what if the colosseums from PBR become the replacement Battle Frontier? That would be dope. Although the normal Battle Frontier would be fine too, I guess…

- PBR PBR PBR. PBR is great for it’s realistic sizes of Pokemon. If you’re going to use full-size models of humans, the Pokemon should match. Or, at least make it a little more true to reality. Yes, Wailord is too damn small.

#Pokemon #sword #shield #rant #rambling #dlc #isle of armor #opinions #it seriously took me 5 hours straight to write all this #ideas

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kirain · 6 years

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Top Ten Favourite Anime Games

For this list, I will only be including games that are specifically considered part of the anime genre, NOT games that were created by Japan Studio or other Japanese companies/creators. So games like shadow of the colossus, Bloodborne, Metal Gear, Resident Evil, etc., won’t be mentioned. While it is arguable that such games could fit the anime genre, it’s never been clarified. So here’s a list of my top 10 anime games.

1. Gravity Rush

There’s no real order for this list EXCEPT for Gravity Rush. It is easily my number one favourite pick. I bought it for next to nothing thinking it would be a cute little experience, but it ended up gripping my interest for four days straight; which is rare for me. While at work, all I could think about was getting back to it, and it’s one of the few games with trophies that didn’t annoy me. Seriously-- not one trophy pissed me off. In every game there’s at least two or three that really grind my gears, but Gravity Rush had nada.

There are several challenges in the game that are tough but fair, and they never become boring because they’re designed in such a way that the more you play them, the better you get. You begin to learn the controls, the landscape, the shortcuts, etc., which makes for some excellent gameplay. At no point in the game do you feel like a failure, which is nice once in a while. On top of that the story is fun, the characters are lovable, and the art is breathtaking. During each new chapter, we’re given information in the form of a hand-drawn manga, which only adds to the uniqueness. The language in the game is also made up, so anyone can relate to it. And the music? Oh, don’t even get me started:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxIC6Vu1ee0&t=43s

And just when I thought it couldn’t get any better, they went ahead and created a sequel, Gravity Rush 2! It’s pretty rare, in my opinion anyway, that video games have sequels that measure up to their predecessor, but Gravity Rush 2 might be even better! It lets us revisit old friends, make new friends, explore more areas, it gives us grater challenges and a newly implemented difficulty setting, and additional online adventures that have nothing to do with achievements! What really hits me about these games, though, is the freedom. You get to fly wherever you want, anytime you want, at ridiculous speeds. The world is vast, beautiful, and so fun to navigate.

After playing and falling in love with these games, I can only assume they’re called “Gravity Rush” because they’re an absolute rush to play.

2. Devil May Cry

Specifically the first game, Devil May Cry will always have a special place in my heart. I played the game a lot when I was in grade school and kept replaying it well into my high school years. All the way up until my PS2 broke. :’)

Now, I do know that this game was created by Capcom and that it was supposed to be related to the Resident Evil franchise, but director Hideki Kamiya openly stated that the game is an anime-style hack and slash action-adventure game, and even gave the anime T.V. show, Devil May Cry: The Animated Series by Shin Itagaki, his professional seal of approval.

That said, Devil May Cry is addictive with its brutal but charming character Dante, and its dark and twisted plot/gameplay. If you’re into cool characters, blood and guts, and kick-ass combat, this is the game for you!

3. Catherine

Another nostalgic game for me, Catherine was something I played constantly when I was in high school. The animation is enticing, the story is a giant mind f*ck, and the English voice acting is stupendous. Like many story-related anime games, it has multiple endings, as well as a karma metre that wraps into your choices. The story revolves around a man named Vincent Brooks, who is beset by supernatural nightmares while torn between his feelings for longtime girlfriend Katherine and the similarly-named beauty Catherine.

While the game is mostly a platformer, the challenges are unreal, especially in Babel (an extra area not related to the story) and the arcade game, Rapunzel. If you want your brain to turn to mush, I’d suggest setting this baby to the hardest difficulty. Naturally there’s a trophy for beating everything with a gold time, so if you get that you’ll be able to gloat to all your friends about how smart you are. XD

Jokes aside, though, there are other aspects to the game that keep you going. You won’t get bored of the platforming because between each level is the story, given to us in two distinct anime styles, and a trip to the bar, where you can get drunk and interact with other characters. Depending on the dialogue you choose, you could be responsible for their dreams coming true ... or their untimely death. A remake of the game will be coming out for PS4 next year and I can’t wait to play it!

4. No More Heroes

No More Heroes is another action-adventure hack and slash video game that follows a man named Travis Touchdown ... who is a hardcore otaku. Literally all he cares about is killing and anime, which makes for a hilarious story. Travis is also a top-class assassin in a world where assassins constantly compete. Think John Wick: The Anime. This game is full of comedy and combat, as well as cool characters, crude challenges, and a cuddly kitty cat. I played this game religiously when I was in high school, and enjoyed it even up to it’s weird mind f*ck of an ending. The only downside being that it’s only available on Wii, which made for an interesting and unique experience, but a sad realisation that it will never be available for any other platform.

5. Trauma Center: Second Opinion

Just like No More Heroes, Trauma Center: Second Opinion is only available on Wii; but that in no way affected my love for it. Second Opinion is the second game in a long line of Trauma Centers, but for some reason it’s the only one I enjoy. Perhaps it’s because playing it on the Wii gave it a sense of realism. The game is a surgery simulator, and like an actual surgeon, you have to concentrate and keep your hands steady to succeed. If you move too quickly or throw yourself off balance, the patient will die. The art and music are also incredible and, believe it or not, there’s actually a pretty interesting story that goes along with each chapter. As you work your way to more advanced operations, you really take a liking to the characters and feel a strong sense of duty to your patients. To anyone who owns a Wii, this is definitely a game I’d recommend.

6. Chibi-Robo!

Chibi-Robo! This game takes me back! I spent hours upon hours playing this game, and I still would today if my copy hadn’t been stolen. This little treat is only available on the Wii and GameCube, and was created by Nintendo. It’s one of the most adorable platform-adventure games I’ve ever played to date. The Wiki explains the plot perfectly, so I’ll just post it here:

“Chibi-Robo! takes place in a 1960s-style American home and revolves around a tiny, highly advanced robot of the same name. He is given as a birthday gift to a socially withdrawn eight-year-old named Jenny Sanderson by her father. This is much to the dismay of Jenny's mother, a homemaker who is constantly stressed over how much money her husband spends on toys despite his unemployment.”

For a game that seems so basic, there are a plethora of areas to explore and they are huge. Ironically so, I’m sure, but it makes for some amazing gameplay nonetheless. As you wander, you help other creatures around the house, including the family, solve their problems and complete challenging and often comedic tasks; such as flipping burgers, cleaning up puddles, and-- you know-- helping the egg general save his fellow egg soldiers from the household dog. Yeah, stuff like that. XD

Honestly, it’s super fun and I recommend it to anyone, no matter what their age. It’s clearly geared towards children, but I can’t think of a single reason why an adult wouldn’t enjoy it just as much. It’s relaxing, freeing, and puts a genuine smile on your face. :)

7. Pokemon X and Y

Okay, I know I probably shouldn’t add Pokemon to this list, but I can’t help it! I’ve always loved the Pokemon games, but they just get better and better every time! Pokemon X and Y quickly became favourites of mine, and they consumed my life for a good two months as I captured every single Pokemon, bred the perfect IVs, and worked my ass off to get every shiny I desired. On top of that, I loved the story and, for once, how my character design turned out. What’s more, I fell absolutely in love with the Looker side quest, which is possibly the best and most emotional side quest I’ve ever played in a Pokemon game. X and Y will always be special to me, because in was with these two games that I caught ‘em all!

8. Pokemon Sun and Moon

Visually, Pokemon Sun and Moon are the best of the Pokemon games, in my opinion. They were also the first to really shake things up and give fans new and improved methods of breeding, capture, travel, communication, and more. We were also introduced to a new type of pokemon called “ultra beasts”, along with a fun and alluring story with several new characters and legendaries. Throughout the game, I found myself laughing hard at some of the experiences, and I spent countless hours capturing, trading, breeding, spoiling, and loving all of the new pokemon the games had to offer. I even transferred my pokemon from X and Y over so I could give them the same love and affection. ^_^

I have to thank @cassafra5 and @george-nordington, because they’re the ones who bought me this masterpiece! Thanks, guys! <3

9. .hack//OUTBREAK

This is a game that will always be near and dear to my heart. Back before guides were widely available, I was playing a game called .Hack//OUTBREAK. It came out in 2002, when I was only 12 years old. Back then, my dad was still alive. He never really understood my taste in anime, but he wanted to try and relate, so he bought this game for me on a whim. Little did he know I knew absolutely nothing about the .Hack series, and little did either of us know that OUTBREAK was actually the third part to two other .Hack games. Still, I didn’t want to hurt his feelings, so I played the game-- and I fell in love.

Visually, OUTBREAK was one of the best games I owned on PS2, and although parts of the story were difficult to follow, I was hooked. I dedicated entire days to this game, and because there weren’t any guides, I had to write down every code and location so I wouldn’t get lost/forget them. Today, I still have pages folded safely in the case. The amount of exploration and character interaction opened me up to a whole new genre of video games. In fact, it basically introduced me to anime-style games. I could actually buy gifts for my friends and build relationships. That seems common now, but back then it wasn’t for a typical PS2 game.

Unfortunately, tragedy struck when the save cartridge was accidentally kicked by my brother and all of my data was lost. I wasn’t too concerned, since I figured I could just replay the game and get everything back ... but the disk was also severely, irreparably scratched. It no longer plays. As such, it is now merely a keepsake from my father. I miss you, dad.

But 16 years later and my sister and I are still quoting this game! XD @alannahkiwi https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0I-7hwgwqa4

10. Persona 5

I only recently started playing Persona 5, but it’s quickly made its way to my top ten. I can’t say too much about it just yet, aside from the fact that the animation is crisp, the story is gripping, and I’m ready to sink hours of my life into platinuming this gorgeous feet of human achievement! So much heart and sole was poured into this game and it shows with every in-game step I take. This is the only game on this list that I haven’t yet finished, but I have a sense that I don’t really need to. Thus far, every mission has been a gem and I don’t want the party to end!

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cottonsecurityblanket · 7 years

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So I watched The Ancient Magus Bride ⚠Spoiler Warning⚠

When I saw the ad of this show on Instagram I said in the comments if that girl doesn’t fall in love with the skull man I’m going to be very disappointed. I WAS NOT IN THE SLIGHTEST! I’m gonna talk about this very differently and this might be really long so I’m sorry. So here’s my thoughts on the anime.

I FUCKING LOVE IT! THIS SHOW GIVES ME LIFE! CURSE YOU ANIME MAKING ME WANNA DATE AND/OR FUCK THINGS I SHOULDN’T! Weeaboo cringe aside hot damn this show is good. Now let’s chat.

Firstly the opening. I don’t really pay attention to openings because I’m on my phone but this one made me stop everything and shush my boyfriend. Talk about something that grabs you. The singer’s name is Junna and she’s only 16 years old. The guitar is amazing and the visuals during it are great and those opening lyrics. WOO! It’s something new and fresh. Get away from the rock style music in a anime about step sisters in love (Citrus) or some dude singing high pitched with a great guitar riff and that be the only part I enjoy (Tokyo Ghoul). I love this opening. I listen to it in my free time and it just fucks me up.

WATASHI WA KOKO. Fucks me all the way up.

So in the beginning we see a girl with red hair and green eyes from Japan whose name is Chise (like cheese and say) and she’s selling herself because she wants to feel wanted and almost jumped from a building because she hates how she’s treated like an outcast. The scene then goes to Chise in chains walking through this auditorium like place with other creatures and this is the first indication or how visually amazing this anime is. Behind Chise are like giant wolf creatures and the reflection of the light from aquariums just….this anime is stunning. The animation quality of this show is 16 outta 10. I usually dont like when a serious anime turns chibi for light banter but when this anime does it I have no issue. The design of Chise, the vibrant colors, the lighting, reflection is absolutely gorgeous.

People are bidding on Chise and a man with a red blanket over his face and antlers bids 6 million on her. In this scene she’s sold to people in a…illegal magic auction i assume and Chise is a Sleigh Beggy.

A Sleigh Beggy is a person who has overwhelming amount of magic flowing from them but the amount of magic is so much that their bodies can’t handle it and they die in a year or two which is weird by the way because if Chise has been a Sleigh Beggy all her life and has lived this long you’d think shed be okay to live a little longer but whatever. Plot holes are like pot holes you can ignore them when you know where they are.

Throughout the show it’s implied but never directly said that there have been other Sleigh Beggys but nobody has really seen them in person. This is mostly because of how every new person she meets is shocked and amazed at her.

Back to the auction after a man bids 6M he wins her and we see that hes maybe 6'11 or 7 ft tall and has a wolf skull as a head (yes I looked it up). His name is Elias and they call him the Mage of the Thorn. We see why later in the episode and in episode 7 when Chise gets stabbed by a giant mantis and he looses his shit. Turning into this creature that I wish I could explain.

Immediately after the auction Elias takes her to his house and removes her chains with a touch. The house is adorable and I love it. I couldn’t live in it by myself though. Elias has a maid named Silver but Chise calls her Silkie. She cooks, cleans, and tends to the garden. In episode 15 we learn that Silkie is a Banshee and she fell into a catatonic state after her first family died. This Faire spirit leads her to a new house and he asks why she was there and Silkie says “I want my family.” this is the first time we hear she has a voice. And that she can talk. Being a banshee though I doubt she really could without breaking stuff or warning of death.

Even in the short lived sentence Silkie is whispering. The Faire dresses her as a Victorian era style maid with a bonnet and wide dress and names her Silver. In the same episode we gets lots of quiet time with her as she sits around an empty house waiting for Elias and Chise to return. When Silkie was first introduced in the show I thought she would be the quiet character that doesn’t have emotions but everyone would love. In the first few episodes when she gives Chise her plate of breakfast she wraps her arms around her shoulders and rests her chin on her head. In the quiet segment with Silkie she shows that she is bored and misses Elias and Chise in the house. When they return Silkie is happy and hugs Chise. I love Silkie as a character. She takes care of both Chise and Elias which is adorable and she has a scene where she stands outside Elias’s bedroom door with a bat and that got a chuckle from me. Hell I rewinded that scene a few times.

After being taken home ,in the first episode, Chise, while in the bath internally monologues, reveals that her mother tried to kill her and her father and brother left her at a young age. She was bullied in school and pushed to the point of almost jumping off of a building then bringing us to the introduction of the anime.

While Chise is in the bath faire sprites come to greet her and call her Robin and say her red hair means she’s got great magic abilities. Later on in the night one of the faire sprites invites her for a walk in the forest to go outside. Turns out it’s a trap to lead Chise into what’s called “The Other Side” which is basically a relm where Faires live in meaning shed be a Faire. Chise choses not too because Elias is the only home and family she knows so she tells them no and then Elias comes to save her and we see his magic for the first time. Aftrr this scene we get to the meat and gravy of what this show is about. Elias says he will train Chise as his apprentice and he wants her to be his bride.

As Im sure you can tell this anime is about magic but unlike the successful Fairy Tail and the failure (in my opinion) that is Black Clover this is something very different and new. There are mages, sorcerers, witches, dragons, faires, centaurs, and demons in this world and we see so many variations and different kinds of each of these things. Even knew kinds of magical creatures that I’ve never seen before. You can truly see the time, effort, and dedication to this show and its absolutely amazing. I wish I could think of another word but this show is just amazing.

The first episode is very good about making you want to watch the next episode so find out more about the characters and story. It’s also very good at not revealing too much but just enough about Elias that not only makes Chise want to know more but also you.

Elias Ainsworth is a creature of some sort but nobody really knows what. He doesn’t know what but he is half fae. The first memories of his existence are of him walking. He can go into the shadows of people and hide in them (something he does with Chise a lot) and also has this weird ability to change his form from something wolf like with a fish tail, to something snake like, and in episode 18 he turns into this mass where he tries to eat Chise because he’s throwing a temper tantrum. Why? Cuz Chise had a friend over. No I’m not joking.

In episode 3 Chise meets Lindel who is the caretaker of the Land of Dragons and she goes back to him in episode 12 and this is when Lindel explains how he met Elias. Elias unsure of what he is, is very confused. He thinks he used to eat humans which seems like a stretch but sometime in an episode when Chise sleeps in Elias bed with him (the same scene with Chise and the bat) and he’s threatening to eat her. Not a personal kink of mine but I don’t kink shame. In the beginning it seems that Elias just wants to help her but then it turns into Elias learning emotions and more about humans. It’s adorable really but often problematic.

I say problematic because and @redslayvega talked about this in their post about how both Chise and Elias have mental issues. A summary of their post is that Chise is willing to do anything to make anyone happy besides her while Elias is very dependent on her and has separation anxiety. Anytime Chise leaves to do her own thing he pouts and that affects Chise however she does keep doing it. I forget which episode it is, but when Chise hangs out with Alice on Christmas Eve he says she should’ve done it and he doesn’t trust her to go out alone anymore. In episode 21 the dude takes one of Chise’s dear friends to trade places with her when she gets the dragon’s curse. I mean jesus Elias. Chise rocks his jaw and is pissed. I would be too. She gets angry saying that she wanted to think about it with him. He can’t stand the thought of her leaving him.

Besides that Chise and Elias’s relationship is very adorable and I absolutely love it. It changes from student and teacher to mother and son, to father and daughter, and in reality their just two kids who need to figure out what emotions really are. Chise doing more than Elias. The sound Elias’s skull makes when he rubs it on Chise’s face is a small but awesome detail. There’s a love between them and it’s not the main focus of the show however a very important aspect and also a good way to build character development and make good relationships between people. The two of them are just too cute. In Episode 6 Elias takes Chise to “The Other Side” to heal her and when they meet the Faire King and Queen the two talk about what kind of kids Elias and Chise should have. Then they bet on how many. Chise blushes at the possibility of having kids with Elias and Elias starts to feel things in his stomach. Butterflies. Elias protects Chise as much as he can and Chise helps Elias when he throws fits i.e. the temper tantrum we talked about earlier.

Chise gets a familiar and names him Ruth in episode 7. Ruth is a black dog who is tormented by the death of his master who was run over by a carrige. I think. He doesn’t remember what he is and it isn’t until episode 8 that he remembers and the two bond and he becomes her familiar. When she dies he dies and they are emotionally connected. I think Chise calls him her brother but I can’t remember. In the same episode of 7 and 8 we also meet the main antagonist of this series.

It threw me for a loop when they introduced an actual antagonist . Up until the point it seemed to be episodes of small missions and favors and days of shopping. If that’s all the show was going to be about I would’ve been okay but them throwing in this was amazing. It happens so suddenly too and there’s no preparation.

There’s a sorcerer named Renfred and he and Elias dont seem to be on good terms but have a good enough relationship to work together when needed. He has an apprentice named Alice who is hot in a suit and generally V attractive. In her backstory she was just a kid on the streets doing drugs until Renfred found her. We first meet the two in episode 4 and 5 when there’s a black mass in the land of cats and while Chise wants to destroy it without hurting the cats Alice and Renfred think to destroy everything. Then in episode 7 Alice is trying to kill Ruth (before he became Chise’s familiar) and Chise uses a potion on her that puts people to sleep. Alice wakes up and explains she’s looking for this kid who’s apparently evil and when she says this a giant mantis mean to stab Alice stabs her and then we’re introduced to the villain and main antagonist.

His name is Joseph (my boyfriend’s name) but it seems his...demonic name is Cartaphillius. He gets mad when you call him that. He is a sorcerer who wants to make a chimera for some reason. He doesn’t even remember why in this scene. I forget who explains this but Joseph is immortal cuz of someone who cursed him and can’t die. The bastard gets his arm ripped off and just says “Oh silly me.” Like dude. Joseph really does have a reason for what he does or a “goal” of his. He goes around doing fuck all just because he can. We see him mostly doing “experiments”. In episode 4 and 5 we found out he’s the reason for the black gelatinous mass in the land of cats and that was a failed experiment. In episode 19 some goons of his (or people he possessed not sure) take dragons and he kills one for some reason. I dont remember if he just wanted to or if he had a reason but he puts the other one on auction THE SAME AUCTION CHISE WAS AT BY THE WAY.

In that same episode Chise has a dream with Joseph in it and it seems like there’s another form like some sort of demon or monster inside of him. In the dream when they first start talkig he sounds like a sweet but confused kid then he starts to loose it and pins Chise to the ground and his eyes turn hollowed out. That leads me to think maybe he and Chise are connected somehow. It’ll be interesting to see how what his story it. Something tells me however that Joseph really just wants death. He’s been around so long that he just wants to die fucking around until he finally does. If that’s the case Chise will grant him that death because that’s just how her character is.

I absolutely love this anime. It’s visually amazing. The characters have so much depth and story that I just want to see more of. The plot is simple on the surface but it’s so much more. This is a very different and new anime that I’d recommend to anyone. This anime breaks the 13 episode rule so I’m hoping this show just does the entire manga in one go like Twin Star Exorcists did. I absolutely love it to the core. The animation quality is 10/10. The design is amazing. The colors. The textures and backgrounds give me a feeling. There’s a scene where Chise falls into a river and she sees this giant river dragon and it’s absolutely breath taking. The background music gives this ambiance. So much stuff in this anime is perfect and is done right. This is how you do a magic anime. Agree with me on some things or not. This is a good anime. This is a great anime and I love it with every fiber of my being.

16 outta 10. I’m ready to bleed for this bitch. I know this was sloppy and all over the place but understand one thing. I’m ready to bleed for this show.

Next review will be on Citrus (part 3) and the problem child that is Black fucking Clover and I have some choice words. My boyfriend says hi.

#anime review #chise hatori #elias ainsworth #elias x chise #the ancient magus bride #mage #my thoughts #anime #mahoutsukai no yome #honest anime review #the ancient magus bride anime review

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macabow · 7 years

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My Top BL for 2017

Hello and welcome to my list of Top BL for 2017, my rough guidelines for choosing manga for the year, are BL that I started reading in 2017, or read mostly in 2017.

List below the cut. There will be some spoilers

Kashikomarimashita Destiny and Kashikomarimashita Answer by Sachimo

2017 seems to be the year that Omegaverse bloomed, mpreg has been around for decades (for examples, Sex Pistols) but I think it’s only been in the recent few years that an AU where it is feasible has been crafted and expanded to become such a creative force.

There are lots that are troubling in Omegaverse which I won’t go into. But there are lots of themes that fujoshis enjoy: happy ending after suffering, hero alphas saving their male partners, destiny and fate, animalistic bonds that defy rationale, and of course all the cute babies.

Kashikomarimashita has it and, and what’s more BUTLERS in butler uniforms, which is a kink for sure.

It’s high in a lot of BL rankings and for good reason. The nice thing about the two pairs of MC is that it isn’t straightforward and there is defiances of the rules constructed within the universe itself. One couple that are destined to be with each other, and one couple who fights against the odds to be with each other. There is a plot that makes sense in its own context, we see actual character development, especially for Kudou and Miyauchi the second couple which was my favourite couple, and did I mention cute babies? Also Sachimo sensei draws the cutest chibis!

Jealousy by Scarlet Beriko

Do you like your protaganist, sexy, fucked up, and amoral? Jealousy has got you covered.

Rogi, last seen in Yondaime as a rapist, appears again, and this time it is his background story, and boy is it a ride.

Rogi, I’m not even sure he’s likeable, but he’s compelling in the way he just pushes past all the normal barriers in his compulsion to feed his desires.

What I like about Jealousy is it doesn’t really try to sugarcoat the darkside of the Yakuza world, and sensei is not afraid to show the ugly side of the main characters.

One of things that I find refreshing is that Rogi got himself a lover that is a bald fat yakuza, Normally this guy would be the butt of all the jokes and act purely as foil for the handsome MC. I’m not saying that he isn’t, but he is not just a 2D character,. He’s not a fool, he knows he’s being played but he still loves Rogi, and I love that we get to see his thoughts and his feelings, it helps make the world so much more real when a sensei puts such care into the non-main characters.

Wolf in the House by Park Ji-Yeon

I feel strangely out of step with the reading trends in that I’m not that into Korean comics, firstly I am not a big fan of full colour comics, I don’t know if it’s information overload, or just what I’m used to, it’s not really my thing. I couldn’t read KS, because the blood and the bruising was just a bit too much.

Wolf in the House, however, is beautiful to look at, making great use of a subdued colour palette, and her drawing style is gorgeous. Everyone is beautiful, while drawn differently, including the bastard ex, who is as handsome as hell. This story has the interesting premise of a Siberian Husky that becomes man (or is it the other way around) who wants to go to Siberia, but ends up being adopted by the MC. I love the supernatural elements, and the sense of sadness with the situation between the characters. I’m hoping it wraps up well, but also hoping it doesn’t end. I love that I can enjoy this comic on so many levels.

*swoon*

Gakkou no Sensei - Matsumota Kazura

How much heartbreak can you take? Read Gakkou no Sensei to find out.

Welcome to the school of abandoned animals that have somehow taken on human form. We get some comedy value in their daily life, interspersed with the background stories showing how they all ended up in the abandoned school.

the drawing style is so cute, it makes you want to hug and squeeze everyone of them.

My favourite is Gin, because I am a sucker for Tsundere types. Just look at that cute smile!

Harukaze no Etranger by Kii Kana

Sequel to Umibe no Etranger, Mio and Shun head back to Shun’s home town, where they meet Shun’s brother Fumi (FUMI DA!). There are many layers to this story, and sensei weaves it all in so deftly. Her panels are always a delight to read, her characters are expressive and lively and she adds lots of little touches, sometimes recalling things from previous chapters and I love that. I am so glad I got to pick up the physical volumes of this manga!

Life Senjou No Bokura by Tokokura Miya

Reader, I cried.

The start of this manga was the cutest thing ever, and then I saw the tragedy tag. Maybe how a love can fall apart is what grips me, too realistically.

Those were my top BLs below are honourable mentions.

Kimi no Yume o Mite Iru by Aruku Kouki

Dream lovers, it was a cute story, the pacing was a bit too fast perhaps, but a good resolution

Pendulum Kemonobito - Hasumi Hana

A manbeast x human omegaverse tale. I didn’t think I’d end up here, but I liked the story. there are cute puppies as well in the extras.

Eto Irokoi Zoushi by Isami Matsuo

Man that gets possessed by different zodiac animals. If Fruits Basket was BL basically. Also it was exciting to see the reveal of each animal in their human form and what characteristcs the MC would take on. The character designs are great, and OMG just discovered the bonus chapter

Joou to Shitateya ( Queen and Tailor )- Scarlet Beriko

Sensei does it again with another beautifully drawn lovely tale of a man looking for a suit and ending up finding love.

Okay Tumblr is starting to play up, I enjoyed quite a few BL this year, but will just mention a few more.

Cry For Me by Yan Jiu

- Cutest drawings ever

Kachou Fuugetsu by Shimizu Yuki

It gets a bit messy, and not all the relationships are well developed but there were some great parts

Suzume Favourite by Kuju Siam

I am just a sucker for animals that transform into humans maybe

Just look at that cute lil sparrow! <3.

Moon and Sun by Abe Akane

- anything by her is worth checking out.

All the fireworks are going off right now! Happy New Year 2018

#top 2017 bl #bl review #bl recs #jealousy #scarlet beriko #harukaze no etranger #kii kana #life senjou no bokura #sachimo #kashikomarimashita destiny #kashikomarimashita answer #eto irokoi zoushi #gakkou no sensei #wolf in the house

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ainomessage · 7 years

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Le Mouvement Final - Spoiler Free Report *Warning - long ass post. I went to see the musical in Tokyo 4 times this year! I had only planned on seeing it 3 times, but well... 😅 Before my first show I got my nails done at my usual place, Cocotte in Harajuku. I asked for the planets (/moon) for each senshi plus shooting stars for the lights. To see more of Mashima’s incredible work, check out his insta! He paints every tiny detail by hand with itty bitty brushes. Wednesday, September 13 I went to this show by myself, but was able to meet up with the lovely @redcat36 @miniaturephantomprincess and @clockworkangel ! Everyone was super sweet and it was wonderful to be able to share the myu experience with fellow international moonies who were just as crazy for the cast as me.😆 This was also the fateful day in which I made the mistake of buying just enough can badges to get myself hooked. My seat was in the 6th row on the left side (facing the stage) so my view was good other than occasionally having a few things blocked by cast members or set pieces. I’m very glad that I wasn’t alone in how much crying I was doing throughout the show. Everyone around me had tissues out and you could hear sniffling throughout the theater. That evening Hinari played Chibi Chibi, and you could hear the whole theater squeal when she first appeared on stage. TOO. CUTE. 💖 Poor Shuu had a lot of mishaps - she flubbed one line, her suspenders popped off, and she almost missed touching Sayaka’s hand during THAT scene. After the show there was a Starlights + Kakyuu sendoff, which went by WAY too fast. I later learned I could slow it down a bit and am sad I didn’t do this for the Lights, but alas. After the show we waited outside the theater to say goodbye to the cast. Hinari gave everyone high fives (AWW) and the Lights stopped to talk to people for a bit! Saki shook my hand and noticed my Kuma Crafts Star Yell necklace and said my Galaxia + Animamates t-shirt was cool.💚 Friday, September 15 This time I went with my good friend @kaikinapela and once again met up with the other girls. This was one of the “fanclub service days” which I have to say was a disappointment. The possible prizes were a photoshoot with the cast, a signed pamphlet, or... a sticker. As you can probably guess, we all got the sticker. I think they could have done better for a third prize, especially considering the sticker was the same image as the flyer. They could have at least given us an original photo! We did, however, miraculously manage to get first row seats through the fanclub! The picture of the stage above is from that seat. I’m not sure it quite does justice to how crazy close we were. The actresses were all about 2 feet in front of my eyes, it was insane. Several times I got distracted from the show by just staring at whoever was in front of me. This is when I learned that Kobayashi Yuka (Seiren) has a belly button piercing lol. This day I also had AMAZING luck with can badges - I managed to pick two signed ones! Rimo and Kaede💛💚 This night Chise was playing Chibi Chibi and she got just as much of a gasp from the crowd at her adorableness. She’s much smaller than Hinari! During the curtain call I managed to catch eyes with Meiku and Mirai. Airi, who is the most adorable ball of energy on the planet, waved at us twice and made a heart with her hands in our direction.💖 She’s too cute! My friend has been trying to catch Yuga’s rose since 2013, but was sadly thwarted again - she did get an apology look from Yuga in return for her disappointed face, though.😉 Saturday, September 16 Same group of girls for this show! This time @kaikinapela and I were seated in the 10th row in the center (right behind ROOT, the former Jadeite, incidentally). Once again I had crazy luck with can badges - this time I pulled 3! Yume, Satomi, and Saki! I still can’t believe I got my two favorite characters (Venus/Healer) and SATOMI. Yume’s signature says “Thank you very much! Let’s meet again!” and Satomi’s says “Satomi Cosmos.” The others signed their name and did a doodle. 💖 We were back to Hinari for this show. I have to say, she was my favorite (more on this later). Though I loved being so close to the stage for the other two shows, this was the first time I fully appreciated all of the visual effects. I hope everything comes through on the DVD. After the show there was a sendoff from the Inners, and this time I at least managed to properly make eye contact with each of them as we went by. Monday, September 18 This was my bonus show. I hadn’t managed to get tickets for it online, but loved the other shows so much I had to try to get into the Tokyo finale. I waited in the insanely long line for the same day ticket lottery and drew “awaiting cancellation (#5).” This means I was 5th in line to get a ticket if someone cancelled. I thought for sure this meant I wouldn’t get in, but no! I managed to get one of the folding chairs they added behind row 6. It was incredibly uncomfortable but WORTH IT. This meant I was in front of an aisle, which is a good place to be on the last day. During Moonlight Densetsu everyone but the villains, Cosmos, ChibiChibi, and Moon (with her giant wings) ran out into the audience. At first no one was coming down our aisle, but I made sure to hold my yellow light high and Rimo saw! She came down our row for high fives. 💛 Later Mikako made a second pass and came down our aisle too. ♥ When everyone returned to the stage to wave and bow, Rimo pointed at me, waved, and blew a kiss! I almost didn’t believe she was aiming at me since she was on the opposite side of the stage, but I was the only yellow light around. 😭 💛 　That evening the inners + Tux gave short speeches, and I could see Meiku trying not to cry.💔 　Poor little Chise just looked bewildered the whole time. After the show I managed to talk to all 3 of the Lights! I was wearing my signed Healer and Venus badges, so Saki gently patted her own badge and then flicked Venus in the face.😆 Meiku was very surprised when I complimented her singing - she doesn’t seem to be very confident, which is unfortunate because she’s very talented. Riona also noticed my badges and asked if I shipped Yaten/Minako. When I said yes, she said “What about Taiki/Ami?” I told her I love them too, and she wondered if she had forced me to say it (she did not). She asked me to wear a Mercury shirt next time.💙 I also met a few other lovely international moonies that evening, but sadly I don’t know their tumblrs! If you guys see this, message me! Thanks to trading with friends, through twitter, and at the venue, both @kaikinapela and I managed to collect a full set of badges!

Overall Impressions I would rank this as one of the best musicals of all time - including the classic Bandai era. I will admit to being biased because the Stars arc is my favorite, but they really pulled out all the stops. The entire cast was amazing, even those who had small roles. Singing was fantastic across the board - the inners have improved a lot and all of the new cast members were great. While it was sad not having Karin stay for the “last” (last!?) musical, Mirai did a great job and was a strong singer. I think everyone will be especially blown away by Galaxia and Kakyuu (who is once again an opera singer!). If you’ve listened to any of Isuzu Coco’s music through her twitter, her Galaxia voice is so different! Much deeper and more powerful. Poor Sayaka seemed to be sick during the Tokyo shows - her voice got progressively weaker and more hoarse. Hopefully she recovers by the finale! The set and visual effects dramatically improved with Amour Eternal and this musical continues that trend. Hotaru does some impressive running up and down moving stairs in her Eternal Moon costume, all of the attacks are projected, and we again have part of a scene projected as a video on stage. You’ll see all the Sailor Crystals float away, which adds another layer of emotion to those scenes. Both actresses playing Chibi Chibi were adorable, but Hinari won out as my favorite. Being a little older she was able to speak all of her lines clearly (Chise’s speech was muddled) and she showed a lot more emotion in both her movements and expressions. I’m glad she’ll be on the DVD performance. A few things were different each show (details in my spoilery post to come), so I hope some sort of compilation ends up on the DVD! There were lots of throwbacks to the Bandai era as well as a few references to the past Nelke era musicals. I think overall in tone this was a nice blend of the two styles - there was a lot of humor added and plenty of references to specific anime scenes, but the overall plot was manga oriented and gave proper weight to its serious moments. They find smart ways to keep the whole cast involved throughout the show, despite everyone being killed off pretty quickly (I don’t consider that a spoiler since it’s a manga plot point). Everyone is going to LOVE Cosmos. I was seriously shocked by how much Satomi had improved at singing. Taking lessons with Coco and Asami seriously paid off. They found a really touching way to give her a bit more story time than she had in the manga, and I think they’re quite clear about who she really is in this canon. This musical had a TON of original music - only two previously used songs made an appearance, and both in shortened versions. “Celestial Born” was made into it’s own song (it initially was part of “Shuketsu - Yume no Atsumaru Basho” during Amour Eternal) and “Music of the Spheres” is used briefly in battle. They save the throwback music mostly for the post-musical curtain call show, which I appreciated. For the first time since the revival of the musicals I loved ALL of the songs (Amour Eternal comes close). One of my few complaints has been the abundance of “talk singing,” where long lines of dialogue (often ripped straight from the manga) are set to awkward, stumbling melody. There is little to none of that this time, and far fewer songs are interrupted by long bits of dialogue. Hopefully sales of the Amour Eternal CD will be good enough to entice them to release another soundtrack - this time with a lot more music. They weren’t kidding when they said everyone has a moment to shine. I fell in love with Nyanko and Mouse, despite them having such small parts. Miraculously, even with all the dying and with an enormous cast, everyone was given enough to work with that they were able to truly embody their character. If this truly is the last musical, I’m going to be super bummed that this cast doesn’t get at least one more opportunity to show off how amazing they are.

#sera myu #le mouvement final

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cutiecrates · 5 years

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Cutie Reviews: YumeTwins May 19

It’s technically a day later, but I had intended on writing this all of Sunday but I was in such a poor mood that every time I tried I kept walking away after being unable to focus. But I've calmed down and I’m ready to get this started!

“It is starting to warm up the closer we get to summer and we are so excited to feel the sunshine! It is important to go outside and get active but it is just as important to set aside some time for self care. Who doesn’t love to pamper themselves? That is why for this month we have curated a box filled with items that will make your relaxation time more magical and kawaii! Go ahead and draw yourself a bath, and soak in this self love goodness! We hope you enjoy these kawaii goodies as much as we enjoyed putting the Bubbly Fantasy box together for you!“

Contest & Photo Prize

This month, the winners could receive an adorable Hello Kitty plush, while runner-ups could win an adorable little hello kitty strawberry plush; it’s cute enough to eat~!

Meanwhile, the Yume Prize box includes an adorable variety of goods based on Sailor Moon and Cardcaptor Sakura.

Furry Friends Floor Mat

I chose this item first because some of you you might recognize it; I’ve already gotten one from some boxes ago. I won’t be reviewing it, but I will mention that this item was a variety one; so it’s only coincidental I got it again- out of 15 possible carpets. They’re 45 x 45cm and made out of 100% cotton.

The carpet is very cute and a bit fluffy, it feels really nice to step on, and in a way it’s nice I have two, because I could put them by multiple doors if I wanted. Or if one gets ruined by some freak incident, I have a back up.

Gudetama Facial Sponge & Kirby Bath Bomb

Next up is another item I won’t be full reviewing, because again, I get konjac sponges pretty often in these boxes (usually from NMNL or KiraKira). They’re all the same, but what makes this one cunique is that it’s shaped like an egg for Gudetama~

For anyone unfamiliar, Konjac is an “asian potato“ essentially, it’s frequently used as a sponge that helps remove dirt and dead skin cells and comes in various forms. All you need to do is wet it once to use it, then you scrub away the icks from a long day.

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Our first real review-able item is this adorable Kirby Bath Bomb, which came in 2 variants, series 1 featuring a flowery-scented yellow bath bomb, or series 2, which featured a pretty pink bath bomb. Each series has their own set of prizes, including a mystery one.

This was also a small part of why I took so long to do this; I don’t like wasting bath bombs so I thought “well what can I do with it so that it still gets used? I already took a shower.“ Then it hit me! I decided that because my feet have been sore recently, I’d try to soak them with it. So I did that, and honestly it felt really good- I think I’ll be doing it more often :P

Anyway, this is the Kirby I got. Cute little guy isn’t he ♥

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

The bath bomb smells really good, initially I thought it might have been a citrus scent but the more I smelled it, the more it seemed to transform to floral. I really like it though and my skin that made contact with it is very smooth and soft. There’s also no staining at all, but because I got the yellow one I’m not sure if the same applies to the pink.

The next time you’re not sure what to do with a bath bomb I’d recommend using it the way I did :3 it feels really nice~

Chibi Animal Plushie

This is our next item, an ultra-kawaii animal plushie! There was 12 different animals we could cute, including panda’s in this style, some sleepy hamsters and other critters, bunnies, kitties, and more!

I think I definitely got one of the “winners“, it was love at first sight for us~ ♥

Peach really liked it too. But I think she just wanted the bag :x

The plush is very squishy soft, one of those mochi-marshmallow types. It’s a little stretchy and very smooshy. It also has an adorable pink button (which you can barely make out in the above picture).

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Putting aside my overwhelming love for it, the plush is also made very well. I didn’t notice any signs of problem with the material or stitching, it’s very sweet.

Sanrio Toothbrush

To go with our theme of self-pampering and relaxation, we also got an adorable Sanrio-themed toothbrush to look forward to. It was available in 5 different designs, each featuring Sanrio’s popular mascots and pink bristles at the center of the brush; a very cute touch I thought ♥

As you can see, I got Little Twin Stars, or Kiki and Lala, however you want to refer to them.

Review: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

I don’t really have too much to say about it. It’s a brush. I had been wanting to get a new one and it’s length is really nice. I didn’t make too much of a mess using it, and the bristles aren’t rock hard and rough in the mouth, they feel pretty good. There is also a circle of dots to place your thumb while using it.

Kawaii Glue Stick

Our last item takes the form of creative self-care; for those of us who like to make crafts or need to seal something. But before I get into this, I have a little story for you all...

It took me FOREVER to figure out how to open this! When I got the box I kept yanking and tugging on it, thinking it opened like a normal glue stick, then I tried twisting. I had no idea what to do. I gave up, and so when I took the pictures I decided to pull off the tape/design wrapped around the tube to find nothing. I had tried twisting the bottom a few times, the piece that lengthens the glue stick but nothing happened- until I realize you need to pull and twist!

So yeah, that was not fun at all, and there was no instructions to point this out. Anyway it came in 4 different designs, from unicorns to cutesy drinks to random animals.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

As much of a struggle as it gave me, it does its job. It works well and because of its unique scare shape, it seems to do really well with precision, but I feel like it’s still the same as using a normal glue stick.

♡ Cutie Ranking ♡

Content - 4.5 out of 5. I knocked down a point over the glue stick because that thing really honked me off. They should have said how to open it or put something on it, now mine looks completely trashed. But it’s still usable. Everything otherwise had great quality and I liked the items a lot. I also loved how nearly everything had variety and is practical!

Theme: ??? out of 5. Once again I was kinda conflicted over this, only because I do see the theme a bit, because yeah, a few of the items can get bubbly/foamy and bring comfort, and all the items do have a sort of fantasy design or feature to them. The Yume Prize also fit it I thought. I wasn’t really sure how to rate this one...

Total Rank: 10 out of 10. I love it when the box brings in a fun, unique mix with each box. But sometimes they’re either really good or sometimes they’re not my favorite. I really liked this one because the mix was different, especially since we normally don’t get things like health and beauty related items in this one- if we do it’s pretty rare. I feel pretty comforted with the box and its practically a good choice in my opinion. I’d recommend this one.

♡ Cutie Scale ♡

1. Chibi Animal Plushie - All of them were adorable but besides the pink panda, I think this would have been the one I wanted the most! I’m very happy I got it, I think I’ll name it Cotton Candy x3

2. Kirby Bath Bomb - The packaging is so colorful and cute, and my little kirby is adorable. It’s a very hard, barely squishable rubber material but I love it~

3. Sanrio Toothbrush - I like it’s white and pastel color scheme, and the pink bristles just make it fun. Like I said, I was planning on getting a new brush so this saved me some money.

4. Glue Stick - It will come in handy since I don’t really have any other glue right away. It’s cuteness factor was kind of ruined by my curiosity in trying to open it, but you win some lose some right?

5. Gudetama Sponge - It’s just like any other konjac sponge, and I already have one open so I didn’t need to use it yet. But the egg shape is kinda cute...

6. Floor Mat - It’s cute but was a little disappointed I got the exact same one as before from a prior box. But it was a Doki Doki box rather than YumeTwins so that lessens that a little bit. It will come in handy though so I don’t dislike the item.

#gudetama #kirby bath bomb #cutie reviews #yumetwins

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thenichibro · 7 years

Text

Spring 2017 Anime First Impressions

This season doesn’t really seem to have a posterchild show like last season, which had both a new KyoAni work and Konosuba’s follow-up. However, there’s some good slice-of-life and top-tier fanservice, so as usual there will be ups and downs, weighted towards the latter of course. (This paragraph is short because I had a huge rant here about Anime Strike and its effect on consumers/businesses, but I’m pretty sure no-one who follows me gives a shit about actual discussion of the industry, so I’ll spare you.)

With MAL links, and original shows marked:

Alice to Zouroku (MAL) Starting off we have a hefty 40-minute episode, which follows Sana, a girl with supernatural powers, escaping from a reserach lab. She is chased by the organization's other power-users, and snares the other main character, Kashimura, in a bad-CG-filled car chase. I like Kashimura as that sort of grizzled old man type moreso than a generic teenage protag in this sense. His no-nonsense attitude contrasts well with the haughty-yet-childish one of Sana. In addition, I like the subtle humor near the end of the episode that contrasts what you think Kashimura's line of work is with what it actually is. The animation looks somewhat plain, and the CG is honestly just bad. The entire sequence could have used hand-drawn, but for a solid 2-3 minutes it was hard to look at. Other than that there isn't anything especially new here - reality-warping powers, dangerous medical research - we've seen it before. I don't really think this needed a 40-minute episode, but we'll see where it goes.

Rokudenashi Majutsu Koushi to Akashic Records (MAL) Any show with a school uniform that highlights midriffs gets points in my book. Starting off, we have the eccentric (in this case lazy) teacher, Glenn, starting at a magic school. There's the haughty noble girl, Sistine, oft-embarrased by the teacher's antics, and her quieter sister Rumia. While setting itself up as a comedy in episode 1, episode 2 has everything from a shouting match culminating in a slap to military thugs sexually assaulting Sistine - so I'm honestly not sure which way this is going. The boastful-but-easily-embarrased Sistine contrasts well with the smooth-with-nothing-to-back-it-up Glenn. We have the brewings of a wider plot, with why Glenn was assigned to the school if he's a bum and Sistine having a goal of discovering secrets of a floating island. The animation overall is still quite good, which helps in a magic-casting show. Helps the fanservice out too. I don't have high expectations for this show, but the lower the bar the easier this show will impress. I just hope it focuses on a single direction in the plot instead of trying to have comedic episodes and dark episodes.

[Original] Sakura Quest (MAL) Starting with a bubbly OP (and ending with a similarly fantastic ED), we have the first slice-of-lie this season. I love the genre, I love the country locale, I love the art, and I loved Shirobako. I have high hopes. Our main girl Koharu wants to get out of the country and get a job in Tokyo, but the job she gets (by mistake, even) is back in the country at a tourism board. Sakura Quest puts an interesting spin on the country locale, setting Manoyama up as both tranquil yet struggling - and I like it. It brings a sense of realism to an oft-idealized setting. The language of taxes, grants, and the real strategy of creating "mini independent states" to boost local tourism echoes Shirobako in its depiction of life, and that's good. Koharu is plucky, insistent, and overall just a joy to watch. I'm refreshed any time a show does something about not high-school students or teenagers in general. Focusing the story on adults that have established lives (or even better, that are trying to establish their lives) gives the slice of life genre, well, new life. Showing the smooth transition between the comedic and the sentimental, with background music to match, the tonal shifts are nothing abrupt, a the first episode flowed well. P.A. Works certainly has a hit-or-miss record with original shows, and Sakura Quest thus far is more Shirobako and less Glasslip. I'm looking at an AOTS contender already.

Clockwork Planet (MAL) Starting off with an impressively boring action sequence, we have our heroes led by a (I'm sure incredibly powerful) kid defeat a bunch of automatons. A world created entirely of clocks, and a main character (Naoto) obsessed with tinkering with them. My primary conception from the summary was more apocalyptic, with the main character being a wandering junker who finds an automaton (Imagining the world looking sort of like Gargantia, with less water). Maybe I'm just standoffish because instead we got a high school kid with an annoying voice that finds a girl who proceeds to call him "Master." This is of course after the fact that despite Naoto being unable to fix a single clock, he easily opens and fixes the girl, one of the most top-of-the-line automatons created. Naturally. As far as the "clockwork" aesthetic goes, instead of a rusty, machinic society the world looks exactly like any other city, except with random gears everywhere. At one point it shows a character driving an otherwise normal car, but in the door of the car there are gears that look like they aren't connected to anything, just there to remind you of the title. Regarding the animations, they're not great, echoing the facial style of something like Baka to Test or Kore wa Zombie Desu Ka? - only this show is airing in 2017. Also, a shot shows a bunch of gears falling from a guy's hand feels the need be CG. Ugh. Shoved-in fanservice on top of all of this makes this a show I already regret starting. Avoid.

Eromanga-Sensei (MAL) Next up, we have the second original series from the famed creator of "It's Okay to Fuck Your Sister if She Likes Porn," This one uniquely titled "It's Okay to Fuck Your Sister if She Draws Porn." Sibling bonding over erotic fiction/art. Wew. Nothing else to expect from OreImo's creator, but similar themes do not a similar plot make. I hope. The first episode is the reunion, where Masamune finds his shut-in sister Sagiri is Eromanga-sensei, his LN ero-artist. I'll give it this - Sagiri is leagues cuter than Kirino. Man, fuck Kirino. Naturally the art is similar to OreImo, especially Masamune, only I think his hair's a bit greener. Other than that, though, the animation is smooth. Eromanga-Sensei starts off on a much more sentimental note, with discussions of dreams, mourning parents, etc. Other than one main fanservice-y scene and the fact that they connect over erotic art, the sentimental is certainly preferable. ClariS return for the ED of ep1, and it's fantastic as ever. I mean, seriously, Nexus as the OP for OreImo was the best part of the show. Judging from the key art this may well become a harem, but we'll see. So far it beats OreImo, but that's a low bar.

Sakurada/Sagrada Reset (MAL) I don't know why the changed the romanization to "Sagrada," but then again I don't know Japanese in the first place. Sakurada Reset follows Kei and Haruki, with the powers of recalling the past perfectly and being able to reset time, respectively. The town of Sakurada gives people the powers for basically no reason, but on the other hand that's not really the point - the assumption is that this is normal. Set up to be friends by Soma, the enigmatic class rep, Kei aims to get Haruki to help him help people, using their powers. Haruki is adamantly opposed, for fear Kei could exploit her, as she herself doesn't remember anything after resetting. Sakurada Reset certainly doesn't set itself up as a comedy, but rather a series of sobering investigations undertaken by Kei and Haruki. There's a lot of pseudo-philosophical bullshit off the bat ("You're unable to believe your own righteousness, yet you continue to be righteous."), and yet the show isn't interesting enough for me to look any deeper. Add to that a surprisingly dark first investigation topic, and I'm already kind of tired of this. If you like HaruChika (which I didn't) with darker themes, then give this a watch. Otherwise, I'd avoid.

Hinako Note (MAL) Back on the slice of life train, Hinako Note follows, well, Hinako, a girl who sucks at speaking, moving to Tokyo to go to high school and get better via the theater club. She moves into a bookstore-cafe combo, living with Kuu, who likes books so much she eats them, and Mayu, the short girl who dresses like a maid. Also introduced is Aki, the quiet landlady and a theater troupe leader on the side. The only conflict is that the theater club is shut down, and so Aki suggests Hinako simply form a troupe with the rest of the girls. The OP/ED show we'll meet a fifth girl, so I expect that soon. Speaking of the OP/ED, they're both incredibly fast paced, sung by the cast, and remind me of Teekyuu's OP style, if you like that. The animation is pretty good, though the show really likes going into chibi-style a lot. Probably more a style choice than budgetary problem, and I don't mind it. Overall, it seems like the theater setup could produce a wealth of interesting scenarios, and the girls are cute. Not much else I need.

[Original] Tsuki ga Kirei (MAL) Last on the slice-of-life roster, we have an self-described slow paced school story, and an original from feel. studios to boot. I'm excited. Starting in the third-year of middle school is interesting, because that means all the relationship-forming is already done. (To be done away with when they get to high-school though, I'm sure). Akane is a sincere, shy girl on the track team, while Kotarou is a similarly shy novice writer and spends club time as the school's librarian. They share off glances at each other, leading to a nervous, stammering meeting at a family restaurant where not much else happens. "Slow-paced," to be sure. The animation matches the shows sort of muted tone, with no massive eyes (or tits), no multicolored hair, etc. It's clear Tsuki ga Kirei aims to tell a more-or-less realistic love story. One thing I did notice, mostly in the beginning of the episode, was the crowd shots combined with CG. Honestly, just do closer shots so you can avoid CG-ing people. It never looks good. The first episode sort of confirmed my feeling that this show will be a nice way to decompress each week, as we watch Akane and Kotarou grow slowly closer. If the title's any indication, their relationship will have its awkward moments, but there's nothing more essentially youth than that, right? Unlike many original works, this show doesn't look like it will go in any strange direction, and that consistency is relaxing. Give this a watch.

Zero kara Hajimeru Mahou no Sho (MAL) Furry Berserk, I guess? ZeroSho follows the unnamed beastman "Mercenary" and Zero, a mage, as they search for Zero's Grimoire, the basis of all magic. The show follows a typical fantasy setting, with mages at war with a ruling empire, and beastmen subjugated by everyone. Interestingly, "sorcery" differs from "magic" - the former requires a summoning circle, long casts, etc., while the latter is quick and far more deadly. More interesting is the fact that Zero wrote the book on magic. I normally enjoy overpowered characters, and in this case that power is packed into a cute, ahoge-sporting mage loli. Definitely a plus. Something else the struck me as unique was the comedic moments throughout the episode. Thus far Mercenary and Zero play off each other quite well, and I'm interested to see where it goes. There's the standard background of discrimination against beastmen/witches and Mercenary's war-torn past, but at least if it's been signposted now it won't be jarring later. This show surprised and impressed, and I'm interested to see how it goes. And man, Zero's cute.

Anonymous Noise (MAL) For whatever reason, I've been waiting for this to come out for a while. I'm not sure why, but when there were any cast announcements or key visuals, etc. I always recognized the name. Anyway, Anonymous Noise sees Nino Arisugawa - "Alice," a loner singer starting high school reunite with her childhood singing friend Kanade Yuzuriha - "Yuzu." Right from the start, this show is very, very shoujo. The eyes, the immediate drama, everything is very shoujo. Not necessarily a problem, but be aware that's what this is. Amazing how a dramatic reunion could immediately turn to "Never talk to me again," but that's the genre I guess. Regarding the music, as this is a musical show, there was one main performance, and if I'm honest I thought Alice's voice was quite rough. The music per se isn't a problem - the sound echoes Scandal or Stereopony, bands that do some harder rock that I both love. The vocals, at least in the song they played, weren't to my liking. I was unaware of just how shoujo this show is, and I hope it doesn't become any more overbearing than it already has. I have low expectations on that front. From the insert song and the ED, I know I like the sound, so if the vocals keep up and the shoujo stays down, this won’t be bad. On the other hand, I can't say I expect both of those things to happen.

Sin Nanatsu no Taizai (MAL) Best for last, amirite? Aka “Seven Mortal Sins,” SinNNT is unabashed, unapologetic fanservice. As a quick note, make sure to skip the HorribleSubs release on this one, only because their release is censored. Censored like Shinmai Maou no Testament censored (and that's bad). Anyway, the story involves Lucifer falling first to Earth and then to Hell, where after a short sexual assault by Leviathan (Envy) she proceeds to challenge the other sins for control. Back on Earth, the nun Lucifer passed as she fell to hell (as well as giving her some blood) is having her own daily life. (Don't worry, there's still groping between her and her friend). There's over-the-top transformation sequences, grandiose music, and plenty of inane sexual situations. I honestly have no idea where this show is going - whether it's going to be in Hell, on Earth - but let's be real, no-one really cares. The animation budget is actually pretty great for this show, and that means the fanservice is top tier. As if I need to write anything about this show - it's distilled fanservice. Watch it, or don't.

#alice to zouroku #rokudenashi majutsu koushi to akashic records #sakura quest #clockwork planet #eromanga-sensei #sakurada reset #hinako note #tsuki ga kirei #zero kara hajimeru mahou no sho #seven mortal sins #spring 2017 anime #my anime reviews

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courage-a-word-of-justice · 8 years

Text

Nanbaka 17 | ACCA 3 | ReLIFE 7 - 13 (FINAL) | D Gray Man Hallow 2 - 6

(Nanbaka 17)

I bet the fandom makes, “Something is breaking. It’s my heart,” jokes from now on. Or something similar to that. Fandom is corny like that.

I only just realised, but the green numbers that appear at the start of the OP are cell 13’s prisoner numbers. D’oh.

Couldn’t you just grab the shackles, Rock?

Chibi Hajime? Never seen that one before.

It just occurred to me that Qi may have done this.

There seems to be a patch of purple on Jyugo’s torso…for some reason.

Upa did it…?

Hey, that Bruce Lee quote came back…! There also seems to be a Bungou Stray Dogs vibe going on, not really being helped by the fact Yuto Uemura is Atsushi and Jyugo. Tsukumo is Yuri from Yuri on Ice, which is kinda funny.

I…accept your man candy! LOL.

Kiji and Uno are crazily on the same wavelength…

Oh wow, Uno just pulled out the Dazai stops.

“10 minutes later…”

CGI doors…what a pain in the butt.

The eye style on Uno makes me LOL too hard.

(ACCA 3)

Oh, so the OP’s red bird is an acca. Okay.

Potato gratin on toast. Never tried it, but I like potato gratin on cheese and cheese on potato gratin.

Bar Tattler. Perfect name for a place to spill secrets.

Wow. Formal dress isn’t that different to ACCA wear but it makes people look completely different.

There were huggggggggggggggge strawberries last time, remember?

Ooh. Things are getting interesting thanks to Mauve and the 5 General guys.

(ReLIFE ep 7)

Isn’t that Windows 7 Yoake has?

I never asked this, but what happens to failed subjects?

Hmph. They say in Japan that a guy and a girl sharing an umbrella is romantic.

ReLIFE really addresses the difference between personal involvement and work involvement.

Yoake really does remind me of Dazai sometimes.

LOL, Onoya, Yoake. Meanwhile, is that a pink computer? Don’t think I’ve ever seen a monitor that’s pink, although I have seen a pink brick phone and a pink laptop.

Arata’s senpai’s tale matches Yoake’s relationship with subject 001, now that I think of it.

I wanna know more about Amagase-san.

Love bubbles and sparkles, LOL. You are one strange character, Yoake.

You can easily tell Arata’s saying sumimasen , even if there are no subs.

Why did “I don’t have a car!” make me laugh so much?

I think there was an excess “and” in the subs somewhere when Yoake was reporting near the end of the ep.

(ep 8)

The animation on Oga’s hand was unnatural (as in, his second and third fingers were too far apart) when he waved.

“In the pink of health”? Never heard that one before.

“Appetite” is probably the wrong word for it, Amatsu-sensei.

He didn’t react by laughing at Tamarai’s, but I guess that would’ve been misinterpreted and/or impolite.

The final year of high school is all about going all out…

Is the pill in the eyecatch always blue? I saw it was orange last ep.

There appear to be English dictionaries on Inukai’s shelf.

You can see the bags under Tamarai’s eyes.

Revenge of the CGI balls, LOL.

You can see how much Asaji wants to help when he reaches out but then he takes it back. Huh.

Update: I was familiar up to about this part in the manga.

(ep 9)

Omurice. I like that word. Omurice. Omurice. Probably because “omelet rice” sounds weird…Omurice.

Do you think ReLIFE would benefit if its fandom had more memes? Because bees. The Bee Movie seems to be pretty popular as a meme subject these days.

Is this why people always want younger people to enjoy their youth? So they don’t have their dreams crushed later?

The three line eyebrows are distinctive, but they look a bit weird.

Oga, you innocent butt. Blinking ever so innocently at Kariu.

How ironic of you to say, “The last thing you need is a fall”, Oga.

Hishiron can’t be a soccer nerd. “Gooooal” doesn’t suit her.

Doesn’t Kaizaki have any better clothes than black and grey shirts?

Hishiron has her school bag.

Bullying is a Big Deal in Japan, where you’re not meant to pick on people at all. Western cultures wish for outgoing people, so for someone like me who sits more on the introvert side, life kinda sucks.

Seriously, An and Yoake, get together.

*facepalms* What a dork, Kaizaki. Hitting your head in you panic like that won’t get you anywhere.

That’s a weird way of putting that, Hishiron. “[G]et revenge with someone,” that is.

About the entire plotline: It’s easier to “regress” when it comes to writing stories but harder to “regress” when it comes to real life. It must be because of how used to living and growing up people feel.

(ep 10)

At the top of the staircase, Hishiron looked so confused (after she said that she’d watch the tournament).

“Of course I know.” – (Chorus: Of course Yoake knows.)

You’re too darned strong (regarding the door), Kaizaki.

I heard there was an English dub of ReLIFE. Hopefully they can sell the Hishiron voice well enough.

The first time, I was wondering what came after this.

(ep 11)

Why do people say stuff like “I’ll come with”? I’ve said it before, but never questioned it until now.

I actually think Onoya’ll be really grumpy when she wakes up.

I guess it’s the hairstyle, but I look at Yoake and I’m seeing Dazai…again.

I bet Arata will be sad once it ends, LOL.

Black companies – corrupt businesses filled with salesmen and women who can’t escape. That’s basically what I’ve picked up from Osomatsu-san, anyway.

Notice the pill is normally white/blue. This time it was black/blue.

There’s a very Western feeling to this. No wonder the West likes this more than Japan itself. It’s also quite the sociological study. It helps that this was one of the only two shows I watched in summer 2016 the first time around (the other being Boueibu s2) – I can see “One Wish They Never Wanted” reflected in this, and knowing me and the hard times I went through at the end of the year, it was most likely deliberate. After all, they do carry similar themes.

(ep 12)

I think there was a central institution uni applications go through in Japan. In my country, they have something similar.

I shipped Kariu and Oga so hard during these last two eps. It helps that I almost never take the shows with the ships.

Ow. That burnt so much, Arata.

Such a convenient hole in the wall.

Kamioka’s hair looks a little puffy.

You jerk, Arata. You didn’t think “the same thing”. You thought nothing of the sort!

Why is Arata a fish? Probably because Kaizaki means “ocean peak” (or something like it).

What’s up with that statue?

August 10th, 6:30 pm onwards.That’s when the fireworks festival is.

Arata’s got his own harem~! (Neener neener…and so on.)

(ep 13)

Why are only the girls in kimono?! (Update: Or is that yukata?)

You suave, suave player, Yoake.

The white figures really aren’t helping their case…

The blue and yellow sign tells you there’s a traffic obstruction due to the fireworks.

They’ve got some heavy focus on the earrings in a certain shot. It’s such good news for the ship.

Holding hands is a much bigger deal in Japan than it is in the West.

Of course Tama is such a target for mozzies. She’s so big in that region.

The fireworks look so lifelike in this anime!!! I said that for Showa Genroku too, though.

Like an ephermeal flower, a fireworks exists…or some other weird Yoda stuff like that.

Arata’s seems to be blue, while Chizuru’s seems to be green for the sake of colour coding.

Onoya’s fan says “festival” on it.

The pill background looks kinda like footsteps. It must’ve been deliberate they used such a pattern.

Off model at its worst (when the duo sat on the bench).

Dangitfalsekissscene!

LOL, lookit Hishiron’s creepy face.

Nothing is better than a properly-pulled-off bookend.

Welp, that’s the end of that. Hopefully we can meet again sometime, for some other show.

(D Gray Man Hallow ep 2)

Every time I see this ep, I think of a song. It’s this one, to be precise about it. Never mind about the music video, the lyrics and title suit it too well.

Poor Tim.

Ooh, macaron cake!

I forgot who Phantom Thief G was the first time. Then I checked him up and I remembered.

Wrong “throw”, subbers.

This scene where Link is crying is…very odd. There’s a lot of logic that really should be obvious that gets bandied about here.

Really? Fanservice?

If he has Innocence, Timothy’s guilty (in a sense). How ironic.

How do people even evaluate the Akuma’s level on sight?

(ep 3)

“Soul mate” is probably overreacting a little too much.

What a weird butt Galmar is. I can understand his reasoning for what he thinks though.

(ep 4)

People can never seem to agree on how to spell Tyki’s name.

Renny? Seriously, I laugh too much. “Lenny” would’ve been a proper name, but that’s a guy’s name. Then again, this is anime we’re talking about...

Tim’s so cute with the ZZZs.

That burn, Allen. So deep.

“This is the order of the Pope.”

“Hunting Exorcists, huh?”

(ep 5)

Everyone spells Alma’s name as Alma Karma, but the book cover says Alma Carma (sic). Huh.

Sometimes I question the need for a science section in the middle of an Akuma vs Exorcist war.

What the freak, Earl? Don’t scare me like that!

Improper poses? That’s so threatening. (sarcastic)

Unnecessary fanservice, number 2…? (Specifically the “you perv” bit.)

(ep 6)

A-hey. Young!Kanda animated in such a way that it invokes humour…it looks like Yurio. Lots of things remind me of Yurio these days.

How do they know exactly how many seconds it’ll take until the Seconds regenerate?

It’s bunny!Hoshino!

Such gallows humour. That’s why the novelty wore off on this show.

I think the word they mean is youkai instead of sprite.

The jackets come off…kinda sorta.

Is it “dreamed” or “dreamt”?

Can people even hear using stethescopes? I’ve never tried it myself, but I want to know.

Sometimes you forget Allen’s there.

How’d blonde guy (Edgar) get that blood around him?

#simulcast commentary #ACCA #relife #nanbaka #d gray man hallow #acca 13-ku kansatsu-ka #nanbaka - the numbers #nanbaka the numbers #d gray man #Chesarka watches Nanbaka #Chesarka watches ACCA #Chesarka watches ReLIFE #Chesarka watches D Gray Man Hallow

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houseofneri · 7 years

Note

persona is technically a series so: persona? (also rwby?)

I’ll put them under a read-more so I don’t have a long-ass post bothering people.

PERSONA

(For the record, I’ve only played Innocent Sin and P3P, and know bits and pieces about the other games)

Favorite character

MITSURU KIRIJOOOOOOO. I had a feeling I would love her before even playing the game and I was never proven wrong. I was really sad that I couldn’t complete her Social Link before beating the game… weeps.

Second favorite character

Probably Eikichi from the second game. He’s fun, wonderful and really under-rated. And he used to draw!! I wish he didn’t stop!! Shout-out to Koromaru and Aigis.

Least favorite character

There’s a couple of Social Link characters in P3P that are kinda ehhhh. I also wasn’t huge on Junpei outside of the Chidori stuff.

The character I’m most like

Probably Fuuka and Chihiro.

Favorite pairing

I don’t know… I don’t have strong shippy feelings about this series. I was pretty fond of the relationships between Natsuki and Fuuka, and Mitsuru and Yukari. (Natsuki and Fuuka’s caught me by surprise; I was really grateful that Mitsuru and Yukari became as close as they did. I didn’t want Yukari to hate her the whole game.)

For IS, I was also really happy that Eikichi and Miyabi seemed to have ended up together too. Their relationship was cute. Shout-out to Tatsuya and Jun, and Yukki and Anna.

When I don’t have a major ship that I like there’s just a lot of minor ships I could mention lmao

Least favorite pairing

I thought P3P was gonna have Yukari and Junpei end up together… man… lmao.

Favorite moment

P3P: Yukari and Mitsuru having that first major bonding moment was solid (minus the slap, I feel awkward about that shit OTL). Also at the end, when everyone is giving Minato their boost, I always love moments like that in games. I cried when Shinjiro was heard. A couple of the social links were also really good, like the Sun and the one with the old couple.

IS: I know there were some emotional moments that I had like in P3P but… I can’t remember exactly… Maya’s speech with that suicidal girl was solid, her optimism is stellar. Lisa standing up for herself about not being able to speak English during that whole girl group thing left an impact on me too. And I’m sorry Eikichi, but the scenes where he’s a butt monkey were pretty hilarious too.

Rating out of 10

7/10

It’s kind of hard to judge the series as a whole because, like Final Fantasy, the games vary quite a bit in terms of characters, story and gameplay. IS had a pretty wild story and a style of gameplay that would probably frustrate some people (especially if they’ve played the later games first, I imagine), but there are solid messages, characters and character development too. And even though the story is wild I think people could still enjoy it, haha.

For the third game, well, this is probably kind of stupid, but I went in with some pretty high expectations, but finished the game thinking that it wasn’t as great as I was made to believe with its popularity. At least with the story. I remember feeling like it took a while for it to get started, and then… I don’t know. The pacing is kind of weird because of the calendar, I guess.

There are also things that the older games have that the new ones don’t, but it’s stuff that’s been said before by other people.

RWBY

Favorite character

Pyrrha hasn’t been eclipsed yet, but if I had to pick a living character, probably Ren.

Second favorite character

Penny.

Least favorite character

Ugh… lmao. Cinder, for ruining MY LIFE.

Although tbh… even though I can sympathize for the guy, I never cared a lot for Qrow.

The character I’m most like

Probably Ruby… I used to connect with her in a lot of little ways, but I don’t know anymore.

Favorite pairing

Arkos… or I guess presently in the show, Bumbleby or Team Sloth. For the former, there seem to be implications that it could actually happen now (and it looks like Blake’s reunion with Team RWBY is coming up soon). For the latter… they don’t seem to be official yet? Can they do something about that??

Least favorite pairing

It used to always be Jaune/Ruby… although due to Recent Events in the show (I’m talking episode 11; I haven’t seen 12 yet) I will be kind of cheesed if Jaune/Weiss ends up happening. I don’t know why they kept making that a thing in RWBY Chibi either.

Favorite moment

A bunch… the scene where Penny tells Ruby that she’s a robot was very sweet. A bunch of the group fights in the earlier volumes (VS the giant Nevermore, and Roman in the mech). The JNPR team attack names moment in the Vytal Festival lmao.

Rating out of 10

If you asked me this 3 years ago, I probably would have said 8 or 9 out of 10, because while I could acknowledge the shows flaws, I still found a lot of things to like about it and it was really enjoyable to watch. But since the start of volume 4, my feelings have changed a lot. In essence, the show just feels really bland to me now and it’s hard for me to watch it at all (some emotional baggage with the show doesn’t really help OTL). I actually put off watching Volume 5 until this past Sunday, and I wasn’t satisfied with what I watched then either.

I know I still reblog a lot of RWBY stuff on here and whatnot, but yeah… for me, the rating is a lot lower than what it used to be.

Thanks anon!

#inbox #anonymous

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geekysweetie · 7 years

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Animal Crossing Pocket Camp Nintendo Mobile Game Review for IOS and Android

Title: Animal Crossing Pocket Camp

Developer: Nintendo

Genre: Simulation

Release Date:

Price: Free with optional in-game purchases

Where to Get:

IOS: https://itunes.apple.com/…

Android: https://play.google.com/…

Overall: 56/70 80% “B-” Very Good Game for Girls!

Geeky: 5/5 – Animal Crossing has a huge cult following because of it’s unique and strange gameplay and quirky cute characters. There is so much to do and see and it all takes place in an ever evolving changing persistent world that keeps you playing for hundreds or thousands of gaming hours.

Sweetie: 5/5 – Very few games come close to being as cute as animal crossing with its chibi anthropomorphic citizens and bright colors. This game is full of charm and wonder.

Gameplay: 8/10 – Animal Crossing is finally on mobile, which quite frankly is where this franchise has always belonged. It just makes sense as a mobile game given the style of gameplay which it innovated back in 2005. Now almost 12 years later, technology has evolved to where mobile makes the most sense for these types of games, having it with us in our pockets and purses, playing it on commutes, or while waiting in line at a busy store, or while at an appointment, or those few moments before sleeping or getting out of bed.

Animal Crossing is best enjoyed in these little breaks and little moments. It’s also best enjoyed when played often as things change and happen in a living breathing world inside of your game. There are holidays and special events and animals come and go in and out of your areas. Having it on your phone puts it always at your finger tips.

If you’ve never heard of Animal Crossing before (which is highly unlikely but just in case lol), Animal Crossing’s gameplay consists of quiet, calming activities, and cute, and quirky characters, who are, as you have probably guessed by now, animals.

These animals may ask you to complete quests for them and in exchange give you random furniture and clothing. You can also craft your own furniture and clothing as well. Certain games in the series even score you and award you more items and points for decorating your home such as Animal Crossing Happy Home Designer.

In fact, collecting these things and dressing up and designing has always been a big draw to the series. But it’s not the only thing that players love. Many players love to spend hours fishing, gardening, or catching bugs in the game. You can use them as items to trade with NPCs to complete quests or give them to other players or display them in your home or the museum, or sell them for bells (the game’s currency) to buy new items.

Buying new items is addictive too, every day you turn on your game, you will see new items to purchase. Only available for that one day, and completely unique to just you. Not that the same items won’t appear again for you, or for other players, but this particular “collection” of items is unique to you. You may have on one day, a boom box, kitchen sink, and pink sofa, while your friend may have a dining room table, expensive rug, and statue of Link from Zelda. – Of course some items are more rare than others, and since friends can visit your home, you can show off all your rare items and score bragging rights.

Nearly everything about these games are customizeable, from your character’s gender, name, appearance (initially determined by answers to questions presented when first starting the game), to your home, to your world around you. This also is another big draw to these types of games.

New animals will appear and disappear from time to time in your world. This also increases incentive to stay active and stay in touch with your favorite NPCs. After an NPC leaves (in the traditional versions of this game, not sure about mobile), they will send letters to you and sometimes give you gifts.

The games also feature night and day and weather cycles which add more variety to each play through. What you do on any given day is up to you! There is no objective, no goal, no ending, no progression it’s just a sandbox, a living breathing world for you to explore and interact with each day.

This sounds like a huge plus – and in many ways it is, but it can also be a drawback as there is very little urgency or pressure or nothing really compelling you to keep pushing forward. Many times my love for these games starts strong, but 3 or 4 months in and I find I’m barely logging in, but without fail always 6 months later I’m back to being addicted and wanting to play daily. My interest in these types of games goes through spurts like that. I think I burn out from the casual nature, but then find myself wanting to relax and enjoy a cute game and gravitating right back to it, for the same reason that I left it in the first place. It’s almost a double edged sword.

Anyways now that I’ve given you the basics of the franchise, let’s talk about what Animal Crossing Pocket Camp does differently than the other games in the series. For starters, as the name suggests, the entire game takes place in the great outdoors. You’re given a campsite you can decorate. And you have a camper trailer that you can decorate both inside and out. You travel and visit other animals (or visit your friends) and you can take quests, craft, shop, and do all the good basic animal crossing stuff.

Some areas will be blocked from exploring initially. You need to either pay leaf tickets (special in game currency obtainable with real money (but quite often also given for free as quest rewards), or get the help of friends to enter these new areas.

New areas open sometimes for special events like right now there’s a Christmas area where you can get more candy canes to help craft the time limited Christmas themed items which you need 5 friends to help you unlock.

You can link the account to your nintendo account or link your facebook and twitter to find more friends! 🙂 Playing animal crossing with your friends is now easier than ever.

So those are a few of the positive features.

On the downside, they’ve removed the actual houses, so that’s a bit disappointing for those of us who liked modeling our homes.

Also my biggest gripe is too much is just “handed” to us. In previous games, we each had a random fruit. In this game, when I get to the tutorial, I’m given tons of different fruits I can hoarde to plant back at my own campsite. Making the need to work with friends less important in this game.

I also don’t know / haven’t tested how inviting a friend over to your campsite works and how or if you can communicate with them and what activities you can do together. I feel like it may be more limited than in the other games, but maybe I’m wrong.

Other than that, the game offers a feeling of playing the console and handheld Animal Crossing games right on your mobile phone.

Story: 4/10 – Story has never ever been Animal Crossing’s strong suit, and I think for me personally, that’s why I get bored of the games so fast and have an on/off love/hate relationships with them. I play games primarily for story above anything else. So lack of really much to offer here makes it a bit dull to me.

Characters: 10/10 – The characters are charming and cute and have always been the best part of the animal crossing games.

Graphics: 10/10 These graphics look just as good as any Animal Crossing game I have ever played, and it’s a free mobile game, now that’s impressive!

Music: 5/10 Music is just sort of average. Nothing to write home about. Sometimes it can be cute and catchy, other times repetitive and annoying. Depends on my mood and the song in question.

Replay Value: 9/10 – The very nature of Animal Crossing as a franchise is a slow and steady journey meant to be enjoyed through several (often times daily) small playing sessions. Animal Crossing offers much to do, from fishing, bug catching, gardening, to crafting, to shopping, to collecting, to decorating your home and dressing up your avatar. However, it does get repetitive because of the slow and lackadaisical gameplay style. – Which don’t get me wrong, that gameplay style has also always been the game’s strong suit and its unique charm, and what makes it so much fun. There also are time limited goals, time limited items, and time limited quests to complete which will keep you logging back in. However, it’s also the type of game you can play for 10 hours a day for 6 months straight and then feel bored of. It’s much better to enjoy it about an hour a day, as if you immerse yourself too long, you will burn out quickly. But kept in small doses, you will be playing this, or any other animal crossing title for years to come. Now that animal crossing is on our mobile phones we are all doomed to be playing it religiously for the foreseeable future. And future updates will make this even more enticing.

Overall: 56/70 80% “B-” Very Good Game for Girls!

Other Games You May Like:

Castaway Paradise – pretty much an animal crossing clone. It was fun, but ain’t no animal crossing. Now that animal crossing is on mobile, I see no reason to play this.

Animal Days by Gree Sadly this is no longer around, but probably one of my all time favorite mobile games, you should check it out since there’s still a wealth of images and info available online with a quick Google search; it’s interesting to read about just because of how unique and fun it was. It had the cute animals, moving in and out of your village, and most excitingly, you could BREED your animal villagers to create new villagers. There were time limited release villagers, and all kinds of really cute things to decorate your home, and a cute story too. I was sad when it closed. I heard they underestimated how popular it was going to become and couldn’t manage well with the production schedule for new releases and updates. I wish someone would buy the code from them and revive this project, but it’s been dead for 5 years now, so it’s not likely to happen. I would rather play Animal Days by Gree over even the best Animal Crossing game, because the breeding and randomized aspects make me so excited.

Happy Street – “sort of” a clone of animal crossing, but completely different gameplay, still, animals at random move into your village, and you fish and mine and craft and so on. but yeah, just it’s different, it’s more like mobile clicker type gameplay, but it has the same charm and theme as animal crossing and is a fun and different enough game that you should play both! 🙂 — There’s also a version of this put out by Line Play, and the name is escaping me right now. Same game / user interface, but different graphic assets and run by different companies. It still has cute animals moving in and out of your village and same gameplay mechanics. I think Happy Street was marketed more and took off more rapidly, and thus the Line Play “clone version” is a lot less widely known – might be worth checking out for you if you love Animal Crossing or Happy Street though!

Seabeard – This has a huge massive open sandbox world and captures some of the unique gameplay aspects of animal crossing.

Line Play – for the fishing and dressing up and decorating and kawaii style.

Animal Crossing Pocket Camp Nintendo Mobile Game Review for IOS and Android was originally published on GeekySweetie.com - Geeky & Kawaii Anime, Tech, Toys, & Game Reviews & News

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