#tencent pictures

[marcovaleyeah]

07.11.24

#Marco-Marathon | Transformers | Films

Film Name: Bumblebee (2018); Production Studios: Paramount Pictures, Tencent Pictures, Hasbro, Di Bonaventura Pictures, Allspark Pictures, Bay Films, Tom DeSanto/Don Murphy Production, Laika Entertainment; Director by: Travis Knight; Screenwriter: Christina Hodson, Shoji Kawamori, Kazutaka Miyatake; Starring: Dylan O'Brien, Hailee Steinfeld, Jorge Lendeborg Jr., John Cena, Jason Drucker; Genres: Science-fiction, Action, Adventure; Running Time: 1 hour 54 minutes;

"Bumblebee" (2018) is a warm and nostalgic film about the friendship between a teenager Charlie (Hailee Steinfeld) and the robot Bumblebee, which refreshed the "Transformers" series. The film is distinguished by emotionality, the atmosphere of the 80s and the successful performance of Steinfeld, which makes it soulful and exciting. Dynamic scenes with robots are complemented by humor and charm, creating a unique story.

Four stars — a touching adventure that shows a new side of the Transformers universe.​​​​

My rating:

⭐⭐⭐⭐

[skaamit]

🔵 staticctf.ubisoft.com

История из разряда "А разговоров то было..."

Мои аплодисменты Иву и семье Гиймо. На коне в говно по шею зашли, на коне из него вышли... походу.

Будем, конечно, интересно к чему это всё приведёт.

[anime-of-the-day]

Anime of the Day Top 3 Anime From:

Tencent Penguin Pictures

Mo Dao Zu Shi

Douluo Dalu

Tunshi Xingkong

[moonlightsdream]

Zhang Jingyi 张婧仪 & Zhou Yiran 周翊然 x Tencent Video & Xixi Pictures photoshoot for Reborn 焕羽 Drama (2025) ⠀⠀

[piosplayhouse]

I too watched the hbomberguy video and went straight to Twitter, whereupon I found that James Somerton had mentioned danmei in one of his videos and it made everyone mad, so I went looking and. yeah here's a full transcription of his just completely incorrect coverage of cql and mdzs from "Hollywood's (Gay) China Problem" so you don't have to watch it and give him views:

"The 2019 fantasy series The Untamed, featuring an unlikely bond between a man with magic powers and a stoic prince, started an online craze over the pair's implicit romance, but the show's promotion focused on its portrayal of Chinese traditional culture, a push consistent with Chinese communist party propaganda.

The show was... Queerbait-y. But the novel on which it was based [shows a picture of the fanmade cover for The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation made by fan translator team Exiled Rebels] certainly was not. That featured a very explicit love story between the two main characters, but was self-censored when adapted to meet the censorship guidelines of the Xi Jinping government. But it didn't matter. Like so much queerbaiting before, people saw through the weak veneer of heterosexuality. They "took the bait", so to speak. The series has accumulated a total of 9.5 billion views in China as of this summer, and had also received an international release via Netflix. It was described as a global phenomenon, taking off like no BL series before it, making its way all around Asia and with the Netflix deal, all across Europe and North America as well.

Tencent, the Chinese streaming platform it originated on, saw 2.6 million new subscribers to the service when it was released. And WeTV, an app that lets you watch BL content anywhere in the world, saw growth of 250% while the show was airing. In January of 2020, the cast members planned to embark on a multi-city, worldwide fan meeting tour. Cities included Bangkok, Singapore, Tokyo, Seoul, Macau, Kuala Lumpur, Toronto, Los Angeles, New York... But it was cancelled due to COVID-19.

Even the Chinese government has endorsed it. The overseas popularity of these romantic sword-wielding heroes is often highlighted in Chinese media coverage focusing on the massive overseas streaming numbers and its ability to build a growing appreciation of the charm of Chinese culture."

[mysteryideasgroup]

MSA X Kung Fu Sock/Wa: The Rise of Manipulens

They meet new Mystery Teams of Kung Fu Sock/Wa Teams

Mystery Teams of Kung Fu Sock/Wa Teams

L___ (Male) Pepper/Minnie:

Skin Colour: 

Eyes Colour: 

Ghost Eyes: 

Scleras Colour: 

Irises Colour: 

Hair Colour: 

Clothes: 

Shoes: 

Accessories: 

Face Making: 

Freckles/Moles Faces/Bodies: No

Hair Styles: 

Eyelashes Styles: Male

Eyebrows Styles: 

Moustaches Styles: N/A

Beards Styles: N/A

V___ (Female) Yukino/Weld:

Skin Colour: 

Eyes Colour: 

Ghost Eyes: 

Scleras Colour: 

Irises Colour: 

Hair Colour: 

Clothes: 

Shoes: 

Accessories: 

Face Making: 

Freckles/Moles Faces/Bodies: No

Hair Styles: 

Eyelashes Styles: Female

Eyebrows Styles: 

A___ (Male) Kingsmen/Rivas:

Skin Colour: 

Eyes Colour: 

Ghost Eyes: 

Scleras Colour: 

Irises Colour: 

Hair Colour: 

Clothes: 

Shoes: 

Accessories: 

Face Making: 

Freckles/Moles Faces/Bodies: Freckles

Hair Styles: 

Eyelashes Styles: Male

Eyebrows Styles: 

Moustaches Styles: N/A

Beards Styles: 

M___ (Female) the Dog/Kitsune Yukino/Weld:

Skin/Fur Colour: 

Eyes Colour: 

Ghost Eyes: 

Scleras Colour: 

Irises Colour: 

Hair Colour: 

Clothes: 

Shoes: 

Accessories: 

Face Making: 

Freckles/Moles Faces/Bodies: Markings

Hair Styles: 

Eyelashes Styles: Female

Eyebrows Styles: 

G___ (Male) the Hamster/Tanuki/Dog/Kitsune Kingsmen/Rivas:

Skin/Fur Colour: 

Eyes Colour: 

Ghost Eyes: 

Scleras Colour: 

Irises Colour: 

Hair Colour: 

Clothes: 

Shoes: 

Accessories: 

Face Making: 

Freckles/Moles Faces/Bodies: Markings

Hair Styles: 

Eyelashes Styles: Male

Eyebrows Styles: 

Moustaches Styles: N/A

Beards Styles: N/A

S___ (Female) the Creature Bonsai Tree:

Skin Colour: 

Eyes Colour: 

Ghost Eyes: 

Scleras Colour: 

Irises Colour: 

Hair Colour: 

Clothes: 

Shoes: 

Accessories: 

Face Making: 

Freckles/Moles Faces/Bodies: No

Hair Styles: 

Eyelashes Styles: Female

Eyebrows Styles: 

----

For @laura-sanchez-mlp

AUs Alternates Universes CUs Crossovers Universes belongs to me

All belongs to my MSA ocs sonas and my New MSA ocs sonas, (my MSA X Kung Fu Sock/Wa KFS/W/KFS/KFW ocs sonas and my New MSA X Kung Fu Sock/Wa KFS/W/KFS/KFW ocs sonas)

All belongs to her MSA ocs sonas and her New MSA ocs sonas, (her MSA X Kung Fu Sock/Wa KFS/W/KFS/KFW ocs sonas and her New MSA X Kung Fu Sock/Wa KFS/W/KFS/KFW ocs sonas)

Mystery Skulls Animated MSA belongs to Ben and MysteryBen27 of YouTube YT Series Shows

Kung Fu Sock KFS/Kung Fu Wa KFW/Kung Fu Sock/Wa KFS/W belongs to UYoung Media and Tencent Penguin Pictures

[accio-victuuri]

xiao zhan’s mfw interview clues, talismans and matching ads. 🎤

based from the ones released today: v magazine, tencent fashion, tod’s and mr. bags. nothing too big, just some connection/s to already established cpns. feel free to appreciate and enjoy the interviews for what they are even without clowning. 🫶🏼

* V Magazine China

when he talked about superpowers, he has changed his answer from being invisible, he just wishes that there will be no disputes in the world. tho the topic is really about what he wants a parallel world to be like. interesting answer. i’m gonna wait for wyb to have an interview with a similar question and see if they will match 😂😂😂

he also answered that his style is more casual and comfortable which is exactly the same as wyb answered a similar question. not that we ever doubted how similar their personal style is. they may choose or prefer different pieces, but it has the same feel. this is who they steal each other clothes and blend in when they want to.

how he answered the question what he learned about style is to subtract. which may mean less is more or something like that. it matches what wyb said he learned about a different thing — acting. so i see this as a similarity between them, they don’t do overdo things.

🎤: If you had two hours of free time, where would you like to spend it?

🐰: Just strolling around. A city-walk.

I hope he does this with WYB! We was this happen in a lot of ZZ’s vlogs.

🎤: What is the most surprising thing from Gucci 2024 Autumn/Winter Women’s Wear show?

🐰: I think the biggest surprise is the bag. I like it very much, the shape of the bag is very avant-grade and bold.

His interest in bags is here again 👀 In his 2019 interview for MFW, he was asked about what his favorite accessory and he answered bag. The CPN happened because WYB was asked in an interview of his promotion of a jewelry brand (Emphasis ) about what jewelry he will give to his loved one. he answered a bag. lol. the question is about a jewelry but he still answered something different. who is he thinking about? a certain someone who loves bags?

🎤: Do you have any unforgettable anecdotes during the Chinese New Year that you can share with everyone?

🐰: There seems to be no Chinese New Year because I spent the Chinese New Year with the crew.

A confirmation what we already know, that he spent CNY in HD. the thing we won’t ever know tho is if WYB was there. Tho some clues point to the answer being yes.

* Tencent Fashion interview

Not much here but he just repeated how he loves bags. Lol. && how his priority is to film. I imagine the same is true for WYB.

* Tod’s interview

I didn’t share the translation for that. sorry! here it is in all it’s glory. not much cpn tho because the questions are centered on his clothes and the show.

🎤: After watching the first show of Tod's new creative director Matteo, can you share with us your first impressions?

🐰: Excited! and then when I was watching the show, I have been taking pictures all the time. Because there are many coats which I like it very much, including the bags, and I think it’s a brand-new attempt. You can see the second show, which is very unique especially it is placed at the tram stop in Milan — I heard that this tram stop is still in active service, can still be used.

🎤: What are the highlights of today’s outfit? Can you introduce it to us?

🐰: Today’s outfit is a more elegant and low-key style. It is a design of the collar on this coat, in fact you can see that it is actually a leather material, this collar can stand up, then you can put it on here and put it on in another way. Then, include this pair of shoe which is also my favorite loafer and this belt, it is also has a very unique design, it has a hemp material and then combine it with leather.

🎤: If you were asked to recommend one of the most “Italian” items you saw on the show today, which one would you recommend?

🐰: Ah~ it’s so difficult! I think there is a lot of it — I think it’s leather, I think everything about leather, the coat including leather on it’s shoes and trousers.

🎤: What are the three must- have travel stuffs during fashion week?

🐰: phone, passport, also…also the (important) card.

🎤: In a series of film and television works, how do you think different costumes help shape the character’s image?

🐰: It does help yourself to get into the role better.

🎤: You have been to Milan Fashion Week many times. Compared with the first time, what changes do you feel this time?

🐰: This time I felt more relaxed and also more cordial. There is a feeling of going home, especially there is DDV Yeye ( Tod’s CEO ) just now, he always tell me how he always welcomed me back says “Welcome back!” I felt woah! that moment was very warm. Then, of course there is conscious lifestyles of Tods that can’t live without.

🎤: Not long ago, you sang “As You Wish” at the Beijing TV Spring Festival Gala. What kind of New Year wishes do you have for everyone?

🐰: (smooth and healthy) for everyone

* Interview with Mr. Bags

this is year 3 of his interview with him! it’s one i’m waiting for cause xz is comfortable with & i feel like he can get away with asking more personal questions.

🎤: Yes, then I saw your personal clothes later I did serious study and research of it on internet. I think our Xiao laoshi really have a personal style, is very good at dressing and I just found out that — for example you will wear some hats, then the scarf and then you will also wear some of these big coats?

XZ: That’s right.

🎤: It looks warm, it has a sense of youth.

XZ: In fact, I felt it safer and then it’s more comfortable because I’m actually myself, in terms of personal clothing I prefer not too many colors, It is mainly; gray, black series and white colors. Those that are comfortable to wear and can’t go wrong and also most effective.

same thing about his personal style and what colors he chooses which is very close to wyb’s.

🎤: I also heard that Xiao Zhan is actually a very homely person. If it weren’t for work then you would just stay at home so I wonder what you usually do when you are at home?

XZ: Actually, I can also play games, sometimes I will have fun, but for most of time I spend my time working out.

this matches some recent fake rumors. 😭😭😭 especially with the part about how xz prefers to stay-in. and then how he likes to play games! who does he play games with??? WYB. there are already a couple of fake rumors and interviews of them talking about the two playing! it’s so nice to hear it from xz.

THE ALLEGED TALISMAN. 💛

p1 is GG recently, from his flight back home and p2 is a not so clear photo of WYB’s phone during HB screening where you can see what looks like a yellow paper. I have no question that GG does this, we have seen it before. but i like the idea of WYB doing something similar, maybe GG even drawing one for him. and this may be the reason why they chose this type of card case.

Finally, the matching ads by Shu Uemura and Loreal. Two different brands and products but I can’t help but see the similarity with the ads 🥹🥹🥹

-END.

[protoindoeuropean]

nine people i wish i knew better

i was tagged by @tomirida, thank you!!

favourite colour: green 😌

currently reading: in the middle of a bunch of stuff: still somewhere in the second part of Foundation and Empire by Asimov, reading the Journey to the West whenever i'm on the bus (not often these days) ...

last song: demolition group & helena blagne – dež (i didn't know she had it in her tbh!)

last film: honestly don't remember, idk if i've watched any other film after conclave (the motion picture, not the real thing) back in january

sweet/salty/savoury: i'm a sucker for sweet stuff ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ made some great milchschnitte last week 😋

last series: three-body – tencent tv, the 26 ep. anniversary edition. i tried the original 30 ep. version and got as far as 8 episodes in and it wasn't going anywhere so i dropped it. then i read somewhere that a) it picks up after around ep. 10 and b) that they corrected some pacing issues for the anniversary edition, cutting out some unnecessary stuff, and redid some editing, so i started off again (from ep. 5 onwards ≈ orig. ep. 8) and it's indeed better

my issues (x x) with the original work remain so i'm not sure how much i'll appreciate it being faithful to the book lol, but i do feel it's better as a tv series than as a book. and i want to compare it to the netflix version (this is themain driver behind watching tbh, i wanna see the chinese version turn out to be the better version lol). in any case, the jury is out

tea or coffee: (usually black) tea with milk (and cinnamon; though less often these days)

working on: ha ha, well—

i'll post about it in a month, probably

i'm tagging @bogfox, @eastern-bloc-party, @formerbogbody, @jonnystrebor, @mica5fowl, @morska-trava, @olive-martini, @urkraft, @wooden-turtle, tbh idk who likes doing these things or not—consider yourself tagged and @ me if you do😌

[justawanderingbabbit]

Strange Notes: The Liu Chang Episodes

I'll probably be watching more of the series later, but wanted to review Liu Chang's roles in this short horror anthology first.

Series Premise: In a bustling district, a House of Wonders variety store has opened, where items, seemingly ordinary, each possess peculiar functions. The owner, Damon, has documented the instructions for use in the Wonders Notebook, allowing customers to select items based on their needs. People from all walks of life flock to the House of Wonders, each facing their own dilemmas and seeking ways to overcome them. However, in the end, they invariably discover that what truly resolves their issues isn't these strange and curious goods, but rather their own love and faith. -- TenCent Video synopsis.

ETA: I found out there was a fourth episode for Liu Chang that I managed to miss. Rectifying that and giving the episode titles and Liu Chang's character names.

Beneath the cut because as usual... LONG                 (Also, SPOILERS!)

Episode 7: Memory Camera, Yu Sheng

Yu Sheng (Liu Chang) gets hold of a magic camera that shows the photographer and photographed person's memories. He and his girlfriend Lin, who both have amnesia thanks to an accident, make use of it to rediscover their relationship with each other. Except Lin realizes there's more to their memories than what Yu Shen is allowing her to see.

When she takes photos of Yu Shen covered in blood, she becomes suspicious of his motives and tries to run, only to learn that the memories the camera is showing her come from an attempted assault that she managed to escape by half-killing her foster father.

In the end, the couple decide they're best off making new, good, memories, than worrying too much about the past. They leave the camera with the proprietor of the House of Wonders and go off happily together, leaving the old memory of their amnesia behind.

This one is mostly a positive story. I'm not sure if the last scene was intended to suggest things weren't okay, but given the camera only takes pictures of the past, and the photograph Damon takes is something we already know, I'm not sure how it could be.

Damon, however, gets an ugly shock when he takes a blank photo of himself, so.... yeah.

Episode 18: Idol Drama Life, Gao Yuan

I didn't watch this one through because it hit all my cringe buttons. Liu Chang's character is a salary man who would love to be the hero in a romantic drama. His wish is granted suddenly when he finds the world stopped around him and a director demanding he behave in a certain way in order to win the love of a cold-hearted female CEO.

Unable to break out of the film crew's control, he does as he's told, even though he has no interest in said CEO and is actually in love with the little flower girl near his office. Following the script, he ends up marrying the CEO, who soon after dies for Reasons. At this point he thinks everything is a drama and believes the CEO is also acting, so doesn't feel any grief for her in his personal reality.

The script then allows him to fall in love with his flower girl, to his great pleasure. Except - unbeknownst to him - the flower girl is also an actress whose script has them falling in love and her inheriting the fortune he got from the CEO when he dies in two months.

I really didn't enjoy this one at all, though I did feel like there was plenty of meta to be had for Liu Chang and his struggles with romance drama/comedies. He doesn't handle them well, especially against perky little ingenues. I also didn't see a point where the character actually acquired an object from the House of Wonders, so his getting dragged into the mess doesn't seem fair.

Episode 21: Random Life, A-Qi

This one has one of my favorite time travel memes, although I sincerely hope the MC gets out of the problem in the end.

The main character finds himself fragmented through a month or so of time, waking without memory and sometimes injured. His only lifeline is a notebook he carries with him, showing the days he's lived in and hints as to what happened in his life. There's no notes past a certain date and he wonders if that means he's free of the mess after that day.

On one day he's killed by someone, only to wake up on another, much earlier day, with a note in his book in someone else's handwriting, telling him not to get into a taxi or leave his apartment. Afraid and angry, he instead goes to his taxi job and, somehow recognizing his enemy, takes him out in to the woods where they fight and he wins. We get a closeup of the enemy's necklace, with blue sand in a teeny hourglass.

He goes back home after burning all the evidence, then waits for midnight, hoping that ends the whole mess.

As it turns out, he visited the shop towards the beginning of the new year (I think the lunar new year) and is startled into breaking a red version of that hourglass, with the blue version right next to it. Damon tells him his time is fragmented now and that that shouldn't have been his in the first place. The enemy apparently buys the blue one at the same time.

As I noted earlier, one of my favorite memes is where one has to time travel into the past to cause something to happen in your future. In this case, we could be just facing the main character living the last days of his life out of order, of course. But that doesn't explain what the hourglasses are supposed to do and how they're supposed to be used.

I theorize that the blue hourglass lets the person involved avoid dying somehow and that he, knowing that the red hourglass owner will kill him on March 6th, tries to prevent it by threatening him. Instead, that threat ensures he does attack him.

This one's an open ending in my view. Liu Chang's character might die at the end, since he's killed (or at least attacked) on the last day of the notes. Or, because it is a magic hourglass, he'll continue waking up inside his scattered time and having to repeat everything he's done before. And, if so, maybe he'll be smart enough to work out what's going on and put a stop to that shit. (Being a Liu Chang stan, you can be sure I'm hoping for the last, no matter how bleak it might appear.)

Oh, I don't know if they did it on purpose, but the character's last day is April 14th, one day short of Liu Chang's actual birthday.

Episode 23: My False World, Zheng Tong

Wu Yong and his best friend (Liu Chang) are discussing false memories, where they recall things like a Pikachu with a black tail and Mickey Mouse in overalls. As they go about their day, though, Wu Yong realizes things are weird around him - he feels like people walk through him and like the world isn't right.

In order to determine if his best friend is a false memory, he takes Zheng Tong to the Strange Note's shop and uses a set of parallel mirrors which will only reflect a person infinitely if they're real. Zheng Tong turns out to be real, but when Wu Yong steps between the mirrors he realizes he's the one with no reflection.

As he disappears, Damon tells Zheng Tong that he's now cured of his delusion.

This one wasn't bad, if a bit obvious. One is left with an uncertainty (because of course) that the world Zheng Tong is in is real, but given the whole series is that trope, one pretty much expects it. It's a very short episode, but Liu Chang's whump expression does feature when his friend goes bye bye.

[rainbowsky]

Anonymous asked: Serious question - Does this type of public fan behaviour not land the boys in troubles? [link redacted] Funny question - what will be DD’s reaction if he sees this bus? Will he feel shy or happily take pic and send to GG?

Hi Anon! ☺️

Fake, fan fiction, CPN.

Anon is talking about the bus and taxi that BXG had wrapped in GGDD graphics for the Tencent event last night.

This is something BXG do whenever there's a big event like this, especially ones there's a chance they'll both attend (these types of things are planned well in advance, long before BXG would know for sure whether GG would be attending).

One bus and a taxi is actually pretty low-key compared to some of the things BXG have done in the past. It's not unusual for them to do multiple buses, digital billboards, etc. and they even lit up the entire exterior of the arena with BXG graphics/slogans for Weibo Night a couple years ago.

Solos love to make it seem like turtles behavior is risky or dangerous, but I find that notion totally ridiculous. These are fan materials and all in good fun. Bystanders will immediately recognize it as such, and are unlikely to take it too seriously or get offended.

At the end of the day, GG and DD are the only ones with any power to put a stop to these things and they haven't, so I think that says everything we need to know. I've talked about that a bit in the past.

So, Anon, not to worry.

As for GG and DD's reaction to things like this, there has been some discussion of that in LRLG rumors in the past. I'm especially thinking of the light banners at Tencent 2020. You can read more about that event here.

Fake rumors are fake rumors, but I think it's a pretty safe bet that they and their teams find these things amusing and heart-warming. There are plenty of examples but here are just a few:

Back during DDU they filmed a segment where DD was driving with the other DDU brothers in the car. DD was driving by a group of BXG and honked at them (some were clowning that the pattern of his honking sounded like BJYXSZD because he was doing 7 fast honks, taking a pause and then 7 again).

One year for DD's birthday BXG hired a digital billboard truck to drive around the Hunan TV building all day (where DD was filming DDU). The truck was decked out in BXG graphics and with a loudspeaker blaring GG's voice from the BTS yelling "HAPPY BIRTHDAY WANG YIBO", and there were fan repos of DD, the other hosts and Hunan TV employees laughing and taking pictures.

GG was seen smiling at BXG balloons during his visit to Milan.

When DD was in LA his car was driving by a group of BXG who were standing on the streetcorner holding balloons and chanting BJYXSZD, and DD's assistant was filmed laughing and taking photos/video from inside the car.

There are countless examples of GG and DD appearing to look at and react to BJYX light banners and headbands.

I'm sure there are many more examples I could add, but you get the general idea. I think it only makes sense that GG and DD would find these things mostly cute, and appreciate the support.

Related posts:

Thread about GGDD and the supertopics. Original post here.

What turtles might mean to GGDD

Do you think they're aware of how fans interpret things?

Do you think GG and DD enjoy BXG fan works?

Can I also add that I found this light banner from last night's event especially hilarious:

[all-hallows-street]

All Saints Streets Season Announcements

The first picture is the very first-time work on the web animation was revealed, the second image is the more well known first season announcement. Third and fourth images are the season 2 and season 3 announcements. Fifth image was the renewal for the new season and the last image is the fourth season announcement.

Bonus:

First one is announcing that the first two seasons would be free on bilibili video (no longer the case) and second one celebrates 200/103.1 million views on tencent video. Last two images are for the Japanese dub announcement and for the Japanese release 'Season 1'.

High Res:

Adaptation Reveal | Season 1 | Season 2 | Season 3 | Renewal | Season 4

Bilibili Video | 1030+ views | Japanese dub | Japanese Season 1

Sources:

Official Weibo

Japanese Official Twitter

Jarvis Dean Instagram

[lunarriviera]

iQIYI x Tencent x Linmon Pictures #UndertheSkin2, starring Tan Jianci & Jin Shijia, releases new vid for 2024 Tencent Video Drama Party [x]

[sheepytina]

So people are talking about the artwork in Metal Slug games again

There's been a few posts going around talking about how weird the Metal Slug characters look in the mobile games, particularly female characters like Eri and especially fan favourite Fio.

This conversation comes up again every so often, but it's been reignited on Tumblr again this week with three new Metal Slug games coming onto the scene:

The recent re-reveal of the indie title Metal Slug Tactics from Dotemu, which was originally announced in 2021, during Summer Game Fest 2024,

The June 2024 Nintendo Direct shadow-drop of a revamped version of the former mobile game Metal Slug Attack as Metal Slug Attack Reloaded, and

The impending global launch of the Chinese mobile game Metal Slug: Awakening from Tencent Games next month (July 2024), which originally released in China and SEA in 2023.

Remember these three names, because this is what this post is going to primarily centre around.

However there's one version of this type of post going around that just posts artwork from Metal Slug 3 and MS: Awakening and doesn't adequately explain what the artwork actually comes from and why it looks the way it does, resulting in the confusion and bewilderment of many people who are less familiar with the Metal Slug series.

And so I decided I really need to throw my hat into the ring and see if I can dissect this and bring some actual facts to the conversation.

Look, it's not great. Basically, the stuff people are saying is indeed mostly true, but there's a lot of half-truths and even a few straight up lies being mixed into it. Such as how what the original Metal Slug games looked like is actually more complicated than people think, for starters.

Furthermore, one of the three games I mentioned actually looks really good, and oddly it seems to be the one with the least attention on it right now.

Now, because I'm me, this blog post ended up really long, long enough to have chapter markers, so please bear with me and stick around to the end if you can. — And if you don't care about the historical context, I'm happy for you just to look at the pictures too.

Part 1: The original NEOGEO Metal Slug games

So the main point of this conversation is that the classic Metal Slug games let the characters look weird and cartoony. That's a big part of Metal Slug's core identity, and this is lost in the recent mobile games.

(Of course I had to get a real CRT photo in here at some point.)

To define "classic Metal Slug" you can assume most people are referring Metal Slug 1 through to 3, i.e. the ones that SNK created before their bankruptcy in the year 2000. And most of all, that iconic character select screen from Metal Slug 2, X and 3.

As you can see, there's definitely a shift that took place here.

But hold on, Fio also looks pretty different on the arcade flyers, especially in her original debut in Metal Slug 2. So it's not exactly as clear cut at the cherrypicked images would suggest, but all the same there is still a distinct, extremely late '90s style to everything.

Metal Slug 4 and 5 also released for the NEOGEO system and are similarly loved by many, but were developed in the 2000s under the newly formed Playmore, aka SNK Playmore. I definitely agree with this sentiment that the "original identity" of Metal Slug was strongest in the early titles, and the artwork is the most noticeable reflection of that.

However, although it has little bearing on the conversation, I think it's important to clarify that this change to a contemporary anime style actually began in the early 2000s during the Playmore era of SNK. Like would happen with other SNK game series like The King of Fighters and Samurai Shodown, things got weird for Metal Slug once SNK was reborn as Playmore, eventually becoming SNK Playmore.

Still, all the mainline Metal Slug games through to Metal Slug 7 and Metal Slug XX are still considered classics by fans. The problem for a lot of fans would be SNK's push into new markets such as pachislot and mobile gaming.

Which brings us to…

Part 2: The Metal Slug smart device games, and the Chinese mobile game market

Mobile games would prove a highly lucrative market for SNK Playmore, with hundreds of titles published for Japanese phones during the '00s. A few of these also made their way to more conventional J2ME devices in China. Eventually the mobile gaming market would move to smartphones, with SNK bringing games such as Metal Slug Defense and Metal Slug Attack to market in the 2010s.

This is the first mention of China in this post and it won't be the last. SNK's arcade titles had traditionally been extremely popular in the Chinese market, and with the mobile game market rapidly growing and a hunger for bigger games from beloved SNK series, a lot of interest had grown for SNK titles in this market.

This would result in a huge investment from Chinese companies, with a new joint venture acquiring a 81% stake in the company in 2016, leading SNK Playmore to announce a new shift in their strategy, and with that came a rebrand, once again to simply SNK.

This new identity signified a new era for SNK. This newly reignited SNK would move away from non-videogame markets such as pachislot, and focus more on console games and character licensing. This is the SNK that gave us The King of Fighters XIV and a new Samurai Shodown game.

But this is also the SNK that really doubled down on the Chinese and South-east Asian mobile markets.

This is where this conversation stems from. Games such as the tower defence mobile game Metal Slug Attack and many other mobile games in series such as The King of Fighters would be massive money-makers for SNK. Even the new Samurai Shodown game on consoles/PC would centre Chinese audiences with its first DLC crossover characters pulling from Ubisoft's For Honor and Tencent's Honor of Kings.

But when it comes to centering the tastes of the mobile game market, the big one that bugs people is Metal Slug: Awakening, a mobile game developed and published under license by Tencent Games, which entered beta testing in 2021 and released in China and South-east Asia in 2023.

Now this game actually doesn't have all that much to do with SNK besides the license. However it would be disingenuous of me to say that means it's insignificant to the series. We didn't get to this point out of nowhere out of all. Plus this game is set for a global release in 2024, so this game is for all of us to enjoy.

Although, is it really for all of us? The game certainly seems to plays like a real Metal Slug game, retaining the series' famous run 'n gun gameplay, which is more than you can say for most Metal Slug mobile games. But it certainly doesn't look like a Metal Slug game. The in-game graphics are a strange 3D interpretation of the original pixel art, and all the game's promotional artwork and splash screens look like this. Fio in particular straight up looks like a different character in these pictures.

It's not great. I'm not about to try and defend this. It's just that I really need to stress that it's really not a game targeted towards us.

To make matters more confusing for a lot of people not super plugged-into Metal Slug is that it's not even the only Metal Slug game in the news recently. Metal Slug Tactics had been missing in action since 2021, and all of a sudden it gets re-revealed by Dotemu in June 2024 but overshadowed by many other announcements during the Summer Game Fest period.

But also, SNK themselves would, during the June 2024 Nintendo Direct, reveal and immediately shadow-drop a revamped offline version of the Metal Slug Attack game called Metal Slug Attack Reloaded.

I actually saw a lot of people confused by this. People who remembered the initial 2021 reveal of Metal Slug Tactics and thought this was the same game. It might seem obvious to some of us, but if this is you, then I assure you, it's not the same game.

Although SNK seems to be downplaying this for some reason, Metal Slug Attack is a pretty old mobile game that went defunct last year, and this is a revamped version of it for consoles and PC that can be played offline without microtransactions. (An increasing trend I want to see more of!) The game is still very much a mobile game to its core though and you can tell.

But, look, don't worry, there's hope for us yet, in the form of a new game that many western Metal Slug fans have been excited for for many years. I've already mentioned it, it's…

Part 3: Metal Slug Tactics, a new tactical Metal Slug game from Dotemu and French developer Leikir Studio

I'm going to preface this section with a clarification of my stance on this. As a strategy game this doesn't exactly scream classic Metal Slug. However, a few people have been lumping this in with the mobile games and I think that's pretty unfair.

For starters, this game is oozing with personality and really looks like it's developed by people who truly understand Metal Slug.

Second, the artwork in this game is clearly a very different beast from what can be seen in Metal Slug: Awakening.

Obviously this isn't the same as the funny looking characters you remember from the in-game graphics of the NEOGEO titles. I still however feel like this captures the spirit of these beloved characters better than any of the mobile games have. This is definitely along the lines of Sonic Mania or TMNT: Shredder's Revenge in terms of attention to detail, and that's especially reflected by how the actual game looks and moves in action.

This is really my true agenda if I'm perfectly honest. Please don't sleep on this game. Even if you don't like tactics games, this is the one you want to keep an eye on if you want a true return to form for Metal Slug.

[laura-sanchez-mlp]

MSA X Kung Fu Wa AU: The Rise of Manipulens Chapter 1: The Beginning/They meet new Mystery Teams of Kung Fu Sock/Wa Teams

**The Beginning, Mystery Teams and Girls' Clue Club Team arrives in Starry Island**

**Then they meeting a new mystery team named "Mystery Karate-Saviours Team"**

Leiichi, Verena, Ayuto, Mayuka, Greg the Hamster/Tanuki, Shizuka the Creature Bonsai Tree: Hi there

Laura, Sarah, Lewis, Arthur, Vivi, Mystery, Ecole and others: Hi :)

Maisy: I remember Starry Island, when my parents brought me in vacation the first time

Cera: Yep, sure it is, little sis :)

**They are going to meeting Tee Zeng with her friends and family, and even master kicko and laura's 2nd ancestor, Leina Chan**

Leina (her Headband with Heart form): **seeing at her descendant, Laura was arrives with her friends: Is that... Laura?

For @sfcabanasstarcgs and @mysteryideasgroup

AUs Alternates Universes CUs Crossovers Universes belongs to @sfcabanasstarcgs and @mysteryideasgroup

All Her msa ocs and her new msa ocs belongs to @sfcabanasstarcgs and @mysteryideasgroup

All My msa ocs and my new msa ocs belongs to Me

All Kung fu Sock/Wa Characters belongs to UYoung Media and Tencent Penguin Pictures

Mystery Skulls Animated MSA Characters belongs to MysteryBen27 of YouTube YT Series Shows/Shows Series

[leagueoflasagnas]

Caitvi content from the 2021 Tencent panel (the quality is 🫥 but I couldn't find better pictures)

[mysteryideasgroup]

Misa Sakurai of MSA X Kung Fu Sock/Wa KFS/W oc

Full Name: Misa Sakurai

Nicknames: Mis, Ms./Mrs. Sakurai/Miss Sakurai

Gender: Female

Age: 

Occupation: 

Actual or Past Occupation: 

Favourite Animal: 

Family Members Relatives: 

Family Members’ Siblings Relatives: 

Other Family Members Relatives: 

Partners: 

Children: N/A

Pets: 

Love Interest: 

Friends: 

Enemies: 

Species: Human

Status: Alive/Active 

Alignment: Good 

Likes: 

Dislikes: 

Hobby: 

Goals: 

Weapons: 

Powers and Abilities: 

Skills and Abilities: 

Eyes Colour: 

Ghost Eyes: 

Scleras Colour: 

Irises Colour: 

Hair Colour: Black

Clothes: 

Shoes: 

Accessories: 

Face Making: 

Eyeshadow Markings Colour: N/A

Lipstick Marks Colour: N/A

Freckles/Moles Faces/Bodies: N/A

Hair Styles: Two Buns

Eyelashes Styles: Female

Eyebrows Styles: 

Personality: 

Nationality: Japan/Japanese

Sexuality: Heterosexual and Straight Allies

Relationship Status: Single

Romantic Status: Single

----

For @laura-sanchez-mlp

AUs Alternates Universes CUs Crossovers Universes belongs to me

All belongs to my MSA ocs sonas and my New MSA ocs sonas, (my MSA X Kung Fu Sock/Wa KFS/W ocs sonas and my New MSA X Kung Fu Sock/Wa KFS/W ocs sonas)

All belongs to her MSA ocs sonas and her New MSA ocs sonas, (her MSA X Kung Fu Sock/Wa KFS/W ocs sonas and her New MSA X Kung Fu Sock/Wa KFS/W ocs sonas)

Mystery Skulls Animated MSA belongs to Ben and MysteryBen27 of YouTube YT Series Shows

Kung Fu Sock/Wa KFS/W belongs to UYoung Media and Tencent Penguin Pictures