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otomelavenderhaze · 3 years

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My honest, but with no big spoilers plot-wise, review about Tears of Themis.

If you wanna get a general idea about how this game works, I think it’s fair to point out that one reminds me of very loosly of My Candy Love given the screentime we get with each character, it also reminds me of Ikemen for the tight plot and engaging story with a complex but still pretty straightfoward and it reminds me Queen's Choice in the composition of the app and with certain mechanics, as well, the possible only platonic type of relationship that you can get with the four male leads.

However and even so, Tears ot Themis is still pretty much it’s own thing with the Sherlock Holmes-like approach to the cases, it’s own world building with it’s own rules and pretty advanced technological set up and hits of retro/vintage elements here and there, with a very much anime styled storywise and artwise scenarios but a really tight and engaging plot.

So I don’t think it’s fair to draw any further comphrasions and instead let’s talk about my game experience with this one so far:

The game give us multiple ways of engaging with story/plot.

You have the main episodes to play, with criminal or civil cases to solve and win over.

Then in a different section, each male character has it’s own lockable side route, where you can know them better and get the spend some time with them after raising some affinity AND each card from the Gacha that you evolve and level up can have it's own little story that costs nothing and most of them feels like a date. I have played some of it and it's really really cute.

Now I think this game will approach romance in a more platonic way. The romance in the first four episodes and for what I saw so far, is very light, platonic and soft. I’m not sure if we will ever evolve to a full-relationship type of dynamic with the male leads.

However, I wouldn’t rule it out for the future just yet, since it feels like an otome.

We get some truly cute moments with MC that clearly has a lot of chemistry with all four of the male leads. They all have their own dynamic with her, different kind of relationships and levels of intimacy. Every moment we get to share with them feels different and they all are interesting, mysterious and charming around her.

They’re also all very linked to the plot in different ways, like Artem is also an attorney, meanwhile, Luke is a detective, and so go on and on - they all have their own weight to the plot, but it doesn’t feel unbalanced at all. I had a very pleasant surprise dealing with them in those different scenarios, because I never felt bored or annoyed by any of them in any shape or form.

The art of the game is gorgeous.

The backgrounds, the side characters, the main characters, the cgs!! Everything is so beautiful all the time that it can catch your attention really easily. The animation is also really well done, it doesn’t look weird even tho, looks very cartoony sometimes.

Some cgs don't have animations, most of the special ones do and when they do, they're pretty and cool. It’s totally something that you can stare and simp for hours kkkkkk I didn't dislike any of the ones I got, not even with the characters that I feel less connected with.

As a beta tester I can't really talk much about the cap in the points we get to play the game - because they gave us so much energy to test the most we could.

However, I can see how the energy points system will put certain cap on us, because you will need energy points for EVERYTHING - aside from somethings that you won’t, like the card’s stories. I pushed my limits somedays and I can see how this can push someone to actually spend money on the game to get through the story.

But I can’t point out if it’s gonna be super unfair or not yet, because, like I said, they almost give us infinity supply for the energy points, so I went through everything I had without thinking too much and I did almost run out of spare things to use, indeed, but I was commiting some mistakes and I just being full-on about it.

As a Gacha Game it’s what it is. I also can’t speak much about my experience with it, because they give a lot of things to us and I did spend everything I would got in game to get cards. I wasn’t really trying to get any that I really wanted, so I can’t speak about the frustration of not getting them - I got a lot of cool ones, but they did supply us with a lot of points to exchange for cards, so.

The system to level up the CG is the complex part. You can upgrate a card in way too many ways. However, I have played through the fourth episode and I didn’t find any block with the ones I had leveled up (I had 3/4 RS leveled up on their main level and I played without any worry at all).

I'm not going in dept about what each episode is about here, however, I need to point out that each case is pretty straightforward but really fun with a twist to play.

MC is an attorney, but she also acts like an investigator in a very Sherlock Holmes way, picking apart small things and piece together, with us the players, what happened. And to make it even funnier, we get to play a little bit of Ace Attorney in this game kkkkkkkk it has a really obvious inspo on that one and it's a really cool addition. Any one that at least are familiar with the memes can pick apart which parts have a nod to Ace Attorney.

That being said, every case doesn't really feel like a challenge per say. You won't fail the whole episode if you commit mistakes on the trials. The game is more about the journey than really create a challenge for us and I can see it as something good. Maybe some of you will hate it, but I was fine with how it was.

I wanna see which direction Mihoyo will take it story-wise (I’m actually really curious) since they're doing a such good job with Genshin's and Hokai's story. They both have really well tied up stories, with a dark twist and full of symbologies that gives clues to a bigger picture.

It feels like the cases of every episode for the main story are key for the major plot BUT not quite what the major plot is going to be, there’s for sure something bigger going on and I’m very interested to know what exactly it is.

Overall my experience with this game was really good.

I loved Artem and Marius, I’m totally taken by their personalities and by how handsome they are kkkkkk Luke is also super cute and handsome, he was a very pleasant surprise. Vyn is an interesting character, very morally grey and kinda shady but really trustworthy too kkkkkk which was a fun mix - but I would say he’s my less favorite.

I wasn’t expecting enjoy the story so much, but I did. I wasn’t expecting just how cute and charming the male leads are, Marius and Luke in special really surprised me and hooked me in. I was pretty sold on Artem alone, but now I’m there for them all. I wanna learn more about them and play more with their stories in the future.

#Tears of Themis #personal

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jontheredrc · 2 years

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I’m really sorry that every time I learn about a plot or setting element in Yu-Gi-Oh, my mind’s first instinct is to immediately think of Gradius-themed cards. You folks are probably getting sick of it, but it makes getting into this series that much funnier to me. I glanced off the anime as a kid, but now I’m back, revisiting the plot, playing Duel Links, and occasionally going on wiki rabbit hole-style excursions where I read about a bunch of cards. But, like, I have questions, questions that I don’t know if I ever would’ve asked if Gradius weren’t here.

For one, I’m amazed that the Gradius cards are here as fully functional pieces within the series lore. One thing I’m getting a lot as I revisit YGO is that the cards a given character uses tend to reflect their personalities. Hell, sometimes they’re more than that--I’m still in the process of revisiting the series after watching bits and pieces of the anime as a kid, but I remember something being up between Yugi and Dark Magician (I got lots of vague memories of Yugi as the Dark Magician or at least wearing his getup).

But I also vaguely remember that Pegasus guy going on an expedition to Egypt and finding stone tablets with the power of monsters sealed inside, and I guess those spirits are mixed up in the card game somehow? But it’s right about here where my brain starts pounding the table and chanting “GRADIUS GRADIUS GRADIUS”.

You can’t handwave them away as some crossover not meant to be taken seriously, not when Duke Devlin and Lorenzo both use them. But they seem to also follow the rules because Devlin and Lorenzo are both serious gamers (outside the context of Duel Monsters, I mean). What’s more, Devlin uses Gradius much the way you play the actual game Gradius--he starts out with a weak ship, and quickly stacks spells onto it as powerups to use it as an adaptable and formidable attacker! He’s even got 50 LP when he summons Gradius, so he’s basically in a position where one hit from anything will end him, just like your ship in Gradius dies in one hit to anything, but at that point, I might be overthinking it...

But what if I’m not? What if these silly cards based on the arcade space shoot-’em-up are also part of the whole “manifestations of ancient or otherworldly spirits who gravitate to those with like personalities” vibe I’m reading from Yu-Gi-Oh? Because they really seem like they are! The Gradius is a lone ship, and Duke Devlin seems like kind of a loner at first. And if I’m understanding things correctly, it’s absolutely possible that the soul of some loner (human or otherwise) could somehow be tied to this card. Even though it’s got a photo of this branded on it:

But then does Gradius’ Option have a Duel Monster Spirit too? If so, these are obviously new cards, unless the ancient Egyptians played Gradius too (which might be the simpler explanation at this point even when you account for all the Easter Island statues in Gradius). How does this happen? How do these cards exist and tie into the lore? Is this just the end result of a weeaboo-equivalent spirit who’s really into human culture? Because that seems to also be a distinct possibility within the setting!

And forget being tied to a crossover cameo card--Gradius’ Option can only be summoned when you have a Gradius on the field, and it gets destroyed if that Gradius ever leaves the field. How does being a monster that’s literally unusable without another very specific monster’s presence affect that spirit? Does the card work that way because of the spirits that surround the cards, and a connection they may have had? Do the monster’s appearance and mechanics come first, and then a wandering soul comes by and goes “that’s a mood” and now they are one?

Or are the Gradius cards exempt from the supernatural rules of the setting? In which case they’re just...lifeless cards with no spirits? For one, that's way less fun--especially the parts about how Duke uses Gradius. But then how does that even work? I mean, I trust that the latest dueling technology must let lifeless cards function just fine in duels even if spirits are involved, because Lorenzo does pretty well against Jaden’s HEROes for awhile, and they have spirits. But how might that make the spirits feel? If there are monsters that are not part of the magic, what is it like to battle one?

Okay, some of those questions probably do have answers if I’ll just be patient and continue to traipse through the series and its lore. But every time I do get an answer, I just know the first thing I’m gonna think is, “But how does this connect to Gradius?”

#yugioh #gradius #ygo #also in the process of writing this i might change my au #if lyla brangwyn is even vaguely sensitive to duel spirits then she'll probably gravitate not to gradius #but to gradius' option #then she makes a new friend and basically becomes their option #she makes their deck and the duo duel together as one #as in they literally share the deck and make all the decisions together

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aion-rsa · 3 years

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Shameless Season 11 Episode 7 Review: Two at a Biker Bar, One in the Lake

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This Shameless review contains spoilers.

Shameless Season 11 Episode 7

“Why do you still all live together? You obviously hate each other.”

A tenet of Shameless that’s defined the series even more than its Chicago setting or lower class social strata is that the dysfunctional Gallagher family all live together in one crowded house. There are nearly ten people living in the Gallagher household at any given time and these close quarters are metonymic of the love-hate relationship between the Gallaghers that’s at the core of the series.

This cramped lifestyle is uncomfortable and limiting in many ways, but it’s allowed them to become stronger and closer in the process. Shameless has previously handled this living situation as an enduring badge of honor for the Gallaghers, but “Two at a Biker Bar, One in the Lake” is the first episode that wonders if it’s actually codependent behavior and questions if the Gallaghers should still be living together after these eleven seasons. This important question causes different reactions in the entire family, which results in one of Shameless’ strongest episodes of its final season.

The biggest conflict that drives nearly all of the activity in “Two at a Biker Bar, One in the Lake” is Lip’s selfish proposal to sell the Gallagher home and the resistance that he faces from everyone else. It makes sense that this idea would have extremely limited appeal to anyone, so it’s reassuring to see the various Gallaghers come back at Lip with unenthusiastic responses, because why wouldn’t they!

It’s actually kind of sickening to see Lip try to buy out his family’s votes with meager favors like preparing their favorite food. This is a major decision that’s going to change the rest of their lives, not a vote over what’s being watched for movie night. Digestible favors aren’t the solution here and Lip should really just listen to his family instead of focusing on the right way to flip them.

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Lip’s unscrupulous tactics become cruelly manipulative when he tries to sway the younger members of the family, like Carl, with the potential in their $20,000 buyout. That’s hardly enough for Carl to upgrade from the life that he currently has, especially after he just decked out the basement and made his living quarters more comfortable than they’ve ever been. It’s rough to watch Lip aggressively bully his family into immediately voting on the matter and then being resentful when the consensus doesn’t side in his favor. The fact that nobody else votes to sell the house should give Lip enough of an indication that this is something that his family isn’t interested in and that he should find another way to solve his housing and financial problem.

I was concerned over Liam’s future if the Gallagher house disappears and so it’s satisfying to see this episode explore Liam’s fear over this exact situation. Surely some family member would step up and allow him to live with them, but the fact that he doesn’t consider that and thinks that he’s on his own speaks volumes for how he currently views his family. He’s more comfortable with Kevin and Vee than any Gallagher. Honestly, Lip should volunteer to house Liam until he finds something else, considering that this is all his fault, but Liam could do better than them at this point.

No Gallagher is more opposed to Lip’s suggestion to sell the house than Frank. He sequesters himself and grapples with the possibility of losing this symbol that’s been with the Gallaghers for generations in a much more philosophical manner than everyone else. Frank has been possessive over his territory and this very home in the past, but it’s always been for selfish reasons whereas his motivation here is surprisingly tender and poetic. Now, that’s not necessarily the reason to keep a house, but it’s a much purer motivation than Lip’s reasons for wanting to sell it.

Frank’s continued to watch his family grow up and move beyond him and this house is the one constant that’s been present in the majority of his life. This means even more to Frank now after his dementia diagnosis and he finds more of his world slipping away from him. In many ways, Frank needs to keep this house and this episode highlights that in a manner that’s graceful and natural.

The rest of Frank’s material in this episode is quite haunting even if he does playfully manipulate others with his fresh diagnosis as a new tool in his arsenal of cons. “Two at a Biker Bar, One in the Lake” finds another clever way to juxtapose Shameless’ final season with some of its earliest exploits. There are several installments where Frank has gone on a massive bender and spends the episode in a stupor as he attempts to find his way back home.

There’s never been an element of fear in those past excursions, but it’s now genuinely frightening to see Frank out of his element in some foreign place as he struggles to remain composure and figure out where he belongs. Shameless is already getting a lot of mileage out of this and it’s making its limited time with Frank’s diagnosis work as opposed to a whole season where he’s lost and mentally in bad shape.

Frank barely manages to get home in one piece due to his failing memory, but new drama with Sandy makes Debbie learn something that she wishes that she could forget. More of Sandy’s guarded past comes home to roost and now there’s a child that’s also in the equation. Debbie actually manages to create a modicum of empathy for her character as she emphasizes the importance of not shirking the responsibility of parenthood.

It’s helpful for Debbie to display some humanizing qualities in an episode where the rest of the Gallaghers explicitly shout, “We just hate Debbie,” but she quickly turns the situation around on herself by how she handles her feelings. It’s incredibly inappropriate for Debbie to get involved in Sandy’s custody battle and consciously ignore what both parents and the child are requesting in this situation. Debbie’s erratic behavior is all the response of her intense abandonment issues from Monica and even Fiona, to some extent. Debbie seems resistant in the area even if it’s something that the audience has been aware of for some time.

The other major relationship that this episode deconstructs is the recent encounter between Carl and Tish, which begins as DOA on account of the sexual assault component of it all, but takes a surprising turn by the end of everything. Carl lets Tish down in a gentle and caring manner that’s actually mature and seems like it will be premature, albeit responsible, conclusion to their time together. This is Shameless, so “mature” is a word that’s typically out of the show’s vocabulary. Initially, Carl’s stress over this scenario explodes in a humorous and inappropriate display at work, but then matters take a more realistic approach to this relationship.

There’s a very sitcom-like aesthetic to a lot of “Two at a Biker Bar, One in the Lake’s” storylines and like in most sitcoms, Carl and Tish’s problem is a case where clear communication would have solved everything. I actually love how this plot plays out where Tish is a decent, accomplished person who has valid excuses for all of her behavior. Similarly, Carl never initially accuses her of rape because he’s equally trying to act like a gentleman and minimize any unnecessary conflict in their goodbye. It’s a simple, yet surprising, resolution where Carl is actually the wild one and Tish is completely normal. It’s a welcome change of pace and it provides a nice taste of Carl’s awkward transition into adult relationships now that he’s growing up and entered this seemingly more responsible stage of his life.

Ironically, consistency has been good for Carl, but it’s something that’s been sporadic in this season of Shameless. The group dynamic in episodes has occasionally been unbalanced or felt unnatural, but there’s a very comfortable energy around the Gallaghers in this episode. Characters like Lip and Debbie become antagonistic and cause ripples throughout the rest of the family, but these moments of tension are explored in larger group scenes that benefit from the complete family’s dynamic. Mickey not even say something in a scene, but the fact that he’s there and offers an exasperated eye roll to Ian or Carl accomplishes so much. The beginning of this season struggled in this area, but it’s been a triumph across the past few installments and will hopefully continue until the season’s end.

This is a natural and effortless Shameless episode not just in terms of its character dynamics, but also its sense of humor. This installment is easily one of the funnier entries of the season and lands some legitimately hilarious gags. It’s always appreciated when Shameless can accentuate its strong comedic skills, especially since lately it’s embraced melodrama and quirky scenarios over direct jokes.

“Two at a Biker Bar, One in the Lake” is an effective reminder that this show can still be quite humorous and the moment where Frank is a bar that’s not the Alibi and gets tripped up over a Vee doppelganger made me laugh out loud. It also might be the last joke that’s made which stems from Frank’s dementia if the subject matter grows more intense on that front.

Shameless embraces this lighter comedic energy the most with Ian and Mickey’s storyline, where they try to acquire some gay friends for themselves. This is fantastic right from the jump and it’s such a pleasant and affable storyline that it almost feels out of place in Shameless, especially eleven seasons in. Mickey struggles to make something as simple as a smile seem natural and it only gets more ridiculous as these two put themselves out there.

Mickey and Ian both generate an awkward energy and it’s a major wakeup call to just how atypical the Gallaghers and Milkoviches are in contrast to the rest of Chicago. The craziest detail here is that Mickey becomes the more popular of the duo in the end and it’s a highlight to see him trading barbs and doing pile-ons as Ian tries to collect himself. Ian and Mickey’s behavior in their post-married life has been a bright spot in this season and this is the easily most enjoyable of their storylines so far. The two have been in such heightened scenarios that there’s a real charm to them doing something this normal and mundane.

Once everything comes to a head in “Two at a Biker Bar, One in the Lake,” Lip reaches a very dangerous place and he practically has a mental breakdown over the avalanche of selfish and misguided decisions that he’s made this season. Lip has been responsible for some seriously awful things, but “Two at a Biker Bar, One in the Lake” concludes with behavior that is so out of line and on par with any of Fiona and Frank’s worst behavior. A reckoning is coming and it might be too late for Lip to get a happy ending by the time that all of this is over.

All of Lip’s foolishness crashes together in such a disastrous manner that you practically expect the Curb Your Enthusiasm theme to kick in. The most important thing that Lip needs to do is just face reality and know when to tap out rather than continue to dig himself deeper. This behavior was problematic when Lip was a single self-destructive alcoholic, but now he has a child and life partner and it’s not tenable any longer. Just live with her family, dude!

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“Two at a Biker Bar, One in the Lake” is a satisfying episode that greatly benefits from a smart script that’s heavy in humor. This season of Shameless has gotten a little away from itself, but this episode turns to more grounded scenarios that are rooted in the characters’ backstories. It’s exactly what the series needs right now and as Frank loses track of who he is in a mental capacity and Lip loses sight of himself based on how far he’s fallen, it’s reassuring that Shameless has found itself and remembers what makes it work as it heads into the Chicago sunset.

The post Shameless Season 11 Episode 7 Review: Two at a Biker Bar, One in the Lake appeared first on Den of Geek.

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joecial-distancing · 4 years

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2019 in review in review:

A few years ago I started tracking yearly goals, books read, movies watched etc in a year, along with overview blurbs, in private posts. End of 2019/beginning of 2020 I was really frazzled/burned out about a lot of stuff and just never finished up making the thing. 8 months later, got the urge to read back what I’d got done, then figured I’d maybe go ahead and see about finishing.

Media tracking below the break. thoughts/blurbs written in 2020 italicized, 2019 not.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~_____________________________~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Didn’t do so hot on explicit personal goals, but had a lot of stuff go ok around them this year.

School’s been fine/better than fine.

Job’s probably the biggest failing. Still with same job, haven’t made the firm moves to jump off, dragging my feet too much on exploring stuff w/ Columbia/NASA GISS.

Did not get better with covid, lol

Dating life still non-existent, but I’ve registered on apps, gotten more comfortable with selfies, improved general social life dramatically, been flirted with, updated my wardrobe, and generally started to get comfortable accepting that I’m a hot person.

Somehow got extremely better during covid.

Books

Grant (finished)

We stan a taurus legend

Guy was good at exactly one job, and was fortunate enough to have been in the right place/right time to get to do it.

Mort (discworld)

Definitely best discworld I’ve gotten to so far.

Don Quixote p. II

Really entertaining in a way that part 1 wasn’t; I was shocked how much the meta element landed for me.

Consider the Lobster (DFW collection)

had zero context on who DFW is/was when I read, and still don’t exactly tbh. Wanted to wait for a pause in The Discourse before diving into more of him, but dunno if I’m ever going to get that.

Crime and Punishment (revisited)

Weirdly didn’t get much more out of this than I did the first time I’d read it

Better Than Sex (HST Gonzo papers)

Xerox/widespread fax accessibility opening citizen access to mass media in a manner really reminiscent of what social media would go on to do at a much larger scale. Has a much more deliberate narrative arc than the other gonzo papers collections, also has that excellent HST richard nixon eulogy

The Brothers Karamazov

SPQR

Slouching Towards Bethlehem (Didion collection)

Pet Sematary

Not my favorite King, but not bad

Sourcery (discworld)

still funny/charming, but Mort really made clear/reminded me how much the hapless sadsack Rincewind mold of protagonist wears on me after a while.

The Devil's Teeth

My Year of Rest and Relaxation

Liked it a lot more once I realized it was doing a Fear and Loathing thing.

Homage to Catalonia

This should be the Orwell that gets taught in schools. Make it a followup to All Quiet on the Western Front or something, jeez.

Lyndon Johnson I

Having now finished all of them, this one’s probably the least-interesting but sets up a bunch of important context that the others still then feel the need to retread.

The Razor's Edge

Recommended to me as a “white guy discovers eastern mysticism” book, but also is more interesting in its treatment of that than I’d expected (helps it was written in the 40s).

Cat's Cradle

There’s a part in this where Vonnegut’s making fun of people who try to bond with strangers over being Hoosiers, and my dumbass immediate thought was “ooh, Vonnegut’s a hoosier? Me too!”

Lyndon Johnson II

Robert Caro felt compelled to apologize for spending so much words lionizing Coke Stevens, segregationist opponent to Johnson’s senate run. His goal was pretty clearly to show lbj’s lack of campaign charisma by contrast, definitely definitely overcommitted in his own narrativising.

Libra

I want to go back to this after reading some more De Lillo.

Gravity's Rainbow

This book absolutely kicked my ass

Overstuffed and referential in a specific way that really keeps me hooked in instead of put off. When I learn about some piece of cultural context that I retroactively recognize as being referenced in this, I want to go back and reread the entire thing.

From Caligari to Hitler

Kind of fails both as film criticism and cultural analysis, but absolutely made me want to run for the hills when considering current relationship between mainstream movies and demands of pop culture.

I took a class on Weimar cinema in undergrad that I now realize was probably biting pretty heavily from this and never once referenced it.

Movies

Venom

Movie itself is not as fun as the Tom Hardy hype coverage. PG13 was the absolute worst space to aim for, PG- or R- versions of this could have been a blast.

Harryhauser Argonauts

Was tripping when I put this on, and it was all kinds of fun.

2001: a Space Oddyssey

First time seeing this, all-time classic for a reason!

A Good American (the NSA doc)

Dr. Strangelove

Mel Brooks History of the World p. I

Not my favorite Brooks, best joke was at the beginning.

In Bruges

Had been a while since I saw a proper dark comedy.

Spiderverse

Fukkin awesome!

Visually great, and extremely better than usual superhero stuff for being aimed at PG instead of PG-13.

You Only Live Twice

Highlander (Revisited)

I watched The Old Guard on netflix recently and it mostly just made me wish I was watching Highlander instead, because at least Highlander knows exactly how goofy it is

Moonraker

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

Much like The Shining, I though this would have been 100% spoiled for me by cultural osmosis, but turns out it wasn’t, and even the scenes I had seen *totally landed* in-context still.

Kung Fu Hustle

Ichi the Killer

Really gross, really fun

Matrix Reloaded (watched thru highway scene) (Revisited)

The highway scene was not nearly as cool as I remembered it being.

John Wick 3*

Probably dumbest plot of all of them, best choreography. I like how every single fight had its own distinct flavor. “Knife museum fight” “horse fight” “halle berry dogs fight”

Akira

A classic

Pet Sematary * (ugh, bad)

Why can’t john lithgow be in good movies anymore

The Revenant

MCU Spiderman

Fuck this was awful.

MCU Spiderman 2*

Really weird, complete Rorschach Test of a movie: it’d be totally valid to read into this that global warming is Fake News, for instance.

Lmao this was completely awful

Rites

Dredd (non-stallone)

oh hey Lena Headey’s in this

For All Mankind!

Watched in honor of moon landing anniversary

Lion King *

Watched it way too stoned, was like dark side of the moon + wizard of oz except instead it’s a lion king script reading + nature footage edited for lip syncing.

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood *

Many scenes of very long setups for really stupid shaggy dog jokes, which sometimes worked and sometimes didn’t. I do kinda want to rewatch now knowing more about manson, which I knew pretty much nothing about beforehand

Blowout

A good john lithgow movie

also I think I like travolta in things.

Lord of War

A Good cage movie

I like when Eamon Walker shows up in stuff.

Taxi Driver

A classic

Snowpiercer

Watched in a bar with only one speaker working, which is the correct way to watch. Weirder and funnier than I thought it was going to be, which still doesn’t make it good, but,

dbz big green dub

Exorcist III

Brad Dourif just tearing it apart

Deep Red (argento)

Suspiria (1977)

Watched the remake in 2020, which was ok, but nothing tops the Goblin score.

Elf Bowling

Thanks, Gnome

Parasite *

Interesting to me that this one seems poised to hang around people’s good esteem for a while

FMA: B

Rick & Morty

Saw some episodes, generally pretty funny, some misanthropy that’s probably appealing to a certain type of teen al a something like House, but ultimately I don’t totally Get the intensity of discourse about it.

Leterkenny

Mob Psycho 100

One Punch Man

Deadwood

Watchmen

Only watched like half of it. Was playing around with a lot of hefty imagery/thematics, but didn’t really seem ready to rise above playing (tho also I feel like it’s weird on some level to *expect* them to rise above that in the first place)

Music

New Avantasia

HEALTH/ show

lol remember concerts

King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard/ show

Just learned about King Gizz in 2019 and got completely obsessed with them. I don’t tend to expand my music selection very readily, and a lot of what I currently *do* know is old/inactive stuff, so it was/is incredibly exciting to have an active group with good momentum just immediately win me over like that.

Mistimed the edibles and ended up with a really good finale and a really long subway ride home.

New Yeasayer

Sad they split up

Steve Wilson Tull remixes

Aqualung’s a good album and the sound mixing’s kinda bad, so I liked this project.

Stonefield

Opened for Gizzard. Really good as studying music

Video Games

Civ VI: Gathering Storm

Hades

Turns out Supergiant’s design proclivities all work *extremely well* on a roguelike

Baba is You

Untitled Goose Game

Cute, if maybe a bit overhyped

finally fucking finished Pillars of Eternity

Had fun with it, but too long, and really dour for how long it is.

Pillars II

Kinda drifted off it eventually, but I do genuinely like that the flavor of the fantasy is colonial era rather than medieval.

There’s a Balancing Bastard Factions element where it’s like the writers are just being smartasses after a while. Having to go extremely out of their way to make siding with colonizers seem like a competitive option.

Pokemon shield

Cuphead

pisses me off, which was a nice outlet when I was stranded by flight cancellations during thanksgiving

Celeste

Also very difficult, but really easy to stay patient with, which is nice.

Disco Elysium

None of the discourse made me want to play this, but people talking about the mechanical stuff it did got me extremely interested. Mostly Delivered IMO.

Breath of the Wild

You can approach the nodes of the main quest in the order you choose, and the second one I chose made ninjas start fucking spawning everywhere when I’m just trying to explore, and there’s no way to make it stop. May go back to it one day.

Podcasts

Relentless Picnic Patreon feed

The treats really helped me start distinguishing individual personalities, compared to the regular eps.

Picnic Discord!

FatT Counterweight

Fun, but also I think Mechs are not my shit.

FatT Spring in Hieron/ end of that particular world

8 months since I’ve last tuned into FatT. ah well.

Law School

He’s in everythiiiing!

You Must Remember This: Manson family

*There’s* the context

Misc.

Kindle train guy

Times Square sleeping guy + kids taking selfies w/ him

toddler singing along after Psycho killer (a, ya, ya ya, ya)

drunk and dragged to a drag show

Central park football family

Soft Steel Drum Subway Busker

Weird old lady going to grand central for oysters

2018 in review (cards):

MySelf (CC)

Self: Tower

Blocked: 10 Cups

Ethereal/subconscious: 8 Swords

Material: 3 Swords

Past: Justice

Future: Page Wands

Attitude: Sun

External: King Swords

Hopes/Fears: 5 Coins

Trajectory: High Priestess

Also Self:

Hierophant

7 Cups

7 Coins

Blind Spot:

(self & others): 5 cups || (others not self): High Priestess

(self not others): Moon || (nobody): 3 Cups

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justanothercinemaniac · 6 years

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Epic Movie (Re)Watch #240 - Ice Age

Spoilers Below

Have I seen it before: Yes

Did I like it then: Yes.

Do I remember it: Yes.

Did I see it in theaters: I don’t think so?

Format: Digital HD

1) This is one of only two films where I only own digital copies of them as opposed to hard copies. In the case of Ice Age, it happened when I linked up MoviesAnywhere and Vudu (or possibly when I linked one of those to my iTunes account). My family owns a DVD copy so I did grow up watching it but I never thought it’d be part of my (re)watch. But a digital copy is still owning it, so here we are.

2) Meeting Scrat.

Scrap has become the most iconic part of the series and that is because (much like the Minions in Despicable Me) he is the franchise’s certified Scene Stealer™. His little adventures are so simple it’s genius: his motivation is simply to collect and/or store his nut(s). But the slapstick that ensues, the escalating sense of cause & effect, not to mention the vocals provided by director Chris Wedge have made him into an animation icon. He’s Blue Sky’s mascot and even has his own balloon in Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Opening with Scrat is a strong way to start the film.

3) The herd migration immediately following Scrat’s adventure has a lot of sharp humor I didn’t pick up on as a kid. Namely the debate of, “How do we know it’s an Ice Age?”, the kids playing “Extinction”, and the character who thinks he’s on the cusp of an, “evolutionary breakthrough,” before trying to fly. It sets the wit for the tone up well.

4) Manny as portrayed by Ray Romano.

Manny’s character is well established immediately by his literal moving against the crowd when walking through the migration herd. He’s set up as abrasive and harsh but we’re also quickly given reason to root for the Wooly Mammoth.

Manny: “You know I don’t like animals that kill for pleasure.”

Ray Romano does great as the voice of Manny, in fact all three members of the herd are great. Romano plays against his “Everybody Loves Raymond” type of the sort of passive momma’s boy by being not only strong but assertive throughout the film. And it just feels right. It’s a good first character to meet.

5) Sid the Sloth as portrayed by John Leguizamo.

Leguizamo is nearly unrecognizable as Sid in this film. The amount of saliva you can just HEAR in his voice, the nerdy quality, but also the warmth and humor, I think Leguizamo gives the best performance in the film. Much like Manny, Sid is well introduced from the start when we learn his family has ditched him. We get the impression he’s a bit of a pain but also we can SEE he’s well intentioned if a little much. It’s understandable why people are hard on him while we are also given good enough reason to root for him. I like Sid.

6) Thing I didn’t pick up on as a kid: the rhinos Carl and Frank are totally a couple, right?

7) This movie is a lot funnier than I remember.

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8) It is worth noting Manny’s line about, “animals that kill for pleasure,” sets up the rules of this world. There are carnivore characters we’re meant to sympathize with and root for in this movie. This line basically sets up the rule: killing for survival is fine but killing for pleasure is not. That is an important element when we’re introduced to our villain later.

9) The literal human element of the film - the nomadic hunters and gatherers - helps ground the film a little. It’s an element I appreciate and missed in the movie’s sequels which began involving dinosaurs and a flying saucer at one point.

10) Remember in note #8 when I mentioned the moral rules this film plays by. Well, the villain Soto is immediately breaking those rules. He wants to kill a BABY of the human leader just for revenge. A BABY. It’s not food, it’s not survival, it’s a Khan-esque mission of wrath and cruelty. And Soto is chilling. We actually don’t get to see much of him in the movie, but his mere presence shows off the threat he is. I think that comes at a combination of writing, voice acting, and design for the animal. I dig it.

11) Just an observation: like the Minions in Despicable Me (who Scrat is very much a precursor to), Scrat is best used in small doses sprinkled throughout the film.

12) The plot of this film is basically Three Men & A Baby set in the ice age with extinct animals (except Sid, unless his specific brand of Sloth is gone). But that’s a plot which inherently has a lot of heart to it, the idea of bonding and found family. It helps give the film an emotional core I appreciate.

13) It’s probably just my own interpretation and desire to see more representation in media, but I feel like there’s so much LGBTQ+ subtext in the movie and I dig that.

Diego [on Manny and Sid with the baby]: “Can’t have one of your own so you decided to adopt.”

14) Diego as portrayed by Denis Leary.

The third member of the herd, Diego is a wonderfully fleshed out character. We get the intimidating and fierce predator but we also have the heartfelt development where it is easy to root for him. It is believable that he finds a sense of family with Manny and Sid. I think this duality is well played by Leary, who is able to make Diego a threat in the beginning but also put enough heart/warmth in the performance that we like him as a character. All of this makes his changing sides towards the movie’s end feel natural, making him a nice final member to the herd.

15) The immediate Sid and Manny have with Diego is founded on mistrust, they EXPECT him to eat the baby, which creates a unique conflict at the heart of their relationship. It’s interesting seeing them overcome this conflict.

16) While strong as individuals, each member of the trio work well in the herd together. They have a fun chemistry and play off each other well.

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17) The Dodos!

This is one of my favorite scenes from the film and that’s because I get the joke so much more now as an adult than I did as a kid. WE’RE WATCHING THE DODOS GO EXTINCT! The fast paced energy, slapstick elements, and unique characters which the dodos are make it a wonderfully entertaining scene. And Alan Tudyk voices the lead Dodo! (Along with two other characters in the movie)

18) I like how each member of Diego’s pack is voiced by someone noteworthy as its made up of Jack Black, Diedrich Bader and Alan Tudyk (again).

19) This got me laughing pretty hard, not gonna lie.

Female Sloth [lovingly, after seeing how Sid is with the baby]: “All the sensitive guys get eaten.”

20) “Send Me On My Way” is one of my favorite songs and this film introduced me to it, so I’ll always be grateful for that.

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21) File this one under jokes I didn’t get as a kid.

Manny [when pacing Stonehenge]: “Modern architecture. It’ll never last.”

22) I might be Sid.

Sid [when offered to go through a dangerous short cut]: “No thanks, I choose life.”

23) I love the hall of ice gag, especially the alien at the end.

24) The ice slide sequence is really fun and one of the strongest “action” pieces in the film. It just has a sense of adrenaline and enjoyment to it that’s hard to beat.

25) The cave painting scene.

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This is the heart of Manny’s character. The decision to animate this scene differently from the rest of the film helps to give it a sense of identity and almost nightmare like quality. Because it is a nightmare, but it still happened. In an absolutely heartbreaking moment we learn that Manny not only is a widower but he lost his child too. Usually in animated films it’s an orphaned kid but parents aren’t supposed to outlive their kids, so the fact that Manny had to go through that explains perfectly his isolationist tendencies.

26) A key moment of character development for Diego comes when he and the group are running across the river of lava (lake of lava? It’s lava). He realizes this herd will do something for him his pack wouldn’t: risk their lives for him.

27) This is the heart movie in one moment.

Manny [after Diego asks why he saved him]: “That’s what you do in a herd. You look out for each other.”

28) When Soto illustrates how to take down a mammoth (by backing them in a corner) there is a wonderful sense of tension. The visualization there really illustrates the stakes to come.

29) The climax of the film starts with a sense of fun and energy we’ve come to except so far, what with Sid’s snowboarding moves on full display as he outmaneuvers the tigers. But the change in tone to a more intense encounter involving Soto, Diego and Manny feels organic. There is a sense of tension here which works well and Soto’s dialogue-free death is particularly effective.

30) I think I’m definitely Sid.

Sid: “Ah, you know me. I’m too lazy to hold a grudge.”

31) The scene where Manny returns the baby to the humans carries a lot of tension. We know how badly this can go, we saw it in the cave painting. So the fact that it ends happily makes the emotional pay off even stronger.

32)

Manny [to the baby]: “We won’t forget about you.”

But we won’t mention you ever again in the sequels.

33)

Sid [expressing his dissatisfaction with the Ice Age]: “You know what I could go for? Global warming!” Manny: “Keep dreaming.”

34) The epilogue which showcases that Scrat is chasing that nut of his for 2,000 years is a perfect representation of his character. I dig it.

Ice Age is a lot of fun and, in hindsight, pretty underrated. I know that’s odd to say about a film that kicked off a five movie franchise, but the franchise became so different from the original movie and the original is still pretty unique in its setting and look. With a great wit, strong character, a good heart, and quality performances, it’s feasibly one of the best animated films from the early 00′s.

#Ice Age #Blue Sky Studios #Scrat #Sid the Sloth #Ray Romano #Denis Leary #John Leguizamo #Alan Tudyk #Epic Movie (Re)Watch #Movie #Film

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ibelieveinahappilyeverafter · 5 years

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Villainous Heroics - Chapter 13

Woo, sorry for the long pause between updates, guys! School's really been kicking it to me this semester, but you can't keep a good writer down!

A few quick notes to go over:

Just a quick update dealing with the timeline, but I won't be dealing with the Overhaul and Eri arc. Please assume that these events happen in Class 1-A's second year - as well as any further manga/anime plot elements. The rest of this story takes place throughout the rest of first year and possibly crossing over into the summer break. I don't want this story to grow too expansive where it was just meant to be a short thing, but corndog-patrol on tumblr has art of their original version of this AU that has Mic meeting Eri and it is absolutely adorable! As for me, well, I'm going to give our boys and 1-A a bit of a break. We'll see about Eri popping up in future drabbles, though!

Another note, I've changed the spelling of Shota to Shouta where I learned that Wikipedia is a fool that should never be trusted. I'll be using the spelling of Shouta from here on out, but there will be a final edit to the story once completed so that the earlier chapters are updated to reflect this - any other names I messed up will also be fixed.

Enjoy!

Click here to read the work on Archive Of Our Own.

Click here to read the work on Fan Fiction Net.

If you found yourself enjoying this, then check out my Fiverr gig.

⍣ I have a Patreon! ⍣ ☪ I have a tip jar! ☪

Summary: Eraserhead is an underground hero who is constantly busy and doesn’t have time to be dealing with new villains - even if they aren’t all that villainous and make the night interesting.

Present Mic is the latest up-and-coming villain in the world and he has a point to prove to everyone out there - as long as he doesn’t keep getting distracted by Eraserhead.

Aizawa Shota is someone who soon learns that there is more to someone than the mask they show to the world - especially when it comes to playing heroes and villains.

Yamada Hizashi learns that there is more to heroics and villainy than he could have ever thought - especially in a world where some heroes still care about those lost in the shadows.

(Inspired and dedicated to corndog-patrol’s Villain!Mic AU on Tumblr.)

<<First/Chapter>> <<Last Chapter>> <<Next Chapter>>

Chapter Thirteen

“Your body moved before you could think, huh…” Shouta stared at the streets below him, the image of cracked roads and dim street lights blurring into a single color as he let his thoughts drift back to the other night with Mic. “What am I going to do with you, Mic?”

Shouta had responded to the alert of a bank robbery and had been the closest hero on patrol at the time. He had gone in expecting hostages and thugs or villains who had been twisted by the cruelty of the world - or had given in to their own cruelty. Instead he had slipped in and saw Present Mic bleeding with a gun trained on him.

The blood hadn’t been a priority. Mic, whether villain or vigilante, had grown used to the pain of a difficult fight. The sight of a gun being pointed at him with a finger on the trigger had been anxiety inducing, but the expression on Mic’s face - the expression of acceptance as if he knew he was going to die and had already accepted it as fact… That had been heartbreaking.

There was a second where Shouta had seen his student and a hand reaching out to crumble her down to dust. It hadn’t been a reminder he needed, and it was only years of fighting and doing hero work that had him reacting on instinct, changing the path of the bullet and sparring Present Mic of death. Shouta hadn’t spared him from a lecture, though, but then the man had gone and said that.

“My body moved on its own before I could think.”

It was a joke among pro heroes. It wasn’t a well-known joke, but it wasn’t a secret, either. Every good pro hero, whether aware or not, they always managed to say the same thing. Their debut, the first time they helped someone, the moment they realized they knew what they wanted to do, it was the same phrase said again and again no matter the circumstances.

Their bodies moved before they could think. It was the mark of a good hero. It was the mark of a good hero - one who cared more about the safety of people than the rankings or media attention. These days being a pro hero was akin to being a celebrity, but even then the feelings were often the same.

Shouta groaned and shoved his goggles down to rub at his eyes, fingers pausing and twitching as they touched the familiar piece of gear, thoughts of Mic drifting up even more than before. The overwhelming abundance of memories and thoughts were drowned out by one single conclusion, though.

Present Mic was not, and never had been, a villain. There was no way for him to be a villain when he was too afraid of his own quirk and only used it when he was helping people. He protected children and saved teenagers he didn’t even know, he broke up fights if they got too rough, and he was willing to let himself get shot to help those who he had never met before. Present Mic may have called himself the ‘Voice Villain,’ but it was clear that he was anything but.

Even half the police in his area thought Mic was a vigilante! After the report he had filled for the bank robbery, half the force had asked him who the vigilante was that had been at the scene. Shouta hadn’t had the heart to correct their assumptions. Plus, it was going to be that much funnier when they were told the hostages were saved by another villain.

The sound of tired footsteps had Shouta coming out of his thoughts and tugging his goggles back up, reminding himself that he was on patrol. A glance down showed a man with long blonde hair that was pulled back in a bun, grumpy expression on his face.

The grumpy expression on his face was why it took so long for Shouta to realize that the man was familiar due to the fact this was the barista he saw at his regular coffee place. He didn’t even know that the shop closed this late.

“-stupid fucking douchebag. I could kill him and people would thank me. Oh, Yamada, you murdered your boss? Well, yes, because he made me stay four hours past closing and clean and-” The words drifted up through the air towards him before dropping back into bitter grumbling and mumbling, Shouta feeling his lips twitch into a smile.

He would have to remember to try and be a touch nicer towards him in the morning if he was there. Back to back closing and morning shifts weren’t exactly fun, especially when he already looked exhausted and overworked. Seeing people like this made Shouta wonder what Mic’s day job was. The man had to be doing something. Hm. He probably DJ’d at a local club.

Looking back down, Shouta now saw two figures in the shadows where the street lights didn’t reach instead of just the one. Readying his binding cloth, Shouta took a moment to assess the situation before he saw the flash of a gun.

Jumping down, Shouta barely landed before he was shouting loud enough to get their attention, “Hey!” The gun was now trained on Shouta, which, good. The civilian, the same barista, was tense and had a pale face and shocked expression, entire body drawn in tight. He seemed to be favoring his right shoulder, so it was possible he was hurt, but Shouta hadn’t heard a gunshot, at least.

“Who are you supposed to be?” The man who held the gun sounded panicked and ready to pull the trigger. Shouta would’ve been amused if there wasn’t a hostage or a gun involved.

“I’m the guy that’s going to kick your ass.” It was possible Shouta took some aggression out when it came to the fight that followed, but Shouta didn’t have much sympathy for those who contemplated murder as being an acceptable risk.

Making sure the knots were tight and the police were on their way, Shouta finally looked to the civilian, gaze flicking him over quickly to assess for damage. The man was rambling about how he was okay, full of nervous energy. He looked ready to vibrate out of his skin and there seemed to be some sort of damage to his shoulder.

“You sure you’re okay?” Shouta asked, pushing his goggles up and finally cutting into the rambling. He a had a lot of practice with Mic, after all.

“Of course! He didn’t get a scratch on me!” Something was… not wrong, but not quite right, either. Shouta felt like he was a few steps off from where he should be, and it wasn’t a feeling he particularly liked. Usually he was still half-asleep when talking to this man, so maybe that was it.

“Well,” Shouta sighed, turning back to keep an eye on the defeated villain. He wasn’t much moving. “You should at least come with me to make a report.”

“No!” That was a very strong reaction to the idea of going to the police. Maybe the other just hated paperwork. Shouta could relate to that. “I mean… I’ll just head home - thanks for the help, Eraserhead.”

“Mm.” Jumpy, but he wasn’t bleeding and didn’t seem in any extreme pain, and if he didn’t want to make a report or press charges, then Shouta could let him off easily enough. Strange, though. It was very rare that a civilian knew his name considering his status of being underground.

The feeling of the wrong steps turned into that of a missed step. It was odd, but maybe Shouta was just putting too much thought into it. If Mic were there, he would probably…

Shouta’s thoughts trailed off into silence as he felt a million little clues come into complete focus in a way that had him torn between incomprehensible anger and utter despair.

There wasn’t any other way to react when he realized his barista of the past few months was Present Mic.

Shouta really should have seen this sooner. He was groggy with the hour or two of sleep he had managed, but he pushed himself to focus as he stared at the barista who had a nametag he had never bothered to read before. Present Mic’s family name was Yamada and Shouta was feeling more and more like an idiot by the second.

Not only had Present Mic been in front of him since the very beginning of this whole mess, but he couldn’t even complain about it to anyone. He could never let this realization be known – to Nemuri, especially.

“Hey, there! You’re actually pretty early, this morning!” Yamada greeted, his tone an exact match for Mic’s in every way possible

“I couldn’t sleep so I decided to start the day early.” Shouta was only half aware of the words coming out of his mouth as he did his best not to be obvious about his staring. The more he looked, the more stupid he felt.

Yamada was wearing the same bulky glasses that Mic had worn all those months ago when his own sunglasses had still been broken. There were the hearing aids that Shouta caught glimpses of when Mic’s headphones weren’t on. There was that stupid mustache that should have been a dead giveaway and all of it was tied together with bright green eyes that were shining as if they knew him and fuck. Present Mic had been serving him coffee the whole damn time. This was Mic and he knew exactly who Shouta was.

“Maybe you shouldn’t be drinking coffee, then,” Yamada - Mic - teased, smile fond and warm in a way that Mic never let himself really show. “I wanted to say thank you, by the way, for last night. It’s good to have a hero around these parts.”

“It’s my job,” Shouta shrugged off, trying to get over his panic and calm himself down. It wasn’t working as much as he wanted it to.

“Well, thank you anyways, Eraserhead,” Yamada laughed, everything about him soft and quiet in a way that Present Mic never let himself be. Shouta had thought his feelings had been bad before, but this… Jeez.

“Aizawa,” Shouta said quietly, pleased when Yamada blinked at him in confusion. “I’m off duty in the mornings, so it’s Aizawa Shouta.”

“Oh.” The word was a soft exhale, Yamada’s eyes wide and bright and a smile on his face that looked fragile. If Shouta hadn’t known who this was before, then this moment would have given it away. “Well, then, it’s only right if you call me Yamada. Yamada Hizashi. Um, nice to meet you?”

“Right. Nice to meet you.” Shouta was fucked. His name was Yamada Hizashi. Present Mic’s name was Hizashi which literally meant the perception of sunshine. Shouta was filled with a dawning horror as he silently realized how many times he had compared the man’s smile to sunshine.

“Right, your order!” Yamada quickly moved to get the items, passing by a teenager coworker who was hissing something at him as he scribbled on an empty coffee cup before filling it. Shouta couldn’t even be upset he only counted two espresso shots instead of his usual six.

Yamada bustled around the small area and looked to hiss something back to his now glaring coworker before setting Shouta’s coffee and a bag of cute cat muffins on the counter. “Here you go, Aizawa-san! Consider this one on the house as thanks for last night.”

“Oh, uh…” This man was too sweet. This man was literally sunshine and Shouta had no idea how to deal with it. It was one thing dealing with Mic’s cockiness and rapid wit, but it was another dealing with this soft and quiet barista who gave the warmest smiles. “That’s really-”

“I won’t take no for an answer,” Yamada insisted, pushing the items closer and then crossing his arms. “And I can be a lot more stubborn than you can!”

“That part I didn’t doubt,” Shouta muttered, taking the items and half hiding behind his binding cloth as he eyed Yamada. “Thank you.”

“Of course! Just don’t make me say that stupid ‘have a lovely day’ phrase,” Yamada mock frowned, sticking his tongue out. “It’s so lame!” The frown disappeared in favor of one of those bright smiles. “Have a nice day, Aizawa-san!”

Shouta managed to keep himself together, as well as mumble back a response, and make it all the way to the U. A. staff room. He was in complete control of himself for the entire time. The moment he sat down, though, he let his head hit the desk, cheek squished against the desk as he felt his cheeks redden.

“My, my, what’s this, Shou-chan? Are you feeling embarrassed over something?” Nemuri, the utter vulture, was leaning off his chair in a second. Shouta did his best to ignore her and instead looked at his coffee cup which… didn’t have his name written on it. Instead, scrawled across his cup in looping lines:

Sound does not travel when no one hears Yet you have always listened for me From my loudest shouts To my quietest whispers

My voice has never fallen on deaf ears since you Is it any wonder I fell for you Like the last sharp note of a song Trailing off before dropping into unknown

“Holy shit, are you dying? Your face just got so red?” Nemuri’s shocked voice barely even registered, Shouta only staring at where Present Mic had written a love poem on his coffee cup. Oh, god, how often had he done this? Had Shouta been throwing away cups with love notes on them this whole time?

Shouta turned his head to rest his forehead against his desk, his co-workers chatting above him in a way to where it was nothing except for white noise.

Jeez… Shouta had never felt so blind as he did now.

#bnha #boku no hero academia #mha #my hero academia #erasermic #villain!mic #corndog-patrol #villainous heroics

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wonderfulworldofmichaelford · 6 years

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Deadpool 2 review

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS! READ PAST THE BREAK WITH CAUTION!

It’s about time I reviewed this.

I put off reviewing this movie because of some barely-worth-mentioning drama, and it has been on the backburner for months. But after finally watching the Super Duper Cut, it’s time to break my silence and talk about this year’s biggest breath of fresh air and its funniest comedy.

Deadpool 2 is the Aliens of superhero movies. It takes the groundwork laid out by an already fantastic first film and just amps up everything: the humor, the action, the character interactions, all of it is just fine tuned and perfected. Where the first film was an impressive work for a first-time director, blending a romantic arc and an origin story together while delivering all the fun and laughs you’d expect from a character like Deadpool, this movie features a lot more impressive action, which is fitting since it’s given to us by the man behind John Wick and Atomic Blonde, while still delivering all sorts of gut-busting laughs and wonderful character interactions.

So what sort of mess has Wade gotten into this time? Well, after a life-changing event, Wade is down in the dumps and trying to figure out what to do with himself. In his attempts at straightforward X-Men style heroism he ends up being sent to jail alongside the superpowered kid he was trying to save, Russel. Russel soon ends up as the target of the time-travelling cyborg badass known as Cable, and after getting the shit kicked out of him Wade realizes his true calling: saving this kid from Cable. Armed with guns, katanas, a bigger budget, and his all-new X-Force team, can Wade hope to stop Cable from axing Russel?

The beauty of this film is, ultimately, how it manages to subvert expectations. A lot of movies lately have made being subversive into a big selling point; sometimes it works out really well and the movie is all the better for it - see Infinity War, a film that features the heroes failing miserably and ending on a shot of the villain contentedly relaxing after committing galactic genocide, the opposite of what you’d expect from a superhero blockbuster. Sometimes, it works poorly - see The Last Jedi, which features things going the opposite of how you’d expect due to bad writing and characters acting like idiots and trusting the shadiest people possible, the sort of idiocy we thought Star Wars had moved on from after the first two prequels. And then you have films like this, where everything is subverted for hilarity. And nothing in the world is funnier than how it subverts your expectations for Deadpool’s X-Force. Filled with unique and quirky characters like Shatterstar (who remains an alien from Mojoworld, meaning that Mojo is in fact canon in the X-Men cinematic universe. Put him in a movie, Fox) and big names like Bill Skarsgard as Zeitgeist and Terry Crews as Bedlam, not to mention the hilarious everyman without powers that is Peter, the film builds up and hypes their big skydiving scene, blasting “Thunderstruck” as they leap from the plane onto a convoy to save Russel from Cable…

...And then each and every one of them dies brutally, painfully, and horribly. And HILARIOUSLY, that’s the most important thing. I don’t think there is a funnier bit of black comedy in any other film, let alone a superhero film. Even funnier is that the invisible character, who has not spoken a word and who one could easily assume did not actually exist, has an amusing reveal right upon his death, which is the most hilariously wasteful use of an actor I have ever seen. The entire scene is just brilliant in its subversion of our expectations for a badass new hero team, helped for once by the advertising, which built things up so one would expect this team to stick around.

Of course, we have one survivor - Domino, played by Zazie Beetz, a mutant with luck-based powers. She’s one of the numerous highlights of this film, and she plays the character with the laid-back, rolls-with-the-punches attitude a character like Domino deserves. Frankly, I like her a bit more than her comic version. And speaking of new characters, let’s talk about the best new element of the film, Deadpool’s beleaguered badass bro-for-life, Cable. Played by Josh Brolin - complete with the requisite references to The Goonies and Infinity War from Deadpool - he is the ultimate straight man, his gritty, grim badassery contrasting to Deadpool’s zany, wacky bullshit. Of course, that’s not to say Cable gets no good laughs; there’s something to be said for a man who can growl “Dubstep is for pussies” with a straight face. I’m fully of the mind Cable is the best addition to the movie, and I’m praying we get even more of him and Wade interacting in potential sequels.

Then we have our special guest of the hour, the character we’ve all wanted in the X-Men universe, the one, the only, the unstoppable motherfucker to end all motherfuckers… IT’S THE JUGGERNAUT, BITCH. And lord is he incredible, especially compared to the dipshit from The Last Stand. Sadly he does not utter “I’m the Juggernaut, bitch!” at all in the film, but he does rip Wade in half, confirm he’s Xavier’s half-brother, and threaten to turn Colossus into a cock ring, so it all evens out in the end. In this film, he actually FEELS unstoppable, and though he’s only onscreen in the third act, he definitely uses that screentime effectively, delivering the epic, ultimate smackdown between him and Colossus in what Deadpool helpfully informs us is the movie’s big CGI fight scene.

And speaking of Colossus, he’s even better here than in the first film. His interactions with Wade are hilarious and priceless, which is aided by Wade’s blatant crush on him - Wade at one point gropes his ass, and there is a romantic musical scene that calls back to a similar scene in the first film. He also gets a bit of character growth here, which is great and unexpected. Sadly I can’t say the same for Negasonic Teenage Warhead; she’s relegated to a bit part here, which is a damn shame since she was one of the highlights of the first film. On the plus side, not only is she revealed to be gay, but her girlfriend Yukio is absolutely adorable and charming… though, sadly, she also gets very little to do in the film aside from a cute running gag with her and Wade cheerily exchanging greetings.

Stuff like that is honestly the biggest problem with the film, and even then, the biggest problem is what amounts to a nitpick. Yes, it does suck that some of the characters are underutilized, but it’s hard to be too angry when the rest of the film is so gutbustingly hilarious and action-packed. One thing that did disappoint me a fair bit is Vanessa getting killed in the movie’s opening. Now, unlike many others, I’m not going to whine about “stuffing her in the fridge,” because I think that concept is so absolutely stupid and is used for literally every time a woman gets killed in a story, even if it makes sense for the story and progresses the plot meaningfully and in a well-done way. I don’t think this was awful or tacky, and regardless of anything else, the post-credit scene renders her death a moot point; still, I’m upset that she didn’t get to do anything in this movie aside from be a stand in for Lady Death. I would love if Vanessa got her comic book powers and fought alongside Wade, making them the ultimate power couple. It’s just mild disappointment, though much like with X-Force, it is a pretty subversive move to kill the love interest so abruptly and so quickly, especially when there was every indication Deadpool would get a happy ending… and then even more subversion comes at the end when Deadpool saves her (among many other hilarious moments) via the magic of time travel.

Aside from that, there’s not much else to complain about. The only other minor complaint is that the turn towards more serious elements isn’t always perfect, and some of the stuff with Russell could have been done better, but really, it’s just too hard to get worked up over the flaws. This is a fantastic, funny movie, and one of the best sequels I’ve ever seen. It’s bigger, funnier, flashier, and introduces so many more exciting elements into an already great series. This is how you make a superhero sequel, this is how you make an action-comedy, this is how you make one of the best movies ever. If you like Deadpool, if you like superheroes, if you like action-comedies, movies with great choreography, or love seeing a good subversive film, this is a movie you shouldn’t miss.

As for what version to watch, the Super Duper Cut or the theatrical cut… I have to say that the Super Duper Cut fleshes the story out a lot better and gives some much needed context, as well as adds in some new jokes that were cut from the original, as well as delivering callbacks a lot better and staying more cohesive… but I will say the theatrical cut had some much better jokes that were replaced with some less impressive takes in the Super Duper Cut. Still, the Super Duper Cut is the one I’d recommend watching, just because the story feels more fleshed out, and also because it features Deadpool trying to kill baby Hitler.

Also, I just want to say this: “Ashes” is a better Bond theme than the piece of shit theme song to Spectre.

#Review #movie review #Deadpool #Deadpool 2 #Ryan Reynolds #Cable #Josh Brolin #Domino #Juggernaut #black comedy #comedy #superhero movie #X-Men #X-Force

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surprisebitch · 7 years

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Hi I'm new to anime & I trust and admire u!!! What do u recommend??

Hey there! and yeeesss, i’m so glad you’re gonna give anime a try! there are so many good stories and plots in anime which dont exist in western media so it’s a great mode of entertainment! so as for recs, lemme copy and paste my previous list and update it to answer your question!

Currently watching:

Neon Genesis Evangelion - i admit it has a slow buildup but be patient because you will really find it intense and see how it’s not your typical mecca anime. so far, i think it seems to be a deconstruction of the genre and has alot of psychological themes

Boku no Hero Academia - it’s a recent anime and it’s really good! i think it’s on course to becoming a really big anime that will last many seasons at this rate. the story is about a world where majority of the inhabitants are heroes cause they have quirks (powers).. and the premise is that the main character doesnt have one but he wants to be a hero so watch and see how the story unfolds!

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventures (currently on Stardust Crusaders) - macho anime with an excellent plot! the guys are hot haha and many of the memes are in japanese so watch the original subbed but if you prefer not to read, the dub isnt bad. it’s very memey but the story is really entertaining and has unpredictable moments

One Punch Man - a parody of a superhero anime. tbh this isnt really binge-watch material cause it’s like a running gag and the story unfolds after episode 5 so i’ve just been watching this during my cardio days in the gym. but it’s really funny and a good anime

Hunter X Hunter - this anime is popular and it’s about hunters. so the beginning has the protagonist wanting to be a hunter and then he meets some fellow hunters along the way. it’s one of the highest rated anime in MyAnimeList (the RottenTomatoes equivalent of the anime world) so yeah check this out!

Recently watched:

Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure (Battle Tendency) - SONO CHI NO SADAMEEE JOOOOOOJOOOOOOOOOOOOOO the type of anime that’ll get you wanting to go to the gym and lift. that being said, it has a really amazing story

Shingeki no Kyojin / Attack on Titan - it’s the Game of Thrones of anime imo.. like it’s so GOOD.. it will just make you gag after every episode!!! it’s so intense and there are really badass characters. and the plot is really brilliant. like if you think season 1 was like WHAT THE FUCkk.. wait til season 2! this anime is crazy and exciting. not for the faint-hearted tbh cause it can be graphic and disturbing (also dont get attached. they could die!) but yeah, this anime is popular true and some say it’s overrated but that’s because it really deserves all the recognition and success it has for its amazing plot

Love Live! School Idol Project - i honestly just watched this like out of curiosity and just for kicks. i was not expecting to love it but after episode 3, i was like wait??? wasnt this anime supposed to be fun?? why am i crying?? so yeah, it’s super good, touching, entertaining and sweet! and the songs are really catchy and good.. TBH this anime is like so gay since there are no men (except Honoka’s dad) so yeah it passes the Bechdel Test with perfect score

Love Live! Movie - the conclusion to the anime!

Love Live! Sunshine - i watched this like a few months after finishing Love Live! cause i loved the original girls and i was worried i wont like these girls.. but honestly, you will appreciate them. and it’s EVEN GAYER.. and is soo good too!

btw tell me who your fave girls/best girls are after watching Love Live and Sunshine. my best girls are Umi Sonoda and Kanan Matsuura :>

Anime watched/finished:

Kimi no Na Wa - universally lauded and recently released! it’s the best film released in 2016 imo. i swear it’s really next level storytelling

Rurouni Kenshin - i think i watched this anime twice/thrice.. It’s so suspenseful. it’s about samurais. and this anime made me interested about Japan’s history. it’s kind of a period drama with amazing fight sequences. and it’s critically acclaimed. it’s my father’s all-time favourite anime

Rurouni Kenshin OVA - it’s a prequel. also more violent and tragic than its anime counterpart.. like it’s really different from the series. but it’s so good. you’ll find out how Kenshin got his iconic X mark from here!)

Ghost Stories - THE DUB IS A MASTERPIECE! THE SUBBED IS SHIT. TRUST ME. the DUB is the popular one too cause it’s the superiour version. You really have to see this one. the anime bombed in Japan so the english dubbers got all the rights for the anime and they gave the go signal for the dubbers to do whatever the fuck they want and the end result is fucking hilarious. it shits on the Scary Movie Franchise tbh

Puella Magi Madoka Magica - i swear do not be deceived.. it is a really intense and surprisingly dark anime with excellent plot twists

Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun - super funny anime. if you need a laugh, this will really lift you up. i watched the first two episodes in sub and dub back to back.. and i can vouch that the voice actors for the English dub are excellent. it’s actually even funnier.. but if you prefer subs, then that’s fine. it’s just the lines are more humorous, expressive and have more variety :) Nozaki’s voice is also attractive in the dub.. it’s still very Nozaki imo. this anime pokes fun at the shoujo manga yet still has romantic elements. it’s mostly comedy though

Jigoku Shoujo / Hell Girl - angst, tragedy, philosophical anime analysing humanity’s hatred, need for vengeance, and suffering. Futakomori or the 2nd season is my favourite but it’s worth finishing the entire series. 3rd season is very painful to watch though and you dont have to watch that one tbh if you dont want to lol

Yu Yu Hakusho - occult, spirit world, ghosts, and fighting. you most probably have heard of this

Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters - 1st series starring Yugi. iconic!

Digimon - can be very intense! better than Pokemon imo

Cardcaptor Sakura - this is also suspenseful. like the premise is essentially that Sakura has to catch all the “monsters” that were freed from this book. and it’s up to her to “capture” them and put into cards. magic, fantasy, and beautiful animation

Ranma ½ - this was so funny but the ending was disappointing cause it got cancelled apparently.. i really hope this will go out of limbo and give us a proper ending like InuYasha did but i doubt it

Danganronpa (murder plot twists, intense and despair-filled storyline. click this to know more about the premise. it’s like Battle Royale meets CSI meets How To Get Away With Murder. btw i highly suggest you play this game (it’s available on Steam) instead of watching the poorly condensed anime. so buy it on steam or you can download it how you like cause it’s one of the best games ever. and if you plan on watching this, there is no Danganronpa 2 anime so yeah just play the first game tbh. here’s a trailer of the game https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwJeZPMhdUk. if ya dont wanna play the games then you can watch the anime. and after watching this, here’s a link of the playthrough of the 2nd game. it’s super fun, full of plot twists, and interactive)

Yuri On Ice - it’s a really cute gay anime. people will argue it isnt and its queerbait but i’m gay and alot of the things which happen are too much for just bros to do so yeah, i believe it’s canon gay or mlm. and i enjoyed it so you watch it and be the judge

Blood+ - vampires and sword fighting

Ghost In The Shell - it’s a sci-fi movie

Yakitate Japan - baking and cooking!

Getbackers - still up to debate if the duo are gay but if you google art of them, there have been official art released and it’s so gay lol. but yeah it’s shonen genre and it’s not canon gay

Cowboy Bebop - a CLASSIC. the dub is great!!

I don’t remember if i finished these but I watched a lot of episodes enough to recommend it and will rewatch them soon to relieve memories. I’m pretty sure I tuned in though and watched like 80%:

Fushigi Yuugi (i think this is shoujo but it has a nice adventure storyline)

Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood (i feel like i actually finished this. idk why my memory is hazy concerning this anime. this is so popular. you should’ve heard of this iconic anime somehow. i watched and tuned in but i don’t remember how or when i stopped)

Gundam series (i think i finished the first Gundam and the second)

Tsubasa Chronicles (it’s like a spin-off of Cardcaptor Sakura but they’re like all grown up and the plot is different)

Naruto

One Piece (i watched like the first four seasons)

Bleach (i remembered watching until episode 40 omg)

Great Teacher Onizuka (this is so funny tbh. i think i watched almost all of it)

Studio Ghibli films I watched:

Spirited Away

The Wind Rises

Ponyo

Tales from Earthsea

Anime I plan to watch (many suggested this to me and i plan on watching them so i’ll write them down here) :

Koe no Katachi (A Silent Voice)

Anohana The Flower We Saw That Day

Neon Genesis Evangelion

Tokyo Ghoul

Re: Zero

Your Lie in April

Shin sekai Yori

Gintama

More of Makoto Shinkai’s movies like 5 centimetres per second, etc.)

More Ghibli films too

Final Fantasy XV: Kingsglaive (after i finish FFXV game im watching this one)

Persona 4

Here you go!!!! I know it’s an extensive list. I’ll probably make this a masterpost of anime recs and will update this list, and add more soon. If you have any questions or anything, don’t be shy to message me! :)

[last updated: 5 November 2017]

#anime recs #anime #rec #recs #Anonymous

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canvaswolfdoll · 7 years

Text

CanvasWatches: Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid

Sarcastic lead? Goofy supporting cast? Loving use of nerdity? Maid uniforms? Fantastical elements stuffed into a slice-of-life narrative? Well, that’s certainly something for me!

Also, it’s alarming how often Quetzalcoatl's been popping up in my work and entertainment. I mean, it’s not an excessive amount, to be honest, but considering my original assumption was ‘Obscure Mythological Figure improperly transplanted into an anime film’, anything more than once is notable.[1]

Perhaps this is punishment for using a mondegreen of the name as my sign off phrase…

Anyways, Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid! It was spoken of highly by an anime reviewer I follow, it was on Funimation, and I need to justify that subscription beyond letting my brother watch Case Closed all the time, so…

Let’s talk about the show.

In a bit of an oddity, I’ve found the Opening and Closing sequences very absorbing. Now, I’m not one to ever skip either in a series, as it’s usually well animated, the music is catchy, and it’s a couple minutes to settle in or grab food or whatever, plus (depending on the player) it can be a chore to skip anyways. There are often neat details hidden away, too, and it’s fun to learn the context of images as you go through the series.

The OP in this case struck me by how it triggered not the ‘Ah, Anime opening song’ switch in my brain, but a ‘Ah, Visual Novel opening song’ switch, which is a weird switch to learn I have, since I haven’t actually played that many Visual Novels. Still, the music itself is upbeat, very energetic, and very “Oh yeah! Let’s get into this! Time to read a bunch, make choices, and seduce a girl!” But I have no agency in the upcoming events, Anime! Why are you trying to make me hyped? It’s working, but I don’t understand the effort.

It’s also paired with the trippiest imagery I’ve seen in awhile, with fractal dragons and people spinning like falling seedlings. Still bright and colorful, and there’s faces to meet over the course of the show, but it’s just utterly bizarre. Maybe because I don’t get exposed to purely comedic animes that often I’m not used to it, but it’s still a ride that I lack the tools to properly contextualize.

Actually, now that I think about it and listen to the song divorced from the imagery, the song reminds me of Rune Factory Frontier’s opening. Huh…

The EP, on the other hand, is a more reasonable montage of Daily Life, with a song that’s also fun. It actually strikes me as more of an OP piece. I really like the song. Considering it’s been a very recent realization for me that Music Albums are intentionally curated objects meant to be listened to straight through to convey meaning, instead of a bunch of singles thrown on a disc, I may not be the guy for musical criticism.

Music is an ineffable magic to me. I lack the tools to create or understand it, but some songs are good?

This had been a tangent. Let’s go to what I’m comfortable with: storytelling!

So let’s take a brief look at something most people take for granted: the episode titles and, in relation, names.[3]

Naming things is a hard task which I have managed to become moderately good at, a fact I derive from the time a classmate in a scriptwriting class asked with mild awe at how I came up with so many names[4] for my 10-minute comedy play. The secret, as with all artistic aspects you find difficult, is figure out a functional system and maintain it.

So I’ve developed a few methods for characters:

Start with a theme (in the case of my play, I was actually going through alphabetically as characters are mentioned) but don’t be afraid to break it if you feel like it.

Stick with one or two syllable names. The longer the name, the harder it’ll be to remember. Same with not going too archaic or foreign with the name. If your audience can’t remember the character’s name or how to pronounce it, they’ll focus more on that than the story.

If you break rule two, it’s on you to have a nickname prepared that follows rule two. If you don’t, I’m going to call you Windy Jerk in my post RPG Session write-ups.[5]

Which is fine for characters, but then there’s titles, which I’m no good at. Titles need to be both intriguing and vague, to draw in an audience, but keep them surprised. This is compounded when you have 13-26 episodes to name. Some shows do a good job at consistently coming up with names, or at least semi-adequate puns, and others just call the episodes ‘[Episode/Chapter/Part]’ and the number in the sequence. Both of these are valid techniques.[6]

Which is why Word Salad Titles stick out so much, and why I love them yet can’t quite master using them myself. They manage being vague not by carefully revealing little information, but overloading with data so fast the audience doesn’t have time to parse it before the shows starts.

Also, they just sound funny.

What’s intriguing about Dragon Maid is that it’s not an extreme example of the Word Salad some comedy animes tend towards (Exclamatory statement! Vague plot summary), but it is a style very similar to myself.[7]

Dragon Maid’s episode titles follow the structure of exclamatory sentences, then gentle snark about the title in parenthesis. While I don’t use exclamations often, the statement followed by snark is something I do with my art work [[Maybe provide examples?]] and is even punctuated the same way, with parentheses implying an aside.

Which is also the speech style of our titular Miss Kobyashi. (Check out my sweet transition!)

Ms. Kobayashi is the first character I’ve deeply related to in a long while. Sarcastic and pretty asocial, she starts the series living alone in an one-bedroom apartment and has a single friend from work. Otherwise, Kobayashi is content with her solitude, engaging in quiet interests. It's not exactly emotionally fulfilling, but it's okay. She doesn't really feel the need for more.

Which is just the opening needed for a Manic Pixie Dream Girl! In the form of a Yandere Dragon Maid Girl.

Manic Pixie Dream Girls have received some negative press,[8] which isn't completely unwarranted, but sells the trope short. After all, when you really get down to it, they're the personification of the inciting incident. A character whose arrival kicks starts the protagonist’s journey of self improvement. Sometimes they need to be dragged kicking and screaming for the first leg, because it's funnier that way. Often times, when using a Dream Girl character, writers take a romantic angle because… that's a popular and relatable motivation I guess? The problem comes when the narrative is locked close to the protagonist, leaving not enough space to develop the Dream Girl beyond that scope.

Fortunately, since Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid is a serial narrative, and it's Tohru bringing in most of the supporting cast, our Dragon Maid doesn't fall into that pit trap.

Tohru is a fish out of water, which I really love seeing when the environment is our own. It’s a good method to work observational humor into a work, as well as odd ball humor for the alien being. Usually, there is an air of innocence to the character. Tohru, meanwhile, comes from what is implied to be a war-torn fantasy realm, and prefers to default to chaos and destruction when unsure.

It’s a good take.

Kobayashi doesn’t take too much interest in Tohru’s origins, greeting (most) new acts of magic and property damage with half-lidded neutrality or annoyance. Since the focus of the show is ‘The supernatural adjusting to the mundane,’ Kobayashi’s disinterest is important. There are many other shows you can watch if you want to see a normal person come to grips with a magic world,[9] so Kobayashi needs to act as a guide character for the normal world.

Even as these dragon interlopers force her into a parental role and build out her friend circle.

That first point is possibly one of more unique traits, as rarely do Animes present their protagonist taking on the role of adoptive parent. Or parent at all. Maybe a few world-wandering shows will have found families, but I can’t think of another example where the character’s arc is that of becoming more domestic.

Which is why I appreciate Kanna.

Kanna is the second dragon to move from The Other World to Our World, banished for playing too many pranks to get attention from her parents. However, despite this supposed impish nature, she’s the most reserved of the Dragons, content to living like she’s Kobayashi’s nine-year old daughter, with Tohru acting as sort of an older sister. I think this is kind of a lost opportunity, because we could’ve kept all that, and also have Kanna play a few small pranks from time to time out of boredom and discontent. That could’ve been a nice, additional reason for Kobayashi to enroll Kanna in school: not out of malice but to give the young dragon some engagement during the day.

Then Fafnir and Queztal ‘Lucoa’ Coatl start visiting, then moving into the neighborhood.

Fafnir is my favorite of the dragons. He’s initially introduced as your usual bloodthirsty and treasure-obsessed dragon, which is fine, but then the series uses those traits to have him comfortably slip into a NEET lifestyle, which is hilarious. He gets to enact violence in video games and collect treasures in the form of promotional items, while still staying a grump.

Lucoa is… she started as the Sane member of the Dragon cast, giving exposition on what Tohru was like before and generally just being chill. However, in moving her to the world, she signs herself up as a familiar for a young mage, and starts… creeping on him is the best I charitably describe it. Shouta has no interest in these advances, and watching it played out on screen isn’t charming. Also, I’m afraid I have to align myself as opposed to the ‘Patriarchy’ line, because it does seem out of character.[10]

About halfway through, Elma arrives, after seven episodes of being the mysterious water dragon in the opening, inspiring me to see if I couldn’t align the dragons with the Rune Factory dragons.[11]

I… like Elma, but she’s underutilized. After her introductory episode, she’s just food obsessed and does literally nothing of consequence. She doesn’t even get a human to bond with like the others. Nothing is fleshed out for her. Unfortunate, as she looks cute with her glasses.

As a part of the theme, most of the dragons[12] are given a human to who they grow close.

Tohru, obviously, has Kobayashi. Tohru is very direct with her affections, while Kobayashi has to warm up to her dragon maid, and the exact degree Kobayashi returns the affections (whether it’s platonic or romantic on her end) isn’t pinned down exactly.

In contrast, Kanna has Saikawa, who has an obvious crush on Kanna, which she hides poorly. Though Kanna acts oblivious to what she does to Saikawa, Kanno does indicates an interest in… some sort of relationship that parallels Kobayashi and Tohru.

Actually, the show seems to have a problem with putting minors into sexual situations. It’s fine with Kanna and Rika, as they are essentially the same age and Saikawa’s squeeing, though transparent, is kept at an age-appropriate level. The two only have the one moment while visiting Saikawa’s house that’s uncomfortable, and that’s initiated by Kanna.

Shouta and Lucoa are just uncomfortable.

Fanservice is a contentious subject. What is okay, and what crosses a line? What level of slapback against perverts makes it even? Why am I (seemingly) one of the few that takes no umbrage against MHA’s Mineta but dislike Lucoa’s portrayal?

I typically avoid Anime that put sexual fanservice as one of its selling points. For example, before starting on Dragon Maid, I watched the first two episodes of WorldEnd: What are you doing at the end of the world? Are you busy? Will you save us? which is an epic word salad of a title which invokes the image of some shy person trying to ask someone out on a date that’s also a world-saving quest, but doesn’t want to over step. However, it quickly became clear the focus is pretty much a rescue romance focused on a bunch of characters the narrative goes through pain to tell you are 15 at the oldest. Also, a troll that wants to eat the protagonist which, recent meme culture aside, would’ve been an interesting dynamic to watch. Too bad the rest of the introductory episodes were too skeevy.

Which is to say, I’m easily tossed when a piece of media’s centerpoint is fanservice, made worse when it’s creepy fanservice to the detriment of world and narrative.

Then there’s Mineta who, foolishly, I’m going to try and defend now? Because the subjects of Mineta’s perversions are also approximately 15 years old, as above. However, Mineta is the same age as his classmates, which flattens the power dynamic.

‘But Canvas! It’s an excuse to show the audience fanservice of 15-year olds!’ you may say.

Okay. It’s a Shonen. The target audience are young males, approximately the same age as the cast. Are you really going to say you didn’t have a couple crushes on your peers as a teenager? It’s okay to let teenagers be attracted to other teenagers. As for the adult members of the audience? Let them smile whimsically at what it was like to be that age.

And his peers do admonish and punish him for going too far. If it’s not enough punishment for you, well, that’s up to your interpretation. I give it a pass because the tone is kept light and Mineta unable to do any actual harm. And comedy works best through exaggeration. A man getting stabbed is tragic. A man getting impaled onto an oversized firework that shoots into the air and explodes is slapstick. Also, the kid’s 15, he has time to mature and get character progression.

But you know who I never hear any ill words against? Midnight. Superheroine in a skintight outfit, whose schtick is bondage, and uses flirty tones towards students. Now that’s super uncomfortable. Because she is in a position of authority, and receives zero pushback for how she acts around her students.[13] Yet, the fanbase seems to give her a pass. Why? She actually acts more predatory than Mineta, and her power literally knocks her opponents out. She is dripping with poor implications.

I could go in depth, but I think that’s enough of a baseline to continue the review. The appropriateness of Fanservice depends on the viewer, and can be fickle, so excuse me if I can’t give a bullet point list of my own policies.[14]

So, let’s return to Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid, which undoubtedly has strong element of fanservice. Why does it (mostly) succeed?

Well, first off, it’s kept tongue in cheek. The adult female dragons have ridiculous proportions, which gets lampshaded heavily, but their huge tracts of land are rarely used as a value judgement on the cast. They’re magical beings, if they want to look that way, it’s on them.

Next, there’s little power imbalance in the relationships. Tohru begins the series making her intentions towards Kobayashi clear, but after a couple rejections, the lines are established and respected. Tohru loves Kobayashi, but she wants any return in affections to be gained honestly. So even with Tohru’s immense physical and magical strength, and Kobayashi being placed in the role of ‘Master’, they’re both equal in establishing boundaries and respecting them.

And tone is very important. It’s a comedy series, so actions and emotions can be big and exaggerated. So, exaggerated proportions, exaggerated yuri-teasing, exaggerated violence, and exaggerated reactions. Saikawa happily screams every time Kanna does something cute, and it works because it’s a comedic reaction.

However, Lucoa breaks these rules. She answers Shouta’s summons and becomes his familiar. However, Shouta is maybe 10 or eleven to Lucoa’s presented, let’s say, late-twenties, and Lucoa comes on to this literal child. A child who rejects the advances and explicitly tells her not to. And Lucoa can’t claim ignorance, so she’s intentionally violating boundaries. It’s unbalanced power, ignores established lines, and turns Lucoa’s physical form into a joke, which all shifts the comedic tone.

Then (and I originally wanted to avoid this topic) the dub gives her a line about changing to more conservative dress because she was growing tired of patriarchal pressure. Lucoa had spent the series to the point as the most overtly sexualized character by her own decision, even getting into legal trouble once or twice, and creeping on a child. Then the writing wants to try and shame the audience over a character placed before them. It’s a line that might’ve worked if delivered by Tohru or Elma,[15] as it would’ve continued the theme of the the world pushing back against Lucoa. It’s also winter, so passing it off as the ex-goddess caving to nature would have worked, especially since the feathered serpent is from a tropical climate, and is a giant snake, so needing to bundle up against cold works.

I should not be forming opinions about this mythology! Why are you doing this to me, anime?

So, late-run Lucoa aside, Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid is a fun show with strong world building, an interesting story, and pretty good comedy. I recommend it.

If you enjoyed this review, you should check out my other writings. I like talking about things, so if you want to send me asks, I’d be happy to engage. Also, hey, I have a patreon, in case you want to support me and my various endeavours. Thanks for reading.

Kataal Lucoa.

[1] I was kind of sort of hired to write a children’s play about Quetzalcoatl once, and I was not the person to suggest it.[2] [2] It was an okay piece. There was talk of maybe developing it further, but to be honest, South American Mythology doesn’t interest me. [3] A topic I must’ve covered before, but I can’t remember where. Repeated lessons can be good, though, so tough it out. [4] To be fair, there were only two active characters on stage, one body, and three further mentioned names, for a total of six. I still take pride because I lack confidence in names. [5] I only do this when I’m a player. As a GM I try to respect player choices, but still, throw me a bone, please. [6] This is why my reviews have the formula of Canvas_____: Review Subject. [7] I am vain and like things that remind me of myself. [8] Says the never been kissed white guy… [9] I recommend Digimon! [10] However, it’s a brief throwaway line, so I’m not one to make a fuss. Just gentle tutting. [11] It falls apart very quickly. Terrable could be Lucoa, but there’s no one for Ventuswill. [12] Or ex-goddess, in the case of Lucoa. [13] Student-Teacher romances being, of course, a bugbear that’s been growing for me recently. [14] It’d probably be mostly glasses focused, anyways. [15] Who is lawfully aligned. And would’ve given her more than food to stress about.

#CanvasWatches #miss kobayashi #dragon maid #anime #CanvasReviews #kobayashi-san chi no maid dragon

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ismael37olson · 6 years

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The Power of Love Can Make a Zombie Too!

It's hard to believe it's over. It was five years ago that I set out to write The Zombies of Penzance. It seemed so perfect, so deliciously fucked up, and the process of "translating" the story , the changing of Gilbert's pirates into zombies, hardly disturbed the plot at all (though I later made some larger plot changes). I know you want to ask, so yes, I was seriously stoned when I thought of the idea. I immediately loved everything about it. I already deeply loved The Pirates of Penzance. I love zombie movies. I love mashups. Plus, I quickly decided that my approach would include an elaborate, though entirely false, backstory about the creation of The Zombies of Penzance. In fact, that meta-layer became an important part of the humor. We tell the audience Gilbert wrote these zombie lyrics, but then throughout the evening, we keep smacking them with anachronisms, four-letter words, and other morsels that Gilbert would/could never have written -- including every reference to zombies, which hadn't entered the awareness of Western culture yet. I loved all of that. The inherent wrongness of it all. More than anything what I loved most was the fundamental idea of telling a horror story in the language of English light opera, possibly the most "wrong" storytelling form imaginable for this content. That was the appeal for me, more than anything else. I love things, particularly art, that are obviously wrong or fucked-up. That's so interesting, and often, so funny. I also loved the idea that this would be New Line's second zombie musical, since we did the very serious Night of the Living Dead in 2013. And its our seventh horror musical, following our productions of Rocky Horror, Sweeney Todd, Bat Boy, In the Blood, and Lizzie. Should we also count Urinetown...? Throughout the time I've been working on this, I was always mindful of the fact that no matter how funny or meta-ironic my text was, it had no real value on the page. It's only a zombie operetta when it's live (dead?) onstage. I needed lots of people to make it into live theatre. That's true of all our shows, but since this was an awfully odd experiment, it was constantly in my awareness. When I talked to friends about it, at some point I'd always throw in, "...if I ever finish it, and if we produce it..." We held a public reading in January. To my amazement, 150 people showed up, and to my greater amazement they followed the plot easily and fully embraced my multiple layers of meta, my blatant anachronisms, and the four-letter words sprinkled throughout. The audience really loved both the ways in which I had stayed true to Gilbert & Sullivan and their traditions, and also the ways in which I violated that. It's actually a fairly complex piece, and I was delighted that many of the reviewers noticed and appreciated that. Paul Friswold wrote in his Riverfront Times review:

Scott Miller and John Gerdes are the responsible parties, tinkering with Gilbert's lyrics and Sullivan's music to create something more than the sum of the parts. The two St. Louisans have added modern references, profanity and a careful adherence to the spirit of the original operetta. Portraits of George A. Romero and Queen Victoria hang above the old-fashioned stage and its working footlights, hinting at the twin forces at work here. Romero is the godfather of zombies in popular entertainment, and Victoria led the society that simultaneously embraced Gilbert & Sullivan's jaunty work and harbored a morbid fascination with life after death. All of these elements come together on stage, to strange and often comic effect. . . . But it's not all fun and pop-culture riffs. Despite his lethal nature, the Major-General has a most troubled conscience. The second-act song "When the World Went Bad" cracks open the show's candy coating to reveal the darkness within. Stanley sings of his fears about the forces bringing the dead to life, and worries about the coarsening of his soul. Is he less moral than the Zombie King, who spares some people (albeit under false pretenses)? The Major-General kills them all, and then shakes with terror and remorse late at night. Is he worse than what he hunts? It's a question that harkens back to Richard Matheson's 1954 novel I Am Legend, which was Romero's own inspiration. The book also informs the finale, which is preceded by a delightfully ridiculous brawl between the Stanley daughters, who are in their bloomers and bearing cricket bats and nunchucks, and the zombie horde. Things become very dark indeed. But you know what they say: It's always darkest before the dawn of the dead.

Some people reflexively dismissed the show -- without seeing it of course -- as a stunt, a bastardization, a one-joke show. I'll admit that my new Major-General lyric is a stunt, but so is Gilbert's original. That's what patter songs are. Beyond that, The Zombies of Penzance is an experiment in form and content, it's a big over-arching meta-joke about lost and discarded works, and it's a translation in terms of cultural context and also in terms of themes. As I wrote in another blog post, The Pirates of Penzance is about how absurd and arbitrary class distinctions are. But though I changed the basic story very little, the substitution of monsters (zombies) for "monsters" (pirates) changes more than you'd expect. The Zombies of Penzance is about the Other-ing of those who are different from us, particularly by those who claim the moral high ground.

And also, because I cut the policemen from the story, and gave their songs to the Stanley daughters, who are now trained zombie hunters, it's also a story about women standing up for themselves, fighting back, solving their own problems. I was honestly shocked at how empowering it apparently felt for women in our audience when the daughters marched on in their zombie hunter clothes in mid-Act II, particularly I think for women who know Pirates. The journey's been five years for me, but it's also been two years for John Gerdes, who adapted the music and orchestrated it. He adapted and orchestrated all the music for our reading last January, then he orchestrated Yeast Nation for us, then he came back to Zombies, finished his work and incorporated my rewrites from the reading. And then John and his wife Lea played in the band for the show. So I suspect John will have some zombie withdrawal as well. This amazing cast has been working on this show since last November, when we started rehearsals for the reading. They have worked so hard on this score, both musically and conceptually. I realized early on that we had to apply the lessons of Little Shop, Bat Boy, and Urinetown to The Zombies of Penzance. The more seriously we take it, the funnier it gets; and in parallel to that, the better we sing the music, the more seriously we take that, the funnier the show gets. This isn't Evil Dead. To maintain the crazy meta-story, our audience had to believe this was intended to be performed at the Savoy Theatre in 1879. The more legit the music, the funnier the show.

And likewise, the better the craft -- rhymes, scansion, etc. -- the funnier the show. The Major-General's big patter song, "I Am the Very Model of a Modern Era Zombie Killer," is funny partly because the craft is good. Really, I guess all this is a lesson Gilbert and Sullivan learned long before Little Shop of Horrors. Almost all their shows are inherently ridiculous stories (about inherently ridiculous aspects of Western culture) which they present utterly straight-faced. No matter how wacky Gilbert's text gets, Sullivan's music is always straight-faced. This has been such a wonderful experience for me, bringing two of my greatest loves together, G&S and zombies. To quote my own lyric:

Hail, zombies, thou heav’n-made dead! Forsaken by the God we dread. Great metaphor for all we fear! All hail the end of all that we hold dear!

I was very lucky to find a cast full of really strong, funny, talented, fearless actors to bring my show to life, and almost all of them have stayed with the show since last November. I am very grateful. And then to get such warm, overwhelming responses to it! Look at some of these press quotes:

"Another triumph for New Line. . . a hilariously inspired joke." -- Calvin Wilson, St. Louis Post-Dispatch "The funniest show that New Line Theatre has ever mounted." -- Judy Newmark, All The World's a Stage "Both a nightmare and a delight — let's call it a delightmare." -- Paul Friswold, The Riverfront Times "Uproarious." -- Jeff Ritter, Critical Blast "It's amazing. . . so much fun." -- Kevin Brackett, ReviewSTL "A wonderful whirlwind of apocalyptic delight." -- Tanya Seale, BroadwayWorld "Reverently irreverent and witty. . . a delightfully fun, pointedly funny musical." -- Tina Farmer KDHX "Let the wackiness ensue." -- Lynn Venhaus, STL Limelight "In terms of humor and sheer musicality, it’s remarkable." -- Michelle Kenyon, Snoop's Theatre Thoughts

But our show has closed and my zombie journey ends, for now. We've already gotten a couple requests for rights to perform the show, so the Zombie King may live (die?) on. But for all practical purposes, the ride is over. I will miss these characters and this beautiful music, and this extraordinary cast. It was so thrilling every night when they sang the a cappella chorale late in Act I, "Hail Zombies!" -- such a massive, gorgeous sound (due in large part to music director Nic Valdez)! John and I will be cleaning up / correcting the script and score, and then we'll publish them on Amazon, so they'll be available soon. And I won't swear to it, but we also may be releasing a live cast album. And yes, we will license other theatres to produce it.

And don't tell anybody... but I'm already working on another "new" G&S show. No promises, but I may end up writing a G&S horror trilogy before I'm done. I can hear the heads of G&S fans exploding as I type this... Suggestions are welcome for source material for the third in the trilogy. I'll leave you with one of my favorite bits from Zombies. Thank you, St. Louis, for once again, taking a chance on us and totally embracing the insanity we've wrought. We owe you so much!

My zombie hunting habits, though a potent, little metaphor, Are really more subversive than the critics give me credit for. In nineteenth cent’ry operetta, comedy or thriller, I am still the very model of a modern-era zombie killer!

Long Live the Musical! Scott from The Bad Boy of Musical Theatre http://newlinetheatre.blogspot.com/2018/10/the-power-of-love-can-make-zombie-too.html

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maczazind · 7 years

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Film Diary 2017: January

Now that my 2016 film diary is FINALLY published, I wanted to try something different with my 2017 version. With this blog now up, I wanted to post this year’s entries in monthly installments as opposed to one massive list. Since it won’t be a single post I wanted to do something I wish I had done more with my 2016 list, which is detail my thoughts a bit more on the entries involved. Some admittedly may warrant their own separate post because I feel so passionately about said film, but at least a monthly breakdown now will allow for a more detailed film diary going forward.

If you’d like to see them as the year progresses, however, each installment will be given the tag “Film Diary 2017” so feel free to follow along!

That being said, here is the list of films I saw in the month of January 2017 - including how each feature was primarily seen and an asterisk which denotes that viewing was the first time I’ve seen that movie in its entirety, despite possibly having seen pieces of the film previously or having a general knowledge of it. All reactions are strictly MY OPINION:

January 4th: 1) Into The Woods* - DVD (Rental - Library); As a fan of movie musicals, I have to admit this one kind of disappointed me. I really like the other fellow Sondheim adaptation of Sweeney Todd, but this one fell flat in my eyes because it doesn’t quite take advantage of its capabilities. Though it does revamp the stage version with some solid visuals and an impressive cast, it’s in the third act where there are multiple scenes that don’t quite take the liberty of being transformed, ultimately feeling like they’re more or less the carbon copy from the original and don’t expand given that they have the capability to. Not to mention, the cast at times feels so large and we spend time jumping around between all of them, it doesn’t really allow us the time to grow overwhelmingly connected to some of the characters.

2) I Am Big Bird: The Carol Spinney Story* - Streaming (Amazon Prime); Not the best documentary I’ve seen, but still an interesting and emotional one. Worth a look.

3) Edward Scissorhands* - DVD (Rental - Library); Yes, yes – it’s my first time seeing this and to be quite honest it’s not my favorite Burton movie. Knocking it off my film lover’s bucket list, it was good! Funnier than I thought it would be; an intriguing story with plenty of fun elements. But at the same time, it certainly doesn’t knock Beetlejuice off its top spot in my eyes.

January 9th: 4) Scouts Guide To the Zombie Apocalypse - Streaming (Amazon Prime); While the opening scene set up a Zombieland-like tone and actually had me excited for a bit, this flick crosses a point midway through where it never quite exceeds its B-movie status. Mindless fun, entertaining but nothing over the top to gush over. It may surprise some out there; still, just an ok watch.

January 12th: 5) Alice Through The Looking Glass* - Streaming (Netflix); Having enjoyed the odd tone I’ve come to expect from Alice in Wonderland, the live action remake from 2010 lands in a solid spot for me. This sequel, however? Well it depends on your suspension of disbelief as the movie goes on. Alice as a ship captain? Actually cool. Time travel? …sure, why not. It elevates the supporting character of the Hatter and admittedly adds some backstory to it all. The play on whether or not Alice truly has been imagining this or not in the real world is an intriguing piece for the few minutes it’s presented, but that’s never quite driven home as we’re whisked away more in the Wonderland journey and everything is wrapped up in an all too neat bow. At the very least, its heart is in the right place and the moral undertones drive home. At the same time, it’s an additional voyage that perhaps didn’t need to set sail.

January 13th: 6) Dr. Strangelove* - Blu-Ray; In this….let’s say INTERESTING…political climate, there certainly have been a number of media entries listed by people to reflect the present day events. If anything, this classic satire has something for everyone to love. Peter Sellers is fantastic in multiple roles, the scenes range from tense to intriguing, and if you’ve never become acquainted with the work of George C. Scott then this is the perfect introductory. While not my favorite classic feature from decades passed, it’s one that has stood the test of time for good reasons.

January 14th: 7) Big Trouble in Little China* - Streaming (Netflix); I think i finally understand the obsession with Jack Burton. Besides being a total badass, Jack was easily the most relatable in all of BTILC as he is more the audience perspective than anything else. Like us, Jack is swept away in something way larger than he may understand and at times it can be confusing as the story grows to ridiculous size. While a cult classic, I’ll admit BTILC didn’t really grab me. Perhaps it’s one of those films you need to check out in your age of development to have a love for, but really I’ll pass. I adored Jack, but the rest was a crazy visually-strong jumble that I’m glad I at least crossed off my list.

January 15th: 8) Patriots Day* - Theater; Maybe it’s because I’m from New England, but man was this an emotional rollercoaster. While you’ll know the story pretty well given how closely followed this tragic story was when it happened years ago, Patriots Day does a great job of taking that and adding the real world heart, perspectives and details beyond whatever CNN could give you. With visually memorable scenes and strong performances filled throughout, definitely give Patriots Day a watch when you can.

9) Short Term 12* - Streaming (Netflix); I put off seeing this indie for years and after the credits started rolling I was kicking myself for not doing so sooner. It’s rare when I have the urge to see a movie again after having just seen it, but my god Short Term 12 was one of those exceptions. An emotional character driven story revolving around themes of depression, abuse, trying to embrace love in spite of it all, mixed with surprises, genuinely funny moments, heartstring pulling sequences and all pulled together with an outstanding performance by Brie Larson, I absolutely loved it all.

10) Pocahontas - Blu-Ray; It had been awhile since I’ve seen this Disney animated film that has always felt middle tier for me. And rewatching it as an adult, yeah I can see why. There are some plot devices that don’t make sense while the romance is really what needs to be embraced regardless of the shortcomings. Visually stunning, but further cemented as not in my top five favorite Disney films.

January 16th: 11) Hardcore Henry* - DVD (Rental - Library); I went in expecting a fun mindless action movie that played like a videogame and that’s exactly what I received. Sure the plot is a little convoluted. Sure the ending is rather abrupt. But man if Sharlto Copley doesn’t steal the entire show. As questions build up about his character, it all pays off in a fantastic scene that just further drives home the comedic elements of the movie. If you can deal with the videogame campaign first-person POV of it all, give it a chance.

January 18th: 12) Little Sister* - Streaming (Netflix); My least favorite entry this month. An indie flick on Netflix that’s a gothic….let’s go with dark comedy? Though I’d say more family drama. The concept sounded interesting, but I kinda walked away from this one bummed out.

January 20th: 13) The Hustler* - Streaming (Netflix); Turning it back to the black and white classics, The Hustler skyrocketed up my list and landed firmly in a top spot of one of my favorite old movies. Paul Newman is charming as ever while the action is so incredibly tense in the best way. While the movie is a bit long and may drag in the middle, George C. Scott once again emerges with an interesting supporting role and has compelled me within two movies to further explore his filmography.

January 21st: 14) The Color of Money* - Streaming (HBO GO); Well if you watch the aforementioned original, you HAVE to see the sequel the next day, right? What I thought was going to be a shift where Newman plays the supporting character turned into a different sort of film where he’s actually the main character yet again. Not nearly as good as its predecessor, it’s a worthwhile expansion of the themes from the first film.

January 25th: 15) Ghost in the Shell* - Blu-Ray; An inspirational anime feature to many creators, this isn’t exactly my first exposure to the franchise (I caught some of the Arise chapter when it was broken up across Netflix, and Stand Alone Complex was around when I was younger). While it wasn’t my favorite film of the genre, it was certainly intriguing to watch. I wanted to experience the original in all its influential glory before the U.S. remake with Scarlett Johansson came along and I’m glad I did.

January 27th: 16) Star Trek Beyond* - Blu-Ray; The second film in the rebooted Star Trek franchise, Into Darkness, left me quite disappointed upon its release because besides the super obvious Khan concealment prior to release, the story to me just felt like a bunch of event sequences loosely strung together. Here, the heart and character is thrust back into the plot while additionally feeling a bit like a traditional Star Trek episode as a majority of the action takes place on a single planet. Even though the opening box office didn’t sound too confident, I’m glad there are plans in motion for another Star Trek film because I felt this was a great course correction that stands strong next to the 2009 reboot.

17) Trainspotting* - Streaming (Netflix); Another film I put off for awhile, its impending removal from Netflix quickly moved this one up the list. And yes, i finally understand the praise. There’s something so simple and yet so interesting about it all. A character driven look at addiction, told in a visually impressive package of comedy, tragedy, heartbreak and growing up.

January 28th: 18) There Will Be Blood* - Streaming (Netflix); Yet another viewing influenced by an impending Netflix departure, I was swept away the second Daniel Day Lewis began to deliver his lines as Daniel Plainview. As the man of science vs. man of faith story moves along the tracks, there are so many layers in this film to attach yourself to and love at least some aspect of. The greed, the wealth, the confrontation, the father and son tale, the flexing of ego and so much more. I finally understand not only why people have praised this film for a decade but why it’s remained in conversation for all that time as well.

January 29th: 19) Don’t Breathe* - Streaming (Flixster); One of the many acclaimed horror films from 2016, thankfully I finally had the chance to see this one after picking it up via a short-lived Blu-Ray sale on Amazon. Not nearly as gory as Fede Alvarez’s previous directorial effort in the Evil Dead remake, Alvarez does a great job of establishing a closed space (which I’ve always been a fan of in others such as Die Hard or 10 Cloverfield Lane) and unleashing a number of anxious possibilities that continue to surprise. Relying on an incredibly small cast, the performances count just as much despite not even our protagonists being morally virtuous along with a few secrets up its sleeves.

January 30th: 20) Blair Witch (2016)* - Blu-Ray; Extended thoughts here, but long story short – I don’t believe this one deserved as much hate as it received.

21) No Country for Old Men* - Streaming (Netflix); My final film of the month actually came as a welcome surprise for me. When it comes to Coen Brothers films, I am that rare outcast who kind of feels disappointed because I don’t feel most live up to the hype (well, except for Fargo at least). Thankfully, NCFOM lands on the positive side of my personal preference as it’s a visually incredible movie alongside a story that expands into an edge of your seat showdown the more it goes on. Admittedly, I had to rewatch the third act to really fathom the message driven home as things shift in order to relay a central message and subvert expectations. But at the same time, it’s a bold approach that never takes away from the other two acts while allowing you to sit & think afterwards about what transpired and what is stated.

Furthermore, Best Picture winner No Country for Old Men has prematurely kicked off a successful string of films in February’s 2017 listing that have all been nominated and/or won Academy Awards. But more on that later…

What movies did you see in January 2017? Are there any movies you’d highly recommend that I should add to my watchlist? Feel free to drop me an ask or a reply!

#Film Diary 2017 #text post #movies

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aion-rsa · 3 years

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Cyberpunk 2077 Review Roundup

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

Cyberpunk 2077 is arguably the most highly-anticipated game of 2020, and after several delays and other controversies, it’s finally here. Fans will be able to get their hands on CD Projekt Red’s new RPG on Dec. 10 (unless you pre-ordered from Best Buy). Ahead of the global launch, here’s what critics are saying about the game so far:

Andrew Reiner, Game Informer:

“Cyberpunk 2077 is a work of awe-inspiring ambition, dazzling with its massive scale and creative vision. The world of Night City is a metropolis of futuristic art, stealing your eye with stunning neon-lit architecture and streets filled with citizens made of flesh and metal. Night City is an open world that immediately pulls you in and keeps you engaged with its dark narrative, meaningful player choice, and overwhelming amount of side content.”

Score: 9/10

Kallie Plagge, Gamespot:

“It also bears a mention: Cyberpunk 2077 is phenomenally buggy. I played a pre-release build that was updated during the review period, and there’s a day-one patch planned as well, but the scale of technical issues is too large to reasonably expect immediate fixes. I encountered some kind of bug on every mission I went on, from more common, funnier ones like characters randomly T-posing to several complete crashes. I didn’t notice much of an improvement after the update, either. In a very late-game, very important fight, the game froze on me–twice. I ended up taking a break out of frustration before attempting, and finally succeeding, the third time.

These bugs, more than any game I’ve played in years, took me out of the experience often. Non-interactable items like cardboard boxes will explode when you interact with something next to them; UI elements will stay on-screen long after they’re meant to, which is only solved by reloading a save; characters will interrupt themselves during proper dialogue sequences by repeating a throwaway line they’d say in the overworld, seriously disrupting key moments; I died once and, upon reloading my last save, found my hacking ability no longer worked, forcing me to roll back to an autosave 10 minutes prior. The list is extensive.

Score: 7/10

James Davenport, PC Gamer:

“I found it moving and life-affirming in the final moments, even in the face of near certain death and a relentless onslaught of bugs. I suppose it’s an appropriate thematic throughline though: Cyberpunk 2077 is a game about V coming apart at the seams, in a city coming apart at the seams, in a game coming apart at the seams. Play it in a few months.”

Score: 78/100

Tom Marks, IGN:

“Cyberpunk 2077 kicks you into its beautiful and dazzlingly dense cityscape with few restrictions. It offers a staggering amount of choice in how to build your character, approach quests, and confront enemies, and your decisions can have a tangible and natural-feeling impact on both the world around you and the stories of the people who inhabit it. Those stories can be emotional, funny, dark, exciting, and sometimes all of those things at once. The main quest may be shorter than expected when taken on its own and it’s not always clear what you need to do to make meaningful changes to its finale, but the multitude of side quests available almost from the start can have a surprisingly powerful effect on the options you have when you get there. It’s a shame that frustratingly frequent bugs can occasionally kill an otherwise well-set mood, but Cyberpunk 2077’s impressively flexible design makes it a truly remarkable RPG.”

Score: 9/10

James Billcliffe, VG24/7:

“In the midst of such intense anticipation and scrutiny, it’s easy to get carried away with what Cyberpunk 2077 could have been. The final experience might be more familiar than many predicted, with plenty of elements that aren’t perfect, but it’s dripping with detail and engaging stories. With so much to see and do, Cyberpunk 2077 is the kind of RPG where you blink and hours go by, which is just what we need to finish off 2020.”

Score: 5/5

Carolyn Petit, Polygon:

“One of my fears about Cyberpunk 2077 was that it was going to be so cynical and nihilistic that playing it would be like wallowing in grim hopelessness, that the cheapness of human life in the game’s world would be mirrored by the game itself. But that’s not the case. It’s easy to lose the human thread in the overwhelming glut of stuff Cyberpunk 2077 puts on your plate, with your map plastered with crimes you can violently “neutralize” for a reward from the police, and fixers constantly sending you text messages about underdeveloped one-off jobs you can take on to earn a bit of extra cash. But the humanity is there, if you look for it.

“And that humanity is the saving grace of this alluring yet uneven and deeply flawed game. I can’t deny that Night City wowed me with its scale, its verticality, and its sense of history. But I wish I could see people like me on its streets as something more than objects. I wish that the game’s politics were more radical. Yes, I know I shouldn’t look to a colossal game that was itself produced under exploitative labor conditions to lead the charge of anticapitalist liberation, but I wish the sparks of Johnny Silverhand’s ideological rage got to burn brighter, that Cyberpunk 2077 felt more interested in envisioning new futures than in reminiscing over bygone glories. Neither its gameplay nor its narrative can imagine the bold possibilities that I find so central to the best of cyberpunk. But what it does offer is visions of people trying to make do and get by in a world that’s trying to eat them alive, and sometimes those people get by with a little help from their friends. It’s not the revolution I hoped for, but it’s something.”

Riley MacLeod, Kotaku:

“I haven’t fallen in love with playing Cyberpunk 2077, but I haven’t loathed it either. Some moments have been exciting or moving, while others have just felt like stuff to do. I’m middle-of-the-road on it so far—having fun in spots, left wanting the game to be more like what made The Witcher 3 great in others. The game itself wants so badly for you to think it’s cool, that it’s the cutting edge of graphics and game design, that it talks about edgy topics like body modification, corporate power, and the internet. It tries too hard, stuffing itself with a tangle of complicated roleplaying game systems; with so many cyberpunk tropes, plots, and slang; with neon and holograms and so many in-game ads, most of them for sex; with car chases and hacking and corporate espionage and double-crossing powerful people; with a world where the human body is made obsolete with money and technology, while also chewed up and spat out for the sake of capital. There’s an admirable diversity of races, sexualities, genders, and body types, but they feel like a veneer. It’s not a politically progressive game: these identities are all in service of the game’s vision of the cyberpunk future, one that can feel implausible and alienating but also has hints of the world we live in today.

Chris Tapsell, Eurogamer:

“It’s still early on for me, I should say – after 30 hours I was still, no doubt to the horror of many with vanishing spare time, just finding my feet – but much of that focus is placed on Cyberpunk‘s central story, which has so far been a welcome surprise. Beneath the noise – and Cyberpunk is truly cacophonous – there is a lingering thread of tenderness to it. I’ve opted to play V as a woman, with a ‘Corpo’ background, and she’s been voiced impeccably by Cherami Leigh and written with some skill. There’s real tenderness here, real vulnerability – a lot of “this city’ll chew you up and spit you out” stuff, sure, but there’s a waver to the tough talk, and from more than just V. Cyberpunk‘s story so far is one of fear, the surface of it plated in chrome and angst and body horror gore, but still built on a core of humanity. It’s more than I expected, and more than we’ve been taught to expect, frankly, by the brashness of the marketing, the pitching of Night City as this great, submissive, ultra-hedonist playground. Night City is a vile swamp, in actual fact, and Cyberpunk‘s characters are drowning in it. It is, so far, more than just a synthwave skin on another puerile open world.”

Rob Zacny, VICE:

“Cyberpunk 2077 is a game of the past and its forgotten futures. Its setting is a pastiche that was overtaken by history and technology. It is a piece of software that is a throwback to PC gaming of the 1990s and early 2000s in every possible way, and its aesthetic and narrative sensibilities of a teenage boy’s bedroom in the 1980s. Yet its lavish and utterly sincere devotion to its influences recalls what has made these dated visions so alluring and enduring. Cyberpunk is too tacky and graceless to be cool, but it’s very big, and very loud, and sometimes that’s all it takes to be awesome.”

Brad Chacos, PCWorld:

“Even if the main narrative somehow stumbles at the finish line, it wouldn’t take away from that sublime core gameplay experience. After a dozen hours, I haven’t come close to exhausting the available activities in just the first of Night City’s six districts and surrounding Badlands. No matter what happens with V, I can’t wait to discover all of Night City’s secrets. I’m in love.”

Richard Scott Jones, PCGamesN:

“Retroactive trigger warning about ‘politics in games’ for whoever cares about such things, by the way, but if that’s you, then you’d best steer clear of Cyberpunk 2077 if you stand by your claimed convictions. This is one of the most explicitly politically charged games ever made – Mike Pondsmith designed the tabletop game upon which it’s based as a “cautionary tale,” and after the killing of George Floyd back in June, reiterated that his universe is “a warning, not an aspiration“. Anyone who insists it’s pure, meaningless escapism is hopelessly deluded.

“Even if such sentiments are uttered in sincere good faith, I think it’s a tragic diminishment of our medium to insist that it shouldn’t tackle politics. Cyberpunk 2077 might not push quite as many boundaries in game design as a landmark release could, but if it can convince more people that games can and should take a position on issues of substance rather than peddle mindless thrills, that’ll be a worthy legacy.”

Stay tuned for Den of Geek’s review of Cyberpunk 2077 next week!

The post Cyberpunk 2077 Review Roundup appeared first on Den of Geek.

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surprisebitch · 7 years

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hi carlos! hope you're having a swell day, i wanted to ask: what are your current anime recs? ive been looking for sth to watch and i think you have great taste! have a nice day, thanks in advance! :)

Hii!! I’m having a good day thank you! :D And sure, lemme copy and paste my previous list and make some modifications and updates to answer your question!

Currently watching:

Boku no Hero Academia

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventures

One Punch Man

Hunter X Hunter

Recently watched:

Shingeki no Kyojin / Attack on Titan - it’s the Game of Thrones of anime imo.. like it’s so GOOD.. it will just make you gag after every episode. it’s so intense and there are really badass characters. and the plot is really brilliant. like i’m almost finished with season 1 and i’m just shook after every single episode. i watch during my cardio sessions in the gym lmao after every workout.. and its great cause it’s like when a titan is chasing a character, i end up walking faster on the stairs Lmaoo so intense

Love Live! - i honestly just watched this like out of curiosity and just for kicks. i was not expecting to love it but after episode 3, i was like wait??? wasnt this anime supposed to be fun?? why am i crying?? so yeah, it’s super good, touching, entertaining and sweet! and the songs are really catchy and good.. it’s such a WLW anime and there’s a canon couple :>

Love Live! Sunshine - i watched this like a few months after finishing Love Live! cause i loved the OG girls and i was worried i wont like these girls.. but honestly, LLS is EVEN GAYER.. and is soo good too!

btw tell me who your fave girls/best girls are after watching Love Live and Sunshine. my best girls are Umi Sonoda and Yo Watanabe :>

Kimi no Na Wa - universally lauded and recently released! it’s the best film released in 2016 imo. i swear it’s really next level storytelling

Anime watched/finished:

Ghost Stories - THE DUB IS A MASTERPIECE! You really have to see this one. the anime bombed in Japan so the english dubbers got all the rights for the anime and they gave the go signal for the dubbers to do whatever the fuck they want. it ended up being like an anime Scary Movie with a hilarious script

Puella Magi Madoka Magica - i swear do not be deceived.. it is a really intense and surprisingly dark anime with excellent plot twists

Yu Yu Hakusho - occult, spirit world, ghosts, and fighting. you most probably have heard of this

Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters - 1st series starring Yugi. iconic!

Digimon - can be very intense! better than Pokemon imo

Ranma ½ - this was so funny but the ending was disappointing cause it got cancelled apparently.. i really hope this will go out of limbo and give us a proper ending like InuYasha did but i doubt it

Danganronpa (murder plot twists, intense and despair-filled storyline. btw i highly suggest you play this game (it’s available on Steam) instead of watching the poorly condensed anime. so buy it on steam or you can download it how you like cause it’s one of the best games ever. and if you plan on watching this, there is no Danganronpa 2 anime so yeah just play the game tbh. but a playthrough/game since the anime is based from the game. murder, plot twists, suspense. click this to know more about the premise. it’s Battle Royale meets CSI. after watching this, here’s a link of the playthrough of the 2nd game. it’s super fun, full of plot twists, and interactive)

Blood+ - vampires and sword fighting

Ghost In The Shell - it’s a sci-fi movie

Yakitate Japan - baking and cooking!

Getbackers - still up to debate if the duo are gay but if you google art of them, there have been official art released and it’s so gay lol. but yeah it’s shonen genre and it’s not canon gay

Cowboy Bebop - a CLASSIC. the dub is great!!

I don’t remember if i finished these but I watched a lot of episodes enough to recommend it and will rewatch them soon to relieve memories. I’m pretty sure I tuned in though and watched like 80%:

Fushigi Yuugi (i think this is shoujo but it has a nice adventure storyline)

Gundam series (i think i finished the first Gundam and the second)

Tsubasa Chronicles (it’s like a spin-off of Cardcaptor Sakura but they’re like all grown up and the plot is different)

Naruto

One Piece (i watched like the first four seasons)

Bleach (i remembered watching until episode 40 omg)

Great Teacher Onizuka (this is so funny tbh. i think i watched almost all of it)

Studio Ghibli films I watched:

Spirited Away

The Wind Rises

Ponyo

Tales from Earthsea

Anime I plan to watch (many suggested this to me and i plan on watching them so i’ll write them down here) :

Koe no Katachi (A Silent Voice)

Anohana The Flower We Saw That Day

Neon Genesis Evangelion

Tokyo Ghoul

Re: Zero

Your Lie in April

Shin sekai Yori

Gintama

More of Makoto Shinkai’s movies like 5 centimetres per second, etc.)

More Ghibli films too

[last updated: 15 September 2017]

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