#I really did make an RPG about slimes (for some reason)

[concoctionboy]

So I'm currently at Gen Con, which if you don't know is a big game convention in Indianapolis. (Which is why I may not be posting much for the rest of this week.) If you're surprised that Gen Con would allow a slime made of living potion to attend the convention, the fact is that they do not; it's a humans only thing, or at least a people that can pass for human, which… I really can't. I mean, I spend most of my waking time human-shaped, but I'm still… green and translucent, which as far as I know are things that humans pretty much never are. But it turns out the convention hall has a pretty extensive ventilation system, and it's not hard to listen in on the panels from there, and as for the exhibit hall, well, I can come in through the vents and look at stuff after it's closed. I mean, sure, it's not the same as being able to fully participate and ask questions, and I can't really interact with anyone except the other creatures hiding in the vents (of which there are a lot more than I would have expected), but I mean I guess I can still sort of count it as attending.

Anyway, I "attended" one panel put on by Jared Sorensen (of Memento Mori Theatricks) and Sam Roberts (of the Ludological Alchemy podcast) called "You Can't Do That in RPG Design" where participants designed their own quick role-playing games and then kind of briefly playtest each other's games. And I couldn't have anyone playtest my game because, again, I was hiding in a vent, but I'm actually kind of happy with the game I came up with. Which was of course about slimes.

But I do think it needs a lot of playtesting. So anyway, if anyone might be interested in playtesting an RPG about slimes, let me know. It won't be right away, because I mean the version I have was conceived and written in about twenty minutes and I need to polish and expand it before I'd want to send it out (okay, sure, during the panel it was the quick unpolished versions of the games that were tested, but I mean that was just the nature of that panel), but when I have it in a slightly more presentable form it could definitely use some playtesting.

[everygame]

Dragon Quest XI: Echoes Of An Elusive Age (Definitive Edition)

Developed/Published by: Square Enix Released: 27/09/2019 Completed: 14/02/2024 Completion: Finished the main story then defeated the true final boss in the post-game.

Well, where to start with Dragon Quest XI? I actually “finished” this before I even played through Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey (and not long before–I can’t believe I did two lengthy Japanese RPGs in such quick succession) but the thing about Dragon Quest XI is is that it makes it immediately clear when you finish it that it’s not really the ending and you have to do the post-game to truly finish it. So I thought “oh, well, I’ll put it down for a while and play some other stuff and come back to it.”

That (obviously) meant I put it down for a year and after Strange Journey every time I thought about picking up another RPG I’d think “oh, but I haven’t really finished Dragon Quest XI…”

So with Persona 3 Reload and that out now I thought I better rip the band-aid off.

The band-aid could probably have stayed on?

Here’s the thing about Dragon Quest XI: It’s fine! It’s fine. It’s just… I never found it that interesting. I remember loving Dragon Quest IX, but here I could just feel the structure immediately and nothing exciting enough happens narratively that I became engaged. It’s the classic story: you’re the chosen one (snooze). You’ve got to collect X things from different parts of the world to defeat the big baddie (snooze). Every location you visit has a wee story chain/quest that involves you visiting the local dungeon, killing the local problem, and fixing the local situation.

It’s all… fine. The game is a bit too forgiving in that it’s super easy to avoid enemies so I think they accidentally broke the pacing, and in turn the character development is so expansive and complex that it’s just too much, with every character ending up with this huge list of spells and abilities that you end up using about 3 of (this is especially annoying when you come back for the post-game and discover you need to re-equip and respec your entire team because you’ve gone back in time and blah blah this blah blah that.)

Even if I loved the narrative and the play (and listen: I do like myself a turn-based battle from time to time, and I imagine the end-of-act 1 twist worked for some) Dragon Quest XI does the same thing I get annoyed at, say, Monster Hunter for: they keep just enough legacy interface to make doing things annoying.

There’s absolutely no reason that there’s both a menu on start that includes some things you use all the time (like your forge, or your mounts) but also a menu on a totally different button that has a bunch of stuff you use all the time as well (including quitting to the main menu, which is nested under “misc.”). And then you have things like an “Items” option and an “Equipment” option, and you can only easily see the equipment in your equipment bag from the… Items option. And character still have to be equipped with items before battles, which takes forever and every item is held individually (they do at least let you instantly put all non-essential items back in the item bag rather than have to remove them one at a time, but it’s still an almighty ball-ache.)

The game is full of these little niggles; things that are probably second nature to people who have been with the series since the beginning, but decidedly unenjoyable for those of us who aren’t. It could all just be a little more streamlined.

The thing is though is that it’s pretty obvious that Dragon Quest is a “if you like this sort of thing, you’ll like this sort of thing”, er, thing, and I think if you are someone who likes levelling up pre-existing characters, or like avoiding enemies and trying to farm metal slimes, doesn’t mind the interface or just are cool with yet another chosen one plot because you get to do those things, then Dragon Quest IX is pretty great! It looks good, there’s always forward momentum, and Eric from Two Doors Down voices your grandpa. Can’t really say fairer than that.

Will I ever play it again? No.

Final Thought: I should recount, however, something very funny. The post-game of Dragon Quest XI takes the plot in a weird, time-travelly direction that doesn’t make a ton of sense without you putting in a lot of work (“er, timelines can only exist if there’s a luminary… so the first timeline is absorbed into the second, but the third one is actually a loop…”) but offers a sort of open-world, “second quest” experience where you can go anywhere and fight all the bosses again but they’re much harder.

However you really only have to fight three, two who you fight basically immediately and then a third you can put off for as long as you like, meaning that the most efficient way to do the post-game (if you just want to see the credits) is to just farm metal slimes for a while and then beat the boss…

(Which actually raises another thing about Dragon Quest XI that annoyed me. You go back in time and because the protagonist is by tradition silent, he doesn’t explain anything to anyone. Meaning that there’s an entire sequence where he knows someone is a baddie, but just hangs out with them and relies on a different baddie stopping that baddie? I mean he just goes to sleep leaving the important mcguffin that destroyed the world in the previous timeline out??? And don’t get me started on the ultimate bad guy appearing and then just… hanging out in the sky doing nothing. Like what, was he ever going to do anything? What was he waiting for???)

…Wait, let me get to the funny thing. So I spent quite a while playing the post-game because misunderstood something I’d read. I believe that you needed the “Supreme Sword of Light” to make fighting the final boss not impossible, which is a weapon with a fairly complicated, specific plot-chain to unlock. Once I’d got it, I got into the final battle and it didn’t work.

Turns out you actually need the “Super Sword of Light” which you already have in your inventory to begin with.

I guess that’s what I get for skimming FAQs as soon as I get stuck…

Hi. If you’ve been following this tumblr, you will be familar that I usually try and drive to towards my ko-fi after every article. However, I would instead like to ask you for a favour–could you check out the fundraiser my best friend Steven is running to help cover travel insurance costs? I know there are so many deserving causes, but Steven has a stage 4 brain tumour and it would mean the world to me if you considered donating, or sharing his page, to help make his remaining time the best ever.

[bahamutgames]

Super Afterthoughts Wonder

Game: Super Mario Wonder (October 20, 2023)

Console: Nintendo Switch

Only 2 days until the most important game of all time comes out. And I only have 2 big games I haven't written any thoughts about yet... Hmmm... could I pull it off and have a clean video-game related plate come this Friday? Maybe! Probably not though.

Regardless, now that Mario Wonder has sat for a little bit and we're past the honeymoon phase, I've been wanting to talk about it for a bit. So why not? Let's go ahead and spill the beans (petals?) about this new Mario adventure!

As always, this isn't a review. So please don't read it as such. This is just me throwing up my thoughts because I can't stop talking so damn much about video games. Seriously, I think it's a condition. So please don't use ANY of my afterthoughts as a guide on if you should buy the game or not.

SPOILERS FOR SUPER MARIO WONDER BELOW! YOU MIGHT NOT THINK THERE'S MUCH TO SPOIL, BUT IF YOU'D RATHER NOT SEE, DON'T READ!

Opening

So as some of you may be aware, I'm a little into Mario. For various reasons I've fallen out of love with the series, but for most of my life it truly was my favorite franchise of all time. So, while I'm not as enthusiastic about the series nowadays, I still keep close tabs on it and will check out whatever catches my eye (usually the main series games and the RPGs though those has been kinda out of a sense of obligation lately lol)

However, Wonder looked like another winner. And at first I was probably gonna pass it by cause I'm exceptionally broke atm. But my awful Mario brain got the better of me, so I caved and picked up Wonder! And now we're here, $60 poorer than before!

Stuff I liked

But anyway, I like the main series Mario games, pretty much all of them. And while I PREFER the 3D ones, I also love the 2D ones and have a soft spot for them (Super Mario World was my first game ever afterall) and as such, I actually enjoy the NSMB games, yes especially U (my least favorite is 2). And this game really looked like what I wanted from the next entry of the series. Continuing what New did right, while finally taking the chance to spread its wings and actually embrace a new direction with unique enemies rather than kinda just doing what had come before, regardless of how solid that was.

And, yes! I'm happy to say Wonder delivers on that amazingly! Everything is such a massive step up from NSMB. Massively improved art, creative new enemies and gimmicks being the focus rather than a fun bonus (if that makes sense lol), brand new sounding music, and something a little more story focused. But, it doesn't lose what made NSMB great, it still feels like the next step rather than abandoning what came before. You can notice this especially with stuff like Nabbit, Ala-Gold+Bucken Berry, and a focus on multiplayer.

So where to begin? The game looks GREAT, I love the forced perspective thing it has going on, the whole thing is GORGEOUS. The music is fun and energetic. The new enemies are delightful and fun (my favorite is probably the firework Bob-omb but there were a lot of greats like the slimes, baby thwomps, and sea cucumbers). I really loved that this game had a big focus on story too. I was surprised to see it actually have dialogue, a lot more than you would expect. There's set up and context to almost every world with some fun explanations on what's happening in each world. And it really helps add in a small way to making the world feel alive.

This game also FEELS great to play. This is almost a guarantee with Mario but they knocked it out of the park with this one. It's been a bit since I've played NSMB but this just feels so smooth and nice to play. Everything flows together nicely, the levels are fun and charming, I LOVE that there's tons of characters to pick (I played the whole game as Peach and I was SO happy to see Daisy be there finally.), and I really enjoyed the powerups. Drill was super fun but I actually think Bubble turned out to be the star of the show. It sounds like a kinda stupid or not particularly useful ability but MAN you get some mileage out of it and it's so fun to use imo. And I also really liked the badges! A lot of stuff in this actually felt a bit like it was inspired by Mario RPGs, and while this may be a coincidence, the badges feeling like something from the RPGs was certainly a great bonus. They're all extremely fun but I got SO much out of the parachute cap, and I basically used it the whole game with very few exceptions.

And of course, the main draw of the game: Wonder Seeds! Usually when I see something like this, it almost always immediately registers in my head as "stupid gimmick shoehorned in to put something on the back of the box" and that's what I thought about these at first. And while that might be what they are, they're actually FANTASTIC! Almost every level has a totally unique Wonder Seed effect to itself with very few repeats. And they're all a ton of fun, you genuinely don't know what'll happen next and it kept the game very fresh and fun the whole way through! My favorite was the slime one (for Slime Peach) but I also loved the top-down camera one. The whole game had lots of fun stuff like this, and even fun side levels I wasn't expecting to see such as Break-Times where you do a more relaxed challenge, or Treasure Hunts where you find coins hidden in a level. These sound boring but were actually a blast!

Which leads me into my final big positive and maybe my favorite part of the game. The multiplayer, no sadly I didn't get to play a lot of the game with local co-op. I'm talking about that online multiplayer. Specifically the ghost thing. When I saw this in the trailers I thought it would be a feature I only use once or twice then turn off the whole game. No. I LOVED this mode and had it on the WHOLE game! I'm not exaggerating when I say this added something so magical to the game that I really had never considered before. Having this multiplayer mode where you can't interfere with anyone, but you can still work together from afar was SO fun. Sometimes I'd meet people and we played the level together, or I'd find standees that hinted about secrets (huge for treasure hunt levels), or you'd just see someone and goof around with them a bit before being on your way. Regardless, it was a BLAST every time I got to be around others in this game. My favorite situations are when me and another player would go through a whole level, particularly through tough sections, and constantly revive each other to get to the end. It may seem small, but it genuinely made an already fun game SO much more fun of an experience and I genuinely hope we get to see this more going forward. Imagine a game like Bowser's Fury but sometimes you'll just randomly run into another player like Journey or something. And then you both fuck around for a bit, exchange items, and go about your way. Again, it sounds small but I think it was easily my favorite part of the game!

Stuff I didn't like

So, naturally, as is the case with all games. I don't think Mario Wonder is perfect. There's a few issues I have with it. First and foremost: It's kinda short? Like, I'm pretty sure it's shorter than NSMBU. But I can look past that because, hey, quality over quantity right? Other small issues include the Elephant power, while cute, and allowing for some fun water carrying stuff... Is kinda boring honestly. You get a surprising amount of mileage out of a short melee attack, but overall I think Bubble and Drill totally steal the show from it, considering it's the main power-up of the game.

Secondly, considering this game is REALLY themed around music. I kinda feel like they don't make enough of an effort to make the game... super music themed? Like, obviously it IS. But I feel like it could be MORE musically. I genuinely didn't really even notice the music theme until I reached the final battle. And while the game does have some FANTASTIC music levels that genuinely got a big rise out of me when I encountered the first one. I kinda feel like they're not that exciting, at least in terms of the music cause the visuals for all of them are great. But like, Piranha Plant Parade is SO good and is so loud and in your face. But I genuinely do not remember the music in a SINGLE other musical level, which is a disappointment. There was a King Boo Opera and a Halloween Rave. I should remember those, right??

Lastly, and I think most importantly. The biggest issue I had with Mario Wonder, and what is certainly the biggest disappointment of the game for me: The Boss Battles. There's certainly a good amount of them. About 5 I think, with a few mini bosses if you REALLY wanna stretch the definition of Mini Bosses. 4 of those fights are Bowser Jr. and then the final boss. And while they're fine battles. The desert fight and the final boss being particular highlights... That's... just such a let down? Mario games have been pretty good with their boss variety lately. 3D World had LOTS of fun guys, Odyssey had some of my favorite fights in a while, Bowser's Fury had a FANTASTIC boss that lasted the whole game, even NSMB when it recycled the koopalings, did do new fights with them every time and sometimes included new stuff like a Kamek boss or a giant Sumo Bro. But this? Just 4 bosses that are all kinda the same? It's sorta insane to me. 2 worlds don't even have fights! I was actually so utterly confused by this, it genuinely felt like I did something wrong and wasn't getting the real ending to the world. It's super weird and while it doesn't ruin the game, I look forward to those boss fights a lot so it certainly was a let down.

Final Thoughts

Mario Wonder is a FANTASTIC game that, once again, like Bowser's Fury, makes me VERY excited and hopeful for the future of 2D Mario games. I don't think it's perfect, and I might still have a bigger soft spot for some earlier 2D Mario's, but this game is absolutely at the top of the list and is a FANTASTIC entry to the series. I have TONS of confidence in the next 2D Mario if more of this is what we can expect in the future. Just... Please consider making some boss fights for next time? Please?

===

Thanks for reading! This one might be a little disorganized. But I figured I got time while I wait for work DMs. So why not churn out another afterthoughts, right? You love reading me talk about games in a super chaotic and disorganized fashion, right? RIGHT!?

Well, regardless, I love writing them cause I love talking about games. I heard it might be a condition. But don't quote me on that.

Things are looking up for Mario it seems. I'm interested to get my hands on some of the new stuff coming out for the series soon. I'll keep you posted on if I try any of it out, of course. We'll see how it goes!

That's all I have for now, go out and play damn good platformer!

[imustbenuts]

=x=... mmm not sure about a certain post about silent protags in jp media being written the way they are being hinged entirely on buddhism/taoism (it is in big part due to that, BUT)

another piece of the puzzle here is an evolution of literature and media surrounding video game narrative between the east and the west.

japanese literature:

in the 1900s, lots of japanese literature was told in 1st person pov, especially the big influential deeply philosophical ones. im talking I Am A Cat by Natsume Soseki, and No Longer Human by Osamu Dazai.

this deep philosophical "what is the self in relation to the environment" thing gets reflected a lot in those works, where they often break down the conditions of what defines a human and their life and how absurd it is. the idea of 1 person being multi faceted was often discussed in these works as well, but it seems to be coming from a butt fuck ton of social anxiety and depression. (especially mr Osamu Dazai.)

this resulted in more works and discussions surrounding the same topic because people very astutely noted that capitalism was making their life rough. and the whole post war reality thing. and then that led to a lot of other writers joining in and making major contributions to the whole.

lots of people were not mentally ok and that resonated deeply. so there was a lot of dialogue going on. at least between the writers.

bc in one of the example above, I Am A Cat had no real spoken dialogue from the main character, who is a cat. it's extremely introspective and cynical.

(and also im pretty sure 99% of modern light novels out there are written in 1st person too, though this comes later and is tangentially related. consider the avg appetite of the anime fan and how it might be related. The Melancholy Of Haruhi Suzumiya (debuted 2003). My Teenage Romantic Comedy SNAFU (debuted 2011). That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime (2013). etc etc are all written in 1st person.)

for the RPG side of writing:

in one hand, silent protags in both sides started out in early video game writing due to the lack of support for text. english and a lot of other related texts only needed to care for the alphabet and some characters, but japanese had to deal with kanji.

there is more than 50,000 (!!!) kanjis in existence on top of hiraganas and katakanas. theres just no way to fit all of that in a NES game cart. even if we go down to words commonly used, that's still a few thousand too many. so for a long time the trend was to write a silent protag and keep things simple, since complex story didnt start rocketing until more memory could be fit in. robust storytelling started happening around the SNES era, but by then people realized the way to write interesting worlds in games was to build interesting characters with the limitations they had. relational character writing, yes, but a lot of tricks were used to tell a story.

(and the reason why tricks were used, and why people pushed stories as hard as they did was bc in part, lots of people who had a hard time finding jobs with their art related passion ended up in the vg industry. japan's 1990s' economic collapse caused them to really dip into the aforementioned elements of the idea of humans trying to live in self made systems that seem hostile. it's why works like Fire Emblem and Xenogears and Final Fantasy went brrr)

anyway. the story in these games then can be summarized as character driven.

meanwhile a lot of western games ran into the same, but less limitations with far less characters needed to be shoved in the memory. yet, western RPGs seem interested in building a world around the protag, for the protag. as a result robust story telling was way more self-inserty than the japanese variety in the extreme case, like Wizardry, or really any sort of Dungeons & Dragons sandbox variety. Ultima and Runescape too. those were a thing. are STILL a thing.

so western games of the 1980s leaned towards more 'make your own story' kinda deal. so these are more player driven.

combined result:

whoever wants to try their hand at writing any works that hints at any philosophical stuff or ideas or even religion will then use those literature as a reference, and the result is.... Persona. Fire Emblem. Zelda. Final Fantasy. Guilty Gear.

but what im getting at here is that religion is not the sole reasoning for why 'self-inserts' in japanese video games are only hinged on differences in religion. there was a whole movement of literature going on.

all this to say why it's mostly Japan and not the rest of Asia following suit. (As an example, hong Kong films) there just wasn't the same literature dialogue happening on the same scale with the same accessibility, and the same post WW2 economic stuff

anyway i might have lost my line of thinking. im going to bed. @_@ night

[zehecatl]

rec post for @f-eef that got too long for its own good, and is now just. a general rec post i guess

(as of writing, today is the steam summer sale! writing this before that goes live, so no guarantee everything on here is on sale, but! most of these are older games, so it’s likely. keep them in mind~)

- Iconoclasts my absolute favourite game, ever (along with OFF, but shh), if you check out one game from this list, let it be this one. it’s a genuinely almost flawless package, with gorgeous pixel art, fun gameplay, a really good story, and a cast of characters i just. adore. it’s so so so good, and three years later, i’m still not over it

- The Binding of Isaac so there’s this genre called roguelikes, wherein the whole gimmick is that, when you die, you gotta start from the Very Beginning; and the ‘point’ is getting better and better at the game, until you win! it’s super easy to just, play a few runs (they generally don’t last that long!), and then go on with your day, so it’s a really fun game to just waste time in, if you just wanna chill with some game. and, in my personal opinion, Isaac is the best roguelike game, with so much stuff to unlock, a whole slew of items to play with, and so much content it’s kind of unreal. i definitely think the DLCs are worth picking up, but it’s mostly for more content than like. actually being necessary

- Terraria it’s minecraft, but 2D. unlike MC, it’s got a bit of guidance, which i personally prefer, with bosses to fight and such. an absolutely BLAST with other people too

- A Hat in Time a 3D platformer, ala Mario, that’s just. super charming. it’s also really fun to play. i haven’t actually played the DLC’s, since i played it way back, but i’ve heard good things about Nyakuza Metro, which does look super slick, so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

- Slime Rancher you are a slime rancher. you ranch slimes. it’s honestly just wholesome as hell, and just exudes happy vibes. mostly for running around and collecting slimes, ngl

- The Messenger really funky retro game, wherein you play a ninja on a mission. it’s primary draw is definitely in its gameplay, but there’s a surprising amount of story for this kind of genre? i honestly really just like this one. it’s neat

- Underhero you play as a cute minion, who kind of like. managed to kill the hero. and whoops, guess you’re doing his job now? it’s got that undertale vibe, though i’d say it’s less polished than it. HOWEVER, it’s absolutely lovely and it’s climax is REALLY good

- Hatoful Boyfriend bird dating sim. trust me. the ‘secret’ finale route is just. *chef’s kiss* fantastic

- Night in the Woods if you don’t mind having a very poignant sad time, oh my god, i could not recommend NITW more. it perfectly captures that period when you’re done with school, and suddenly your whole life is stretching before you, and you feel so so fucking lost, and overwhelmed and pained with it. it’s just. so good. a sadness worth experiencing 

- Shovel Knight another retro game! this one is, pretty much, the king of the genre, and for very good reasons. the first one (shovel of hope) doesn’t have much story, but the latter ones really add on it. they’re honestly just, really solid games! with funky knight characters!!!

- Hyper Light Drifter man, it’s just a masterpiece. everything about it is perfect. it’s been like, five years, and it’s still one of the very best indie games

- Tell Me Why it’s currently free for june! and it’s a story game! plus, if you like the genre, the devs got the ‘Life Is Strange’ serie(s) to delve into!

- Cat Quest honestly, i just really like this little game. the gameplay is SO much fun, and everything else is just. really charming :’)

- Yoku’s Island Express metroidvania, where you play as a dung-beetle post officer, and the gimmick is that it’s pinball-y! it’s really fun, and very cute and just an all around good time :)

- Owlboy you play as an owl boy! named Otus! and you can fly around, and there’s GORGEOUS pixel graphics, and a neat story, and just. the BEST cast of characters. it’s delightful

- Yuppie Psycho + Count Lucanor just gonna bundle these two together, because they’re both REALLY GOOD. YP is the newer one, and is therefore probably ‘the better one’, but i like them both a ton! they’re 2D horror, but i wouldn’t say they’re that spooky? though that might just be because they’re pixel games! you explore spooky place, and weird stuff happens around you. just a really fun time :)

- Angels of Death my FAVOURITE rpgmaker game, it’s main draw is, a 100%, the main characters and the relationship that develops between them. i just love it a whole lot, and it’s got that lil’ tinge of horror that i, personally, fucking adore. there’s actually an anime based on this, but i haven’t seen it myself!

- Celeste curve ball! it’s a 2D platformer! it’s really good, got a ton of accessibility features, and has like. the tightest gameplay- and, on top of that, surprisingly emotional story! 

- Bastion putting Bastion here, because it’s actually the only one i’ve properly played, but you could probably buy any of the Supergiant Games, and come out satisfied. Bastion is the oldest of the bunch, and is definitely a bit less polished for it, but i personally adore it; the gameplay probably hasn’t aged that well, but i think the story and presentation more than makes up for it

- The Darkside Detective funny point and click adventure, with great wit, and a pair of characters i kind of simply adore. it’s main draw is definitely its humour

- Littlewood very wholesome and chill farming game, that feels more like an RPG than something like stardew valley- i’d not recommend it over SV, but if you want more of SV, Littlewood might scratch that itch!

- Pony Island + The Hex absolutely adore both of these, though if i had to rec only one, it’d probably be Pony Island? they’ve both got that undertale-off vibe, though Pony Island definitely leans harder into it. very interesting plays, both of them

- Oxenfree another horror-ish game! primarily story-focused, but oh boy, what a story! i’m a BIG fan of this game, and the sequel was recently announced too! definitely worth a look if you like ghost shenanigans

- Creature in the Well wasn’t a 100% sure if i should rec this, but beside the finale boss, i really enjoyed my time with this! it’s this weird pinball inspired hack and slash, with some amazing vibes

- Kindergarten 1 + 2 they’re just fun little games okay. the 2nd is much more fleshed out, but the 1st one is really fun too

- the Henry Stickmin collection I JUST... LIKE THESE GAMES A LOT... i think you can find the old versions somewhere on the internet, if you wanna check them out first? idk, they’re fun!

- LIMBO + INSIDE personally, i like INSIDE more, but both of these are classics, and also they’re made by a danish team, and i like them a WHOLE LOT

- The Final Station i could not tell you why i like this game as much as i do, but oh my god. i love this game? it’s got a dying world, neat pixel graphics, big zombie apocalypse vibes, and a weird little story

- Year Walk i love Year Walk :)

- Smile For Me if you liked undertale’s lovely cast of characters, oh boy, you’d likely LOVE this game! it’s really, really, fantastic, and the epilogue (not in the actual game lol) hit me right in the feels

- Pikuniku just a fun little game! there’s not really much there, in the grand scheme of things, but it’s a wonderful little play, one of those games that just sets out to give you a good time, and absolutely success. i like it a lot :’)

- A Short Hike wonderful game, where it’s more about exploring the island than actively finishing the game. it’s real wonderful

- ULTRAKILL ANOTHER CURVEBALL! no idea if you like FPS, but oh my god. ULTRAKILL is so fucking good. just an absolute blast to play. there’s a demo to check out, and i’d definitely recommend it, because if it’s a genre you might like, you’ll love this one (OH also it’s in early access, which means it’s not finished yet! personally, i don’t mind that, especially considering this is more gameplay focused, but ya’ know!)

- My Friend Pedro it’s honestly just really fun to play, and sometimes i still think about the implied lore, and go all !!!!

- Little Misfortune another point and click! this one is pretty short, and is set within the same universe as their other game, Fran Bow, which is much bigger, but idk. i like this one. it’s dark cute

- This Strange Realm of Mine i honestly dunno how to explain this one, because it’s kind of weird and a bit odd, but i really like it, in all its weird poetic glory. it’s neat!

- Donut County you’re a terrible racoon who’s ruined the whole city with holes. it’s great and i love it

- OneShot another ‘gives me undertale vibes’, though this one was in development before UT, if i recall correctly! it’s so good, and it’s got some fantastic meta bits, and i love Niko. i love Niko so much

- Inmost gorgeous vaguely spooky game with a neat story... my favourite genre

- Sayonara Wild Hearts i’d call this more of a spectacle than anything else, but oh my god. what a spectacle it is! the OST is amazing, everything about it just hits right, and even if you suck at the gameplay (which i did), it really doesn’t matter, in my opinion? it’s just great all around!

[fantasticstoryteller]

New Amsterdam Chapter 91

“I give up,” muttered Wade.

[For a girl almost two meters tall with insanely huge wings, she can disappear.]

{People say the same thing about us. She did say we helped raise her after all.}

[I thought we agreed that if we had raised her she’d be dead—]

“There you are.” Wade turned at the thud behind him and looked at Angel. She tucked her wings against her back as she looked at him. “I’ve been looking all over for you.”

{But—we’ve been looking for her.}

“You have?” he asked.

“Yeah, I wanted to talk to you,” she said. “I even stopped by Stark Industries, just in case you were shadowing Peter to work, but you weren’t there. I had to tell bad heart boy that his girlfriend is safe anyway, and I learned something interesting.” She calmly perched on the edge of the roof and stretched her wings out, feathers rustling slightly in the breeze.

“What did you learn?” asked Wade as he leaned against the door to the rest of the building.

“Cats don’t lay eggs.”

{Didn’t expect that.}

[Do cats lay eggs where she’s from?]

Wade thought that was a good question, so he repeated it. She shrugged. “I don’t know, really,” she said. “Pretty much all the animals I’ve interacted with where I’m from are pigeons, rats, slimes, and this bizarre pink fuzzy thing that keeps escaping its home dimension to follow Dr. Strange like a puppy. It’s about two stories tall, covered in eye-smarting pink fur, has three eyes, and fangs. Oh, and it sucks blood.”

“What blood?” asked Wade.

“Whatever happens to be trying to piss of Dr. Strange. It’s attacked Tony several times, but the fangs can’t get through the suit.” She curled her wings back to her body, but held them loosely against her. Her half braid dangled in the wind.

“Why did you think cats laid eggs?” Wade asked. He knew they didn’t. He’d been in Stark’s basement (not as creepy and gory as he’d hoped) and watched the cat give birth in the incinerator.

“Oh, the cat—or, well, the thing that looks like a cat—the street kids adopted laid eggs,” she commented calmly. “Oh, and one of the kittens? On Stark’s desk? It went giant and green and nearly took off the hand of one of the people in the office that Pepper was pissed at. It was great.” The girl grinned.

Wade blinked. “What?” he asked, feeling like he’d missed part of the conversation.

“I might have stayed to spy a little. In my defense; I had no idea where you were,” the girl continued.

[And we’re back to the starting point. Why does she want to talk to us?]

Good question. Wade repeated it. She sighed. “Something is happening I don’t understand,” she said. “I don’t know if this is a good thing, a bad thing, or an anomaly that I’m putting too much thought into. I need someone to talk to, to bounce ideas off of.”

{Wait—and she came to us?}

Wade shared Yellow’s incredulity. “Why me?”

“Because you understand how I’m not from around here. Your mind doesn’t work like other people’s,” Angel explained.

Well—that was all true. Wade knew that Angel was Not From Around Here in a way that other people didn’t, or couldn't understand even if she explained it to them. And even then, most of the people in New Amsterdam would just think that she was a crazy mutant and might even try to restrain her for her own good.

[I don’t think that would turn out well.]

“All right,” said Wade as he plopped to a sitting position, back still against the door. “Ask me!”

She slid to a sitting position, her back against the roof ledge, as she responded. “First,” she said grimly, “I have to give you some context. Do you remember me telling you how I came here on the RPG quest from Hel?” He nodded. “All right. I sort of found the person I’m looking for, but there’s something strange going on.”

Wade was basically the definition of strange. “Alrighty then,” he said as he slapped his knees. “Give me deets! Roll the gossip! What’s the down low?”

“Really low,” Angel said as she leaned forwards. “All the way from Hel, herself.”

Wade perked up. “Herself?” he asked.

Angel explained. She explained that, in her world, one of Loki’s children was his daughter Hel, and that she ruled her own underworld realm and seemed, from Angel’s descriptions, to babysit souls between reincarnation.

{Ask if Hel dressed like Bo Peep!}

[Do not. She has a serious problem here.]

Angel explained that the person she was looking for—that she now referred to as “BB” for some reason—

{I wonder what it stands for?}

And about the insane power boosts that “BB” got from stealing souls. “You’re right,” he said. “It’s like a shitty RPG; complete with evil boss to kill.”

“Not kill.” Angel scowled and, for just a moment, looked just like Peter. “I have to take her back—whole, healthy, and in possession of the souls she’s stolen or Hel can’t get them back and might not be able to fix balance again.”

That—actually made an absurd amount of sense. “So—what’s your question?” he asked.

“Why does she seem weaker in this world?” Angel asked.

{Um—what?}

Wade repeated the very good question. Angel explained. “The more of the souls she harvests, the stronger she is. The more complete her control over the people she’s turned is. At this point she should be able to control people who are mere susceptible to being changed, whether or not they already have.”

“Makes sense,” Wade allowed.

Angel got up and began to pace, scowling, wings partially unfurling and then furling back into place as she moved. “Exactly!” she said triumphantly. “Except—she can’t. She can’t even completely control the ones she has changed.”

“Um—what?”

Angel sighed. “BB,” she said slowly, “does this—thing. This thing turns humans into these bizarre human/spider hybrids which are then—or have been up until now—in her complete control.” She sighed, and drooped a little, the wings hanging low.

[Fascinating. They seem to be an accurate representation of her mood.]

{Like a mood stone without the color!}

“I met one,” Angel said. “Daredevil and his—partner? Friend? Rival? Ninja assassin Elektra,” the girl continued, “were fighting it.” She paused and looked thoughtful for a moment. “Although, they weren’t fighting it very well. Is it possible you could, like, help him with that before she uses her monsters to take over the city?”

[She has a lot of faith in us.]

{I thought Daredevil pinned us to a wall with our own sword last time we spoke to him?}

“Don’t think that’s feasible,” Wade said.

She shook her head. “I hope they don’t die. Anyway, the one they were trying—and failing—to kill wasn’t being controlled. It wasn’t even trying to hurt them; just move them out of the way.”

“Why?”

Angel met his gaze firmly. “Because they were standing between it and where it thought the children it had back when it was human are. Actually,” she added thoughtfully, “I’m standing between it and the children. And maybe Tony. Point is—it wasn’t under orders. It was working on its own. It’s fighting her control, and it shouldn't be able to.”

“Because BB is now supercharged?” Wade hazarded.

{Why isn’t she talking to Peter? We’re barely following the conversation!}

[I’m following it just fine. The super villain's power is nerfed and she doesn’t know the reason why.]

“Have you ever been to a dimension that had a BB of its own?” asked Wade.

“Well—once, but only when this nonsense had just begun. And they almost killed each other,” Angel admitted.

“What stopped them?” Wade asked with curiosity.

“I did. I need to take BB back home alive and in one piece.”

That—actually made sense. “Maybe,” he said slowly, “She doesn’t have the power she should, because it’s being shared. Maybe there’s another her, already here.”

Angel scoffed. “But that’s—” She stopped. Froze in place, like Spidey sometimes did during patrol when he realized something. “Oh, no,” she breathed as her eyes went wide at whatever revelation was spinning across her head. “I’ve got to go!” she said as she whirled and dove over the edge of the building taking off—towards Stark Tower.

Wade was about to go after her when he heard shouting and leaned over to see a situation at the bank across the street. Well, he assumed it was a situation. Normal days at the bank didn’t end with the building circled by police and Feds—and did he spot SHIELD in the crowd? Why would SHIELD be there?

{Seems a little beneath them.}

[We need to check this out.]

[kimamanitranslate]

Filled It With My Feelings Text Translation

Sorry it took so long, but I finished the text translation of Filled It With My Feelings, the Senyuu 10th anniversary book! I didn’t translate the Season 1 Episode 1 redraw though because I’m sure we can all recite what happens in there by heart at this point. 

As it’s an illustration book, the translation is meant to be read along with the pictures - you can purchase the digital PDF of the book at hiaruron.booth.pm/items/2329424. You should be able to purchase it through PayPal or some international credit cards.

I’ve included the text under the cut, but you can also read it on the Google Docs here. 

Please note I do not give permission to anyone to use this translation for scanlations. There’s a reason why I’m posting this as a text translation rather than as a scanlation - it reads perfectly fine along with the raw book.

However, feel free to use this for text-only translations to different languages, just send me a message about it.

Page 1

Title: Filled It With My Feelings 10th. senyu.

Page 2

<no text>

Page 3

[Panel 1] SFX (Slime): *squeak* SFX (sword): *slam*

[Text Paragraph]

The story of Senyu first arrived on Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010 at 12:39 PM. Naturally, at that point, the name “Senyu” didn’t yet exist - a email was sent to my inbox entitled “A discussion about a new project.”

It was a rather vague email with few details, but at the time, I  was working as a day labourer in a certain distribution centre in Tokyo’s Ota Ward. As I hauled around boxes, my days were filled with uneasy thoughts of my future- I gave up on becoming a mangaka, I started work at an anime company but I quit there too, what am I going to do from now on? So I pounced on that vague email- Maybe this will shine some clarity into my life!

Senyu. was the product borne out of that email, and to my great appreciation, it really did shine clarity into my life. My future, which had been dark and uneasy, was illuminated bright by the light of Senyu. I would like to say that was why I made the protagonist’s name “Alba” - which means dawn - but unfortunately, that isn’t the case. I only learned the meaning of Alba’s name later - it was a total coincidence. 

Anyways, a lot has happened, but it’s now Senyu’s tenth anniversary.

Thank you very much. I never thought that I could continue for this long. This is all thanks to all of you, for supporting me all this way. 

Senyu. is a part of my life at this point - I don’t plan to end it any time soon, so I will be counting on everyone for their continued support.

Haruhara Robinson.

Page 4

Alba

While this may be obvious, the character I’ve spent the most time with in this work no longer feels like a mere “character” to me. 

He had a beta design with bangs. But since I thought he might seem more cheerful with his forehead showing, I settled on his current design. I intended to give him a haircut that was similar to characters like Kirimaru, but my lack of artistic skills at the time ended up giving him a hairstyle with a bizarre composition. 

I struggle now with how to draw his hair well.

Hero Symbol

I’ve always liked the idea of accessories that had the symbol of a hero, so wanting to have the same concept in my own work, I did my best to think up a design. I was really happy when it came out as merch.

Page 5

Ros

His backstory is really something!

I feel like he carried the entirety of Senyu’s serious plotlines on his back. I thought of Senyu. as like a story that uses the protagonist Alba to give the completed story of Hero Sion a happy ending? 

There were times when I was drawing things out that I thought, He feels kinda pitiful? But then in the story, Ros says, “Don’t judge people as pitiful by your own standards,” so then I thought, I-I’m sorry.

His equipment at the start was supposed to be like a machine that let him whip around his heavy sword like it was nothing, but everything ended before I explained any of that.

Page 6

Rchi

At the start, I just thought of her as a cute little girl. But gradually, she grew darker and darker, and by now, the dark aspects of her personality are a part of what makes her unique as a character.

Her hair accessory often disappears. Near the start, there was the explanation that it was confiscated when they were arrested, but beyond that it’s just because I forgot to draw it.

There was an explanation for why she was naked under her cloak during her first appearance, but I’ve forgotten it. I believe it was because since she was camping outside, she washed herself outside as well but her clothes were blown away by the wind - so she wrapped an old cloth around herself…?

Page 7

Foyfoy

The name “Foyfoy” was decided by an audience poll. At first, I was planning to make him Chinese-inspired, but before I realized it that concept had disappeared. His mark is leftover from that original idea.

Foyfoy’s hairstyle is one I drew often when I was a student. I often gave rivals or secondary main characters this hairstyle. 

I’m glad I could draw a design like this in an official work.

Page 8

Alles

A character drawn specifically with boobs that a Haruhara who was too embarrassed to draw boobs drew because “I can’t run from boobs!” The reason why I stopped drawing her midway through isn’t because of my embarrassment, but because I wasn’t used to drawing them, so since I never practiced it, I forgot how to.

Princess-chan

TL: This is written with the kanji for “Princess” rather than the katakana for “Hime” as her name is usually written.

She was meant to be a cute, elegant girl, so it shocked me when she immediately ended up as a violent character from her first appearance.

Since I hadn’t decided on a name for her, in the anime her name was listed as ???. I caused trouble for the anime staff.

Page 9

Rudolf

I can’t help but feel that eldery soldiers are cool. When I was doodling for fun, I often drew eldery soldiers.

Himendam

I thought of a development where a cute girl pops out from a nice big suit of armour, so I created the Himendam.

At the time, I thought, “This is a pretty unusual development, it’s great!” but now that I think back on it, it’s actually pretty common.

Slime

The first monster to appear. The first monster you fight should be a slime! Slimes should be blue! I’ve been influenced by Dragon Quest in that way.

I had this child of mine show up as your standard old monster in order to increase the impact of the panda who would show up right after.

Page 10

Minister

While I honestly have no idea why the minister is always standing next to the king, usually that’s the case in RPGs, right? 

So I had him stand next to the king in the same way. I feel as though his overall image is influenced by Magical Circle Guru Guru’s Kaya. While I hadn’t realized it while designing him, Kaya’s design affected me unconsciously.

The King

His whole thing was “a super serious old man that makes a stupid face during funny scenes,” but before I realized it, his stupid face became his default expression.

He just may be the nastiest character in the series, considering he wrapped up the entire world in his schemes for his own personal desires.

Mob Characters

The mob characters in my work tend to have this face. I like how they tend to make cutting comments while having non-descript faces.

Page 11

Suit

When Ros’ design went from complicated equipment to this thing, I was shocked at how much easier it was to draw.

I think this thing was what triggered me striving for easiness in my work. Can I blame everything on this thing instead of me? 

Just kidding, it’s all my fault.

Fake Foyfoy

If you don’t make careful enough observations, you can’t make a perfect disguise, and you end up in an idiotic costumed-character-like disguise. I wanted to use this plot device a few times more after this, but I didn’t have any chance to use it at all.

Mii-chan

Haruhara happens to have had a stuffed animal for as long as he can remember, and he still has it since he’s never been able to throw it away. I feel as though that stuffed animal served as the model for Mii-chan. In terms of his colour and overall atmosphere.

But my stuffed animal isn’t a pervert like him!

Page 12

Samejima

A delinquent overflowing with manliness. What’s with his hairstyle, I wonder. It’s actually pretty easy to draw. 

He just might never lose against anyone so long as he thinks, “There’s no way I can lose.”

Januar

I stuffed in everything my little sister likes into his appearance. “Straight-cut bangs, black-haired, one-eyed, droopy eyes.” But it isn’t as though I went and got her feedback directly so she might just tell me, “He’s not my type at all.”

I chose his personality based on my tastes- “A kind idiot.”

Page 13

Teufel

I thought of a “butler who doesn’t obey orders” around the same time as a “soldier who doesn’t listen to what you say.”

I wanted to have him appear at some point in the future, but then I saw a book called The After-Dinner Mysteries in a book store, which made me think- “M-m-m-m-maybe this book has a butler who doesn’t obey orders as well?!” So I panicked, ran back home, and drew out the head butler’s story. 

That’s why the head butler’s story was shoved in out of nowhere.

I read The After-Dinner Mysteries after I wrote in all the butler plot devices I wanted to use, and it was interesting.

At the start, Ros had his three burrs hairstyle so his design was differentiated from Teufel’s, but from Season 2 forwards I struggled with differentiating them. 

So Teuf-kun has been going through some small design changes, a bit at a time.

Page 14

Nisepanda

Before Dwango reached out to me, there was a manga I thought up with the plot “a zoo with an easily deceived curator.”

I planned to have a nisepanda appear in that work. The plot device was, “They thought it was a panda, but they were given a mysterious lifeform instead.”

Death Hot Dog-kun

A character that was born during the enthusiastic atmosphere during a meeting with my editor.

We happened to be eating hot dogs during the meeting.

I barely ever have these meetings for my other works, but for Senyu, I’ve been having meetings like this for years. So through sheer enthusiasm and cheer, things like mysterious characters and plot devices end up being created during the meetings.

Page 15

<no text>

Page 16

Dezember

Mysterious characters in manga often show up with their face cast in shadows. Dezember was born because I thought, “Why not make those shadows real?” But he ended up as a cooler character than I expected, using his shadows to attack and such.

I wanted to base him off of a toy for future plot developments, but I’m really glad I decided to based him off of dice. He became a really good character.

August

I think he’s actually a really nice person.

My editor for Main Quest really liked August, so whenever they got the chance they tried to push for more August.

Avril

A character that’s rather rare for Senyuu - one that just genuinely does bad things for bad reasons. I planned to draw her as really evil so you could tell she was a bad person, but she ended up just casually munching on bread - it really surprised me.

Neun

Back when his only appearance was a silhouette, I just wanted to make people think of that character at first. But now that I really think about the design I thought up for him after - isn’t he pretty cute?

Juli

Just like Foyfoy, I often drew characters with this hairstyle back when I was a student. I usually gave it to trustworthy ally characters. I like his design and personality quite a bit - sorry I haven’t used you much…

Page 17

The Shadows

It’s super cool to be able to split your body for each die face. I also feel like it’s a great character setting that each split has his own personality. A thought just crossed my mind - couldn’t I draw a manga just based around the Dezembers’ home life? 

...I guess it would end up like Osomatsu-san...? 

Page 18

Zwei

I wanted to use the concept that she was old despite her looks because she was a demon, so I had her dentures fly out - but now that I think about it, there’s other old demon characters, including some characters older than Zwei. So that would make her dentures a result of her own problematic lifestyle, not because of her old age…

Wanna Stab~

A mob among mobs, who ranked high in a popularity poll. I shall now grant him a name - “Phoenix the Rich”.

Mortmome

The stuff on his shoulder does some mysterious things, preventing his body from turning as well when the drill turns.

Page 19

The Great Mage

The cape he wears is very warm. His research assistants gifted him the cape as a present for his birthday sometime in his later years of life, as they were worried about his health. That’s why Alba always wears the cape.

Elf

He’s meant to be someone who knows the secrets of the world - but I can’t count the number of times I considered whether it would be better to just make him a regular old funny character. Good on you for surviving through all that, Elf!

Alf

While I did want there to be a “Elf’s best friend” character, I hadn’t thought about his name at all. So when it came time for him to appear, I really struggled with it. I wanted to make his name like Alba and Ros (Albatross) or Salt and Lake (Salt Lake)…

I may have struggled the most with Alf’s name among all my characters, considering I usually just pick names on instinct. 

Page 20

Salt and Lake and Lym

The Hero Academy trio. At first, I planned for Salt to become the Demon Lord, but when I sat down to draw everything out, Lake ended up in that role - it really shocked me.

I had always planned for the story to shift from the adventure setting of Seasons 1 and 2 to the school setting of Season 3. Though the end result is completely different from what I imagined. 

Season 3 was really fun to draw since it defied my expectations at every turn.

Page 21

Lyman

I wanted to draw a pathetic older man. I also want his scar to be because of some pathetic reason like “He tripped at a bar.”

Elmer

I reused the soldier design I thought up prior to thinking up Alba and Ros. He’s a little older than Rchi.

Justice

Justice is her ally. In other words, I wanted to make a character where no matter what she does, “I’m doing it, so it’s just!”

But it was too difficult to figure out how to deal with a character like that, so I ended up just making a regular old hotheaded reckless character. 

In the end though, she ended up as a character I quite like.

Page 22

Grandpa

A character who loves money. Since I love characters who love money, he’s a character that’s fun to use. It doesn’t actually have to be money, I like characters true to their own desires in general.

Hasegawara-kun

He was originally meant to be a silent character, but I got the urge to make him talk right before I was going to send in the manuscript. Since I wouldn’t make it if I typesetted his speech, I wrote his lines myself. By writing his lines in a way that can only be expressed through handwriting, I made it seem like I planned that from the start.

I made his speech typesetted again after I did that plot where he speaks super eloquently. 

Rib Man

He requires no explanation! 

It was funny when he moved in the anime.

Page 23

Sochi and Co.

There’s a game called Medabots - in that game, a character called Samantha leads a three-person team called the Screws. I’ve always liked that team since I was a kid. And then, I learned that my editor for Senyu was close with people who were involved with creating the original Medabots. So I had my editor tell them, “I want to put in characters I respect! Please leave it be!” 

Please google the Screws that I respect, I respect them.

Lucop

I had vaguely thought up what was going to happen until the end of season 4 of Senyu. But since I’ve done everything I originally thought up, F5 - which I’m drawing now - is all based on plot developments I thought up in +. 

-I’ve been saying that for a while now. Lucop as well was just a throwaway joke at first. But as I started moving him around, amazing developments like “Huh? No way… you had a past like this…?” burst out of him, and so he became the current Lucop.

Page 24

Midnight

A travelling doctor. As he treats his patients, he’s also searching for a cure to Mom’s mysterious disease. He’s a completely normal person with no special powers. He wanted Alba to become strong through his own power, not through familial connections.

Cecily

A mother who adores her children. I think it’s pretty amazing that she managed to raise Lake up herself and send him off to school despite being blown off to a mysterious place out of nowhere.

Page 25

Rchimedes the Second and his wife

Rchimedes the Second and his wife. (T/N: Yes, it’s written twice.)

Daromeon-san, who’s currently illustrating Kengan Ashura, was the one to draw the ridiculously beautiful backgrounds in the flashback arc in Season 2 when the Second was imprisoned. When I complained that I couldn’t draw it, he drew me amazingly beautiful.backgrounds. 

The Second’s design is based off of a mysterious preconception I have that “Demon Lords should wear raggedy capes.” Mama’s design is based on those soothing, kind moms you often see in anime.

The Mana Maker that he holds in this picture isn’t any particular Mana Maker. I just wanted to let a Mana Maker show up in a group picture.

Page 26

Rchimedes

While he’s tremendously evil, he ended up being quite loved. The Senyu characters I designed near the start wear clothes that I would never design now - I really think it’s amazing. Why did I dress him up in a jumpsuit when I decided to draw a Demon Lord?

On a side note, I imagined that the white part of his clothes peels off smoothly like tape if you pull at it from his neck. 

Crea

Since he took back his body from Rchimedes, his height shouldn’t have changed, but for some reason he mysteriously shrunk. 

Page 27

<no text>

Page 28

Originia

In a way, the story of these three marks the start of Senyu. Originia comes from me messing around with the the word “Original”. 

Rchimedes' scariest era just might be when he was living alone with Sion in Originia. Even though at first glance, it seems like he was living a peaceful, cheerful life with Sion, though occasionally getting beat up by him. But in reality, just what was he thinking deep inside, as he lived out his life, watching Crea and Sion?

Since I’m the author, I can generally imagine what my characters think just by thinking about it. But when it comes to Rchimedes during this time, all that comes to mind is “Scary scary scary”, and I can’t really think any further in detail.

I’m often asked “What’s Rchimedes’ original eye colour?”, but I think it was probably blue. I feel like I drew his eyes as blue somewhere, but I can’t remember…

Crea’s clothes slung around his shoulders that don’t fall off for whatever reason are actually sewn on - that’s why they don’t fall off. Crea sewed it on himself. While his threadwork is rough, it’s very sturdy. I think it’s wild and cool.

I showed a bit of what Sion did in the main story, but he generally did things like hauling supplies for hunting, looking far in the distance since his eyes are good, and going shopping in far-off cities for the village. Things like that.

Page 29

The two from Season 4 Episode 0

The two from Elf and Alf’s universe. Since Rchimedes’ magic research hasn’t progressed that much, they mostly fight with brute force. Since Crea never had his body stolen, he’s doing well. (He’s not doing well at all.)

Page 30

Creasion

When I was a kid, I read in a manga, “‘Hero’ isn’t something you call yourself - it’s a title you’re granted by others.” I remember thinking, “I see, that certainly makes sense,” and agreeing with it. I also thought, “While you generally think of heroes as being brave and splendid, the person who’s actually adventuring might not be able to stand expectations like that sometimes.”

Creasion may be a character borne out of those feelings of mine.

Ros, please have tons of sweets and smile tons as well.

Page 31

<no text>

Page 32

Sleepiez

When I thought of the name “Sleepiez” in Senyu+, I didn’t think much of it except “There’s an anti-Alba organization”. I also planned for Boss to be a new character. But after I took the time to think about it properly, the Sleepiez in their current form were born.

Thanks to the current Sleepiez being created, F5 was able to start even though I thought before “I’ve already done everything I want to do with Senyu, I can’t make another proper season.”

If there was no Sleepiez, I feel like + would’ve lazily continued, then at some good cut-off point, I feel like I would’ve been told, “Do you think it’s about time to end it?”

A tenth anniversary for example… it would’ve been a good cut-off point… how scary!

Boss

I can’t write about most of the Sleepiez members just yet, so I’ll be talking about Boss as their representative. 

Boss is an alternate universe’s Alba, so despite being Boss, he’s still Alba, and so I want to make him feel like Alba still. But since he’s Boss he can’t retort or make jokes, since it would ruin his dignity. So at the very least, I gave him Alba’s fashion sense to keep his Alba feel. Since his heart stained black and he became evil, his fashion sense naturally became eviller as well, but he’s still Alba, the base is still Alba. He’s wearing clothes that kinda feel like a middle schooler who just discovered fashion for the first time, like he hasn’t managed to go full evil in terms of clothes just yet.

Now I can keep Boss as Boss while still giving him an Alba feel! ...is what I thought, but… does he actually still have that feel…?

Page 33

Alba with Mana 

It made me happy that my wish for my protagonist to become the strongest at the end was granted. I thought up a lot of reasons for why only one of his eyes is red, like how it’s because his awakening is still incomplete, etc., but the number one reason is “it’s cool.” 

A single red eye is cool, right?! It’s cool right?!

Now that he can use his mana to some extent, he controls his overwhelming mana to hold it back, so his eyes are both back to black now.

Page 34

<no text>

Page 35

SQ Senyuu.

I had this conversation once-

Y-san from Dwango told me, “I want to take Senyu to a magazine to have it serialized!” 

I thought it would be awesome if it actually happened, so I approved it. Then I was like, “If you do take it to a magazine, where would you take it?”

Then Y-san responded, “Well, if you say ‘magazine’, you think Jump.”

And I was like, “Nah nah, Jump would be impossible, ahahaha.”

I never thought that Y-san would actually bring me an offer for serialization in Jump - Y-san was way too capable. Since my personal experience with Jump all started from there, I’m really grateful!

Pages 36-43

<Season 1 Episode 1 redraw>

Page 44

Afterword

Since I’ve remade Senyu Episode 1 many times before, I thought that I would never remake it again. But then I thought- why don’t I remake Episode 1 at the exact time it was originally released ten years ago, as celebration! So I ended up remaking it again.

But I think it may be my first time remaking it without changing any of the jokes or content.

[dereksmcgrath]

Nosu Koshu’s return combines the Black Mercy from Superman with a Dragon Quest isekai plot that doesn’t really deliver much in the way of innovative gags and, in terms of plot, only perpetuates vague hints at larger schemes by Uneras. But maybe Ren’s sister Rin is going to get to be more relevant, so that’s good.

“Nosu Koshu of Illusions,” Magu-chan: God of Destruction, Chapter 56

By Kei Kamiki, translation by Christine Dashiell, lettering by Erika Terriquez

Available from Viz

Spoiler Warning for the Dragon Quest animated film.

Nosu Koshu, the dream god, is like the Black Mercy from Superman mythos. First appearing in the comic “For the Man Who Has Everything” by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, then adapted for Justice League Unlimited and Supergirl, it is an alien being that lets you dream of your most ardent desires–but usually with some catch, not just that, to remove the Mercy from yourself is to lose that perfect dream, but because even within that dream, like any utopia, there is always some dark side behind it. When Nosu Koshu popped up first in Magu-chan, she gave Ruru the dream of being reunited with her dead father, at the cost of being with Magu and living a healthier life of coping with loss and finding new opportunities despite that loss.

Nosu Koshu gave Magu-chan the best arc it has had up to this point–so bringing her back now for a parody of Dragon Quest and isekai storylines is tiresome. Hell, I hated that Dragon Quest animated film for its twist at the end regarding isekai stuff, so unfortunately that example tainted my appreciation for where this chapter was going.

I’m not being entirely fair to this chapter: there were details I liked. I admit some of those details were gags that I should have seen coming: Magu being reduced to a Dragon Quest Slime monster, or Uneras being shown as the final boss (which, as I’ll talk about in a moment, is potential foreshadowing to her being the Big Bad all along for this series). And I laugh heartedly when Ruru said they’ll just skip the maze level and thanks Muscar for the warning; as repetitive as their dynamic is, I do like the groove the series has set, Muscar struggling to be fearsome and intimidating and Ruru, not out of simpleness but kindheartedness, looking on the bright side and taking Muscar’s remarks as helpful rather than intimidating.

But isekai storylines have been done to death. “Magic technology goes out of wack” like Uneras putting Izuma to sleep, then having magic eyemasks to put the others into Izuma’s dream, are plot details I expect from some of the worst manga that repeatedly persist with that trope. If I want the mad scientist who keeps making magic-like objects that cause wacky hijinks, I’d get back to writing Mei Hatsume fanfiction, not sitting through G-rated To Love-Ru.

I’m trying to judge the series by its own previous examples: if you’re going to invoke a certain type of video game, even if it is an RPG, I am stuck comparing how this same series handled the fighting game tropes, offering a funny version of Smash Bros while also having more clever gags that invoke the invitation envelope from that franchise as well as even designing a bulkier headband-wearing Magu to look like Ryu from Street Fighter.

But even still, I think how another series would handle this kind of plotline about Dragon Quest-style RPGs and isekai plotlines–because I’ve seen Gintama do it, not only to parody the same content but to do the exact same plot, that being to get into someone’s body (more specifically for Magu-chan, someone’s mind) to help them through a health-related problem. And when there are so many isekai stories out there, it is ripe for parody–and there have been enough of such parodies in other series, or even isekai that are parodying their own genre and undermining their own narrative conventions.

The gags in this chapter also felt less impressive than those in previous chapters. The problem the series has had since depowering Muscar has been Uneras, and I hate saying that when she is, for better or worse, a character who resonates for manga and anime fans like us, someone portrayed as ostensibly a Western fan whose fixation on the tropes of Japanese comics and animation shows an outsider’s perspective that just gets details wrong and invokes cringe. Maybe it is naive for me to think this is all innocent: as a fan in the United States, who is going to misread cultural aspects of works that are created in cultural contexts outside of where I am, I really try to be aware and not make claims I cannot support.

So, maybe Uneras is a warning for people who think they are being reasonable and having good intentions but whose misreadings are doing actual harm. It’s not that difficult a way to measure her, given her other problematic behavior: her reaction in this chapter of thinking “hawt” upon seeing Izuma oppose her, after the series has already presented Uneras as a pseudo-maternal figure to Izuma, is all kinds of Oedipal squick that, no, ew, stop, please.

When you keep making Uneras’s behavior the instigation for the plot–creating the problems for the characters to solve–her role as the trouble-maker, as the troll, lacks the same complexities we saw earlier. When she first appeared, her antics inadvertently caused problems: if she had told Ruru that the cookies she ate would make her too powerful, then Ruru would not have accidentally blasted Izuma and Magu. In her subsequent appearances, she was carefully placed in alternative positions, sometimes purposefully trolling the characters, sometimes unintentionally causing problems that thankfully were harmless enough to be corrected by story’s end with minimal ramifications and no malice. Then she depowered Muscar, bringing the story back to square one in terms of giving him a potential redemption arc, and invoking colonialist imagery that shows her cultural ignorance is not necessarily amusing but dangerous.

If we don’t want to read something deeper behind Uneras’s behavior, within the plot of the manga itself, there is an easier understanding for why she is trolling people, tricking them, and now pulling such a dangerous Black Mercy god like Nosu Koshu into her ranks–and it’s been obvious since Uneras’s first introduction. When she premiered in unlucky Chapter 13, she made it clear that she is playing the humans and gods against each other, that she sided with the humans against her own kind to keep the gods in check. She is not the traditional notion of a hero, she is not a good-hearted cliche like Ruru: she is a puppetmaster, and that opens up more potential for what to do with her in this manga, and I tense up either because she will emerge as an antagonist in this story or because I am now attached to this idea and will feel disappointed if my prediction does not pan out that way (which, seeing as I am wanting to see every tiny cute creature as a potential villain–e.g., Nezu in My Hero Academia–may be my problem and not that of the stories’: “When you’re a hammer, and everything looks like a nail…”).

That leaves us with what the story does with Nosu Koshu. Since her introduction, she has been a passive character, fitting for a god whose ability puts people to sleep in the dream that best serves the reality they want to enter. That power gave Magu-chan the kind of storyline even the goofiest gag manga needs, one that showed how Ruru has mourned her father’s death and gave joke characters like Naputaaku a chance to rise to the occasion. But now that Nosu Koshu’s threat has been diminished, the manga is trying to figure out where to position her–and the conclusion they reach is to give Ren another god to look after. I had enjoyed how Magu-chan added more gods but made sure to give those gods their own human Pokemon trainer, so introducing Nosu Koshu but not giving her her own unique human is retreading whatever characterization we could get from Ren without developing a currently present human or a new human character we could add. It’s like when Transformers Prime introduced Smokescreen and gave him Jack as his human partner: Jack already has Arcee, and that choice diminished opportunities to give Arcee the spotlight, as her storyline faded more and more into the background while Smokescreen’s role got larger and larger. Diminishing the only woman-coded Autobot to the background didn’t help either.

But speaking of sidelining women characters, if we are going to have Nosu Koshu at the Fujisawa restaurant–and, as they do have a beach stand, it does make sense to apply this god’s talents there after Mother Fujisawa exhausted herself in an earlier chapter–pair Nosu Koshu with Ren’s sister Rin. While I have enjoyed Rin’s dynamic with Naputaaku, he is already Ren’s god partner, and Rin’s schtick has been rather stale: in the beach stand chapter, we did learn she desires to rise to the occasion to run the family business, belying her slacker demeanor. But if we’re going to move beyond the tiresome slacker schtick, having her be the partner to a literal sleepyhead like Nosu Koshu makes sense and could help both characters, contrasting how Rin’s passivity differs from Nosu Koshu’s, and showing that Rin has actual dreams she is trying to reach in her own way while Nosu Koshu has been content to force other people to literally dream without having any goal of her own. Like I just said, I tend to write ideas that I hope a story will take, then I feel disappointed when they don’t go there, and that unfairly influences my reviews. But I hope I got this one right, because after the previous chapter and now this one, it feels like Magu-chan needs an emotionally impactful chapter to give more direction to where the gags should go.

[weirdmarioenemies]

Name: Eggplant Man Jr.

Debut: Wrecking Crew: Rubble Trouble

The ‘90s were indeed a magical time, at least from what I’ve researched about this obscure time period. Everywhere you looked, there was another Puyo Puyo reskin! They did it with Sonic! They did it with Kirby! They did it with The Lion King! They did it with my good buddies the Qwirks! And now I’m going to tell you about the one they didn’t want you to know about... when they did it with Wrecking Crew!

This was, perhaps, the strangest choice of all. I could see these things as ghosts or sentient beans, and Timon and Pumbaa even reskinned them as bugs entirely, but here? They’re apparently construction debris. They’re at least called “Rubble Bubbles” here, and I appreciate the rhyme and the slight attempt to make them make sense, but... how do these come out of destroyed buildings?! Are they vermin that live in the walls and feed off of the insulation?

Believe it or not, there IS a little bit of logic to the choice of Wrecking Crew here! Wrecking Crew is home to the delightful Eggplant Man, and wouldn’t you know it, Puyo Puyo features a sentient eggplant as well! Too different in design to be the actual Eggplant Man, but they were content to say this was his son and call it a day. Anything to avoid having to make a new set of character sprites!

But then... who is this eggplant, really? And what happened to Wrecking Crew: Rubble Trouble? I’m sure you’ve never heard of it... and I will answer the first question! Not the second. Forget ever asking it. Never think of Wrecking Crew: Rubble Trouble another time in your life.

This bespectacled eggplant is none other than Nasu Grave, whose name comes from “nasu”, meaning “eggplant”, and “musgrave”, a variety of eggplant! And let me tell you. Let me tell you. He is absolutely delightful! Come learn why!

Before there was Puyo Puyo, there was Madou Monogatari, an RPG series where the Puyos were nothing but basic slime enemies. And Nasu Grave was there as an enemy from the very beginning!

Here, he exhibits the sort of attacks an eggplant should. Like the Boomerang of Eggplant! He’s sort of just able to remove his calyx at will, as if it’s more of a hat than anything. As you can see, he’s also quite vulnerable to fire!

That does not stop him from being able to breathe fire himself, though. And THAT does not stop him from being hurt by his own fire!

He can even attack with his little marching band drum! Don’t you love this eggplant? If you don’t, please leave!

At some point, though, the series shifted from being an RPG to revolving entirely around the puzzle spinoff about the multicolored blobs, and while that is certainly a bizarre decision, I sure am glad Nasu Grave and a bunch of other monsters get to still be part of the fun!

Nasu typically appears as a weak opponent, and in the English version of the first game, he is called “Blue Ghost”. They didn’t edit out his stem and leaves or anything. Just called him a ghost. Did they think English speakers don’t know what eggplants are? We do! I swear!

Sadly, Nasu Grave has not appeared since Puyo Puyo 15th Anniversary, in 2007... but what an appearance it was! He was a fully playable character with his own storyline! In it, we even get to learn some of his greatest desires: he wants to be taller, he wants to wear contacts, and he no longer wants to be an eggplant.

Even though it’s one of the reasons I love him, he really does not like being an eggplant, and I can understand it. He insists he is NOT edible, but when not in danger, he reveals he’s actually pretty proud of his potential flavor, and that would probably be pretty concerning, but since he’s so scared of being eaten, it’s probably more like him affirming his self-worth or something.

On the topic of Nasu Grave being an eggplant and all, it should be noted that he’s not JUST a silly eggplant wearing glasses. He’s a silly eggplant wearing glasses that’s BASED on something! More specifically, someONE: Kazunari Yonemitsu, the creator of Madou Monogatari and Puyo Puyo! He hates eggplants. That would be like a Charizard based on me! What a dreadful thought!

I think I’ll end the post on a more empowering note for my favorite eggplant. Here’s his theme song, “Doesn’t Matter Who It Is”, from Puyo Puyo 15th Anniversary. Listen to that! And the title! He is not just a silly eggplant, but a brave, determined, confident silly eggplant! Yes, he’s terrified at the thought of being eaten, but that is a very real possibility for him. It doesn’t make him a coward!

I would like to give a very special thanks to the Puyo Nexus Wiki for providing so much information and art used in this post, especially @marine-song-2001​, one of my best friends and also an avid contributor who added many of the Nasu Grave images!

[wardencommanderrodimiss]

roddy plays fire emblem: three houses - prologue

all I know about this game I learned from twitter. I don’t know much of anything about this game. but I’ll tell you what I know about the characters anyway.

I’m only doing characters who I can distinctly recall off the top of my head. I’m not looking up anyone’s names because there are so many characters in this game.

Byleth - the player character. a teacher at this academy, despite not being much older than the oldest students here. game devs are cowards who couldn’t believe that lady Byleth could be Big Sexy in proper armor and instead they gave her fuckin....thigh-highs and lace and a titty window and a belly-button window ma’am your organs are there, you can’t expose that. my disdain for impractical lady armor is outweighed by my desire to play as the girl whenever possible, so like, I’ll play Lady Byleth, but I just won’t be happy about it. 

Jeralt - Byleth’s dad? I think it’s Jeralt? There’s some other guy who looks a lot like the guy who I think is Byleth’s dad so I can’t actually tell you if I got the name right. he’s a mercenary. I don’t know why he and his kid are hired at a fuckin....church academy? but they are. he raised Byleth basically as a feral child and he doesn’t even know how old they are? even though his wife died in childbirth and I think he talks about how long ago that was? or something? there’s something about him not knowing how old his own kid is. Dad what the hell.

Rhea - the lady pope of The Church, but not a cool ladypope like Leliana Dragon Age. I saw someone compare her outfit/hair to Ghetsis from Pokemon and I sent that meme to Wolf and Liam asking if they could confirm or deny and they told me that’s an insult to her but Ghetsis is slime of the earth so relatively, we still don’t know. I don’t trust her because I don’t trust quasi-historical-inspired-setting fantasy church leaders, except for Leliana/Vivienne/Cassandra.

Seteth - green hair? all the church people have green hair are they related? is it magic? I think it’s magic, Byleth’s hair is sometimes green. he’s like the Hot Dad but since he’s not your dad you can romance him. I don’t know if I trust his goatee but one of my friends retweets a lot of art of him and I trust her so maybe I trust him? he’s on thin ice.

Flayan? Flayn? Flyann? I’m calling her Flan like the custard but I know there’s a Y in there somewhere right? - more green hair, so a church person I guess. I have no idea how old she is because this is anime and she could be anywhere from 12 to an ancient dragon person because I know this series has some of those. maybe Seteth’s daughter?? I get that vibe??

Sothis - the ancient dragon person who looks like a 12 year old girl. more green hair. I couldn’t tell her and Flan apart for a while.

BLACK EAGLES

why aren’t they the Red Eagles? they’re red. the other two are blue and yellow. who named these guys. what the fuck.

Edelgard - every time I see the pokemon Eldegoss in SwSh I think of her. leader of the BE. controversial. very controversial. doesn’t like the Church. I can handle this, I romanced Anders in my first playthrough of DA2 which was my first time playing any Dragon Age game, controversial and Church-hating is like.... sometimes you just gotta blow up a fantasy church, you know? I get it. even if I don’t end up agreeing with her, like, I get it, I guess. she didn’t always have white hair but something happened. there sure is a lot of magic hair color shit in this game. I think Dmitri is her stepbrother.

Hubert - Edelgard’s right-hand man. vampire jokes for days. I’m gonna cut myself on that edge....the edge of his cheekbones they are Sharp. I don’t buy that this guy is a teenager. I don’t know whether he’s actually tall or people just play that up because it’s funny to draw him Tall and Looming behind Edelgard.

Ferdinand von Aegir - I AM FERDINAND VON AEGIR!!!!!!!!

Dorothea - she’s the opera singer one, right? if I got the name wrong, I’m talking about the pretty opera singer one with the hat that’s kinda like a beret. she’s my favorite because I’m gay and she’s very pretty and looks very sweet. she’s like the only one of the Eagles who’s a commoner I think? I don’t know why she’s here but okay. I like her. I would like to kiss her.

GOLDEN DEER

Claude - that’s not his real name. leader of the GD. he’s an archer and he has a big fuckoff dragon wyvern. his mother is from whatever country this game is set in but his dad isn’t and lots of people are rude and racist to him for it. he seems kinda chill but also suspicious of everyone which honestly I get it. also he might poison people? I trust him and I’m sure he has good reason to do it. I support him.

Hilda - Claude’s right-hand lady. pink hair anime girl with a giant fuckoff axe. I thought I knew more about her than that but nope that’s all I’ve got. has an older brother.

Lorenz - purple haired anime boy. look at his post-timeskip haircut this boy is Gay and there’s nothing anyone can tell me that would change my mind. needs to be smacked with some good ol’ Character Development to grow past being a pretentious noble prick but he’s pretty cool once that happens. one of the artists I follow who turned overnight into a FE3H twitter for like six months is a big Lorenz stan so I think I could be biased toward him already but that’s just How It Be when you’re coming into this via osmosis.

BLUE LIONS

Dmitri - leader of the Blue Lions but everyone calls him a boar. gets absolutely hammered by Bad Times in the timeskip and comes back with an eyepatch and absolutely feral and unhinged. murdered a bunch of people? Dimi You Can’t Just Go Around Murdering People. 30-50 feral hogs in a big fuzzy mantle. very unfortunate that he’s being forced to do Leader Shit and just wasn’t allowed to be chill and relax and get to work through his issues instead of getting more of them and going feral.

Dedue - you cannot convince me that this man is not a 30-year-old father of two. how is he a student. get out of here. you’re wrong and you’re lying. who did these character designs. I think out of almost everyone here, he is the guy who Does Not Deserve All Of This but fate has been a dick to him. everyone he loves got murdered by I think Dmitri’s countrymen but now Dedue is Dmitri’s right-hand-man which I do not understand. He deserves better both in-game and also from the writers because they just kind of write him out post-timeskip I hear. just free this man from whatever the fuck is going on in his life and the game. I still don’t believe you that he’s of any age to be a student.

Sylvain - the redhead. childhood friends with Dmitri and someone else but I don’t remember who. The Horny Guy. may just automatically be recruited by Lady Byleth to their class, betraying his country and his oldest friends because he saw a belly-button window. just y’know. sometimes it be like that. 

FELIX - he’s the other childhood friend. I don’t know shit about him.

OTHER STUDENTS WHOSE NAMES I CAN RECALL BUT I DON’T KNOW WHERE THEY ARE AND IT DOESN’T MATTER BECAUSE YOU CAN RECRUIT ALMOST EVERYONE TO ANYWHERE ELSE

Caspar (artist?), Linhardt, Bernadetta (Bernie, my brain keeps just swapping her and Dorothea around because they both have these long regal names but I don’t think they’re actually anything at all alike), Petra, Leonie, Marianne,

ASHEN WOLVES

they’re not really a house they’re just a bunch of people who live in the fucking basement and I think it’s the church’s fault.

Yuri - the other purple-haired anime boy. got kicked out of war crimes academy somehow. declared himself the leader of the basement people and they were just like “hey sure cool I guess”. 

Someone who’s a friend of I think Hilda’s older brother - not even a student or someone who needs to be living in the basement, he’s just down here for tax fraud? debt evasion? again, it be like that.

THE PLOT

matchmaking simulator. Byleth plays matchmaker for all of their students by setting them up into the most healthy friendships/relationships that are as ambiguously gay as the COWARDS writing this game will allow. I know there are a few, but it’s mostly a few Byleth romances, so. that.

also Byleth makes the other professors’ jobs easier by poaching all their students so that they only have to teach like two people while Byleth has everyone in their class. recruit the students by giving them gifts and having tea with them. eat lunch like five times a day trying to hang out with everyone. go fishing. go fishing some more. the game limits your amount of bait per month because otherwise this will be a fishing simulator. I know this specifically because I asked Wolf and Liam if I could just fish infinitely forever and they told me no. I was upset. the day that the game starts is 4/20. I know this because Wolf made a meme about it and that’s what started our long conversation about the game that established nothing.

immediately after everyone graduates, Byleth goes into a fucking coma for five years and wakes up and the five-year reunion is interrupted by a war between the three houses. -rimshot- also there might be some greater threat called the Flame Emperor or some shit but I know fuckall about that. mostly I just know everyone’s despair as they are forced to kill their friends who they didn’t manage to recruit.

I’ve never played a Fire Emblem before and I’ve never known what a tactic is in any RPG I’ve ever played. this is going to be fantastic.

[deltaengineering]

Summer Anime 2019 Part 2: let’s play cops & vikings

Arifureta Shokugyou de Sekai Saikyou

❓ 💩

💩 This saves the backstory for later, but rest assured it is very much a 💩. It particularly loves RPG stats because how else could you tell that someone’s awesome.

💩💩 It’s also particularly in the Shield Hero vein, i.e. written by someone who got their lunch money stolen a couple of times too many and is now getting revenge by annoying the shit out of me with shitty self-insert fiction.

💩💩 While powering up in the darkness the dude gets white hair and GUN’s so I think it’s safe to say that this is featuring Donte from the Devil May Cry series. 

💩 There’s some bits of the ol’ THIS CHAIR suffering monologues. Which Higurashi ripped off from Tsukihime, then got ripped off by Re: Zero and now every Web Novel hack thinks it’s très deep.

💩💩 I was about to say that it’s visually whatever (i.e., mostly too dark to make out how bad it looks), but then the CG monsters appeared and OH BOY.

Cop Craft

❓ A portal to the fairy dimension opened and now we have FAIRY CRIME. A loose cannon cop with nothing to lose gets paired up with a haughty fairy princess to get to the bottom of FAIRY CRIME.

✅ If this all sounds vaguely familiar, yeah it’s the FMP guy writing a love letter to 80s buddy cop movies. It has absolutely all the clichees of that genre, but since it’s not a genre I see every day that’s okay and in fact a little bit novel again. I did not watch Bright.

✅ It’s pretty competent at it too, the leads have good chemistry and the tone is good. It’s more serious than something like Red Heat, I’d compare it more to Lethal Weapon.

♎ Directed by Shin Itagaki, who does a competent job with the first episode but is known to be involved with production disasters lately. There’s already signs of slight jank and I hope this doesn’t fall apart really quickly.

Ensemble Stars!

❓ Nondescript girl enters idol school, which happens to be full of hunky boys. Things happen and she joins a movement to seize the means of stage production.

❌ The first half of this episode is just dreadfully dull, generic and features one of the most annoying genkiboys ever on top of it. And going by the old rule that if idol shows must have a producer it has to be a memorable one, Ensemble Stars scores a big fat zero because that girl is a void.

✅ However, then it turns out that this is also a fighting shounen somehow, because part of idol curriculum is hitting each other with guitars. Not to mention that we then reveal that there’s a revolution brewing because the system is corrupt and rigged.

♎ So yeah, there’s some shit going on in this show and it’s quite amusing. I’m just somehow not convinced that it’s more than window dressing because the basics are so bad. 

♎ Even if it turns out to be Revue Starlight (which it won’t), that one was well made enough to beat Ikuhara at his own game. Ensemble Stars doesn’t have the money or the style.

Hakata Mentai! Pirikarako-chan

❓ A super short mascot anime where a cute girl sprays cod roe everywhere, with sensibilities straight from 1964.

❌ ...

Kawaikereba Hentai demo Suki ni Natte Kuremasuka? / Hensuki: Are you willing to fall in love with a pervert, as long as she’s a cutie?

❓ Highschooler is surrounded by girls, gets a pantygram from some unknown party. Turns out they’re all horny. Hijinks ensue?

❌ This is just a basic-ass ecchi harem all around. I don’t think it needs much more explanation. Except...

❌ For some reason, it seems to attempt to treat its pantsu and boob shenanigans with the intellectual aspirations of a Monogatari or Oregairu. Needless to say, that causes it to fail on both sides.

♎ Basic shit for basic bitches, but I’ve seen worse in the genre. It’s less pretentious than e,g, Monogatari but also lacks the style. Or any style, for that matter.

Kochoki - Wakaki Nobunaga

❓ Before Oda Nobunaga became a warlord and recurring anime character, he apparently was a smart teen with a propensity to not wear shirts.

♎ This is about as good as an anime about a teen Nobunaga getting up to Tom Sawyer adventures while not wearing a shirt could probably be. Which is to say, it’s not as terrible as it sounds.

✅ In particular, the character writing is decent. I can imagine that this can actually pull of drawing a throughline from these silly adventures to the Nobunaga we know and don’t want to see any more of in fiction ever.

♎ Yeah, it’s basically alright-ish but you really, really have to care about these Sengoku clowns to get anything out of it. I still don’t.

Nakanohito Genome [Jikkyouchuu]

❓ It’s Danganronpa, only about a bunch of streamers, LPers and speedrunners stuck in an MMO. Because 2019.

♎ Why not a turd? Well, isekai is so rigid as a genre that something that isn’t about some dude getting hax & harem barely seems to count anymore.

♎ Still, this setup is so brazenly shameless and idiotic that I can’t help but respect the hustle.

✅ There’s some neat SHAFT-y visuals going on here, reminiscent of how Reincarnated as a Slime tried to pretend to not be the most boring thing ever.

❌ Kenjiro Tsuda is entirely wasted as the least threatening Monoalpaca ever. Please don’t give the guy comedic roles. The rest of the characters are very bland, which is not a good thing in a genre that thrives on its outsized personalities.

❌❌ I just realized I didn’t give this any double Xs, which it definitely deserves. Just look at this shit. The only upside is of course that this is SO dumb it could be the next Caligula or something.

Re Stage! Dream Days

❓ School idols. MIDDLE school idols. In the middle school idol club.

♎ This is another basically competent show that also doesn’t really feature anything to set it apart. They took a mobile game about middle school idols and animated it.

♎ Well okay, I have to admit that for a show about middle schoolers it features more yuri undertones than usual, and shows like this usually feature quite a bit of that.

♎ But yeah, apart from that... seems watchable but nothing special. Looks alright, characters are alright, everything’s just fine. But you have to be a REAL afficionado of the genre to bother.

Vinland Saga

❓ VIKINGS BRUH

✅ Not gonna lie, I was negatively predisposed towards this show because the manga is very popular with the intersection of MANIME idiots and viking-adjacent metalheads. So while this does feature some sick & gnarly viking fights right away, overall it’s more about people sitting around in Iceland being cold and miserable.

❌ So about these sick & gnarly viking fights though? Sorry to report they look very subpar, with a ton of floaty CG and not much of a point to them.

✅ Apart from that, it’s looking pretty good. Nothing really flashy, but I think Wit’s house look works pretty well here. Better than in Titans at least.

♎ That said... I don’t really find people being cold and miserable in Iceland all that compelling either. I understand that this is a huge saga that goes places, but that doesn’t get me all hyped right now. This is one of those times where I’d say this show is (probably?) good and a recommendation, but it’s not really something I feel compelled to watch because it would have to be outright brilliant to overcome my apathy towards the subject.

[yeah-yeah-beebiss-1]

What are some character suggestions for smash you dont get the hype for?

Honestly, I have complete confidence that the Smash team could make literally anything into a fun and fulfilling character. I got King K. Rool, so everything else is just gravy at this point. But in terms of characters where I don’t really get the reasoning:

Bandana Waddle Dee - he’s cute and I wouldn’t mind him getting in at all, but I really feel like people are overstating his relevance. He’s a Player 2/3/4 option like those yellow and blue Toads from New Super Mario Bros. Wii. And I mean, people argue that we need more Kirby rep, but I honestly feel like we already have all the big staples character-wise so the series would be better represented by more stages at this point.

Shantae - granted, most of this is just pushback from how obnoxious people got about her during Smash 4′s DLC cycle. The games are cult classics at best - a GBC game nobody played because it was launched right at the end of the GBC’s life cycle, a DSiWare game nobody played because who the hell used DSiWare, a 3DS eShop game that did alright for itself, and a Kickstarter multiplat game that again did alright. I definitely get the vibe that her character design played a larger role in her following than her game history, because nobody really talked about her series until after a few people campaigned very loudly to get her into Smash.

Erdrick - I don’t have an issue with a Dragon Quest character getting in, it’s definitely one of the biggest omissions at this point as far as cultural significance goes, I just don’t want another goddamn sword wielder. I’d much rather they do a weird and wacky moveset for a Slime or something.

Geno - again, I don’t doubt the Smash team could have some fun with him, but I genuinely have no idea how he developed such a huge following. He was literally a single supporting character in a 20+-year-old RPG, and never appeared in anything ever again aside from a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo in one game that was removed in that game’s remake. The Smash community loves to read way too much into what Sakurai says and does, so when he offhandedly mentioned Geno as someone who might be neat to see in a pre-Brawl interview, he became this sort of meme, building up a reputation as this Cool Obscure Character who’s totally gonna happen because Sakurai mentioned him once. I’m glad the whole Geno hype got more people to play Super Mario RPG because it’s a good-ass game, but I feel like Geno is up there with Kiddy Kong and the parrot from StarTropics as far as lasting impact goes, and his sole game is older than a lot of the Smash community at this point.

No shade at folks who want these characters, again, I don’t doubt that the Smash team could make any of them into great additions, I just don’t understand the sheer size of some of their followings.

[duhragonball]

Dragon Ball Z 039

Last time, Krillin, Gohan, and Bulma embarked on their trip to Planet Namek.   It’s been a few days, and Bulma’s already bored.   She spends this whole episode not bothering to wear pants.  

I mean, is this a fanservice episode?  I mean, probably, but this is a Triangle Guy production, so Bulma looks pretty weird the whole time, so I have a hard time imagining what sort of fan feels serviced by this.    Also, Krillin looks like he’s wearing Bulma’s shirt from several episodes back.  

Krillin and Gohan spend much of the trip “image training”, which I guess is some kind of telepathic sparring?   I never quite understood how either of them knew how to do this, but it’s pretty awesome that they can.   

When they finish, Bulma gripes about how messy the ship’s gotten, and when Krillin points out that it’s her mess on her side of the ship, she gripes that she’s super busy because she has to keep the ship functional.   

Krillin wishes aloud that she wouldn’t wander around in her undies all the time.   Team Four Star really did a good job with this this part of the saga, by the way.

Back on Earth, Goku is apparently well enough to get out of bed and do situps.   So what are all the bandages for, exactly?   In the fic I write, I invented a doctor who’s this giant spider, specifically so he could wrap up his patients in bandages made from his own webbing.   So I know how fun it is to wrap up characters like mummies and call it medical treatment.    But Goku really did suffer a bunch of broken bones not too long ago, so I don’t get it.

The doctor puts a stop to this and orders “Grandpa Glad-hands” to help the nurse put him back in bed.   Grandpa Glad-Hands belongs in jail.    As for Chi-Chi, she’s up on the roof worrying about Gohan.

This part looks like it wasn’t handled by Triangle Guy.    Chi-Chi’s all worried because Gohan hasn’t written her.   Does she just not understand how space works, or...?

Anyway, Chi-Chi’s adorable.

Back on the ship, Bulma asks where Vegeta went after he left the Earth.    He was badly hurt, and his home planet was destroyed a long time ago, so where would he have gone for medical attention?    It’d be kind of funny if he turned out to be in the same hospital as Goku, and they ended up sharing a room together.

They agree that wherever Vegeta has gone, it’ll be best for the Earth if it takes him a long time to get there, so they’ll have more time to prepare for his inevitable return.   Krillin figures that if the Saiyans sold planets to other aliens, maybe he went to one of his clients for help.

Meanwhile, we see Vegeta en route to... wherever he’s going, and he’s still hurt, and he’s still amazed that he’s this badly hurt.   I’m not sure it was worth checking in on him like this if there was no new information to reveal, but okay.

Back to Bulma, a swarm of alien ships suddenly appear and fire upon their vessel.    I guess they’re unmanned drones, since there’s no sign of pilots in the cockpits.

Bulma returns fire and blows them all up, so I guess Capsule Corp. armed this ship.   Or maybe it had weapons on it from the start?   Doesn’t sound very Namekian to me.

Then they see another spaceship, and it mirrors their movements.    That’s because its just a reflection of their own ship.   I don’t understand why they never notice this, since they all know what their own ship looks like.

They end up getting pulled into the... whatever it is, and gradually it becomes clear that they ran into a much larger ship with some sort of reflective hull or force field or something like that.    I don’t understand how they collided with it and just sort of sank into it, but it’s an alien ship, so I guess it doesn’t have to make sense.    For some reason it looks like a hot-air baloon painted all-black.   

They find themselves in a cargo bay full of junk, and they go out to look around.   Bulma forgot to put on some clothes first, so she spends the rest of the episode like this.   Some triangle-fetishist must love this episode.   

Also, why is Bulma so jacked in this episode?    Really, her arms are usually this big around, it’s just that her lower legs are really skinny because triangles.    I ran into this in the Xenoverse games.    A lot of players made custom Videls, and they looked very show-accurate except they never seemed to look quite right, and then I realized it was because all the women characters had really skinny legs to make them look “sexier”.    That’s dumb, because the Dragon Ball house style gives everyone thick calves, especially Videl, because she’s a jock.   Bulma’s a nerd, but she still has thicker legs than this most of the time.

Anyway, there’s all these booby traps on the ship, and a section with no doors, so they have to fly up to the next deck, and the whole place feels more like a tabletop RPG than an actual spacecraft real people would use.   I mean, literal green slime drops down from the ceiling, and it kills on contact, just like the old D&D comic ads from the 1980′s.  

Triangle Guy probably drew this ad, too.  

Oh, hey, it’s Vegeta again, and now he’s swearing revenge.   Neat.

All I’m saying is, why would you build a ship with green slime and guns in the walls and a red door in the ceiling that’s the only way in or out of a room?    It doesn’t make any sense.

There’s even one trap that breaches the hull and Krillin’s hat gets sucked out into space.

Then they get to a room with a scrumptious dinner laid out for them.

. 

Bulma dodges a knife, because she expected the food to be bait for another trap, but she failed to consider that the knife hitting the wall behind her was designed to activate another trap.

This giant dome falls on her, and everyone’s all surprised, like they wouldn’t have noticed that thing when they walked in.   

Then it starts to retract itself or something...

And a robot claw reaches down and plucks Bulma up into the air.    Well why didn’t they just do that in the first place?

Then a bunch of children come out and point guns at them.   Why didn’t they do this in the first place?

This episode isn’t all that terrible, but it’s not particularly good, either.   I can deal with Triangle Guy and the filler stuff and the fanservice crap, but not much actually happens, and when you put all that together, it just makes for a low-quality experience.   It feels like the ship was only as big as it is just so they could stretch the story out and have the gang wander around it for a while.  

I say this because the next episode is a lot better, and I think that’s mainly because we actually get to find out who these kids are, instead of just seeing the heroes deal with a bunch of corny traps that could have been laid by any stock villain.  

[anime-scarves]

Fall 2018 First Impressions

It’s a new season which means new shows which means impressions of the shows I picked up after 3 episodes. I’ve picked up quite a few more shows this season than I usually do. So I’ve either been really bored, or there’s a pretty good selection of exciting new shows. Let’s take a look. 

Zombieland Saga

There was a bit of quiet excitement for this show before it came out, and it had unexpectedly good reviews coming out of a private prescreening. So what’s the show about? Well zombies being idols of course. Yes, you were tricked into watching an idol show and now you’re actually loving it. It’s not a traditional idol show by any counts because the first episode was metal, and then the 2nd episode had a rap battle, and so on. I’ll admit the 3rd episode was a bit disappointing compared to the first two but it was still enjoyable. There’s a lot of questions for the show going forward, but so far I’ve really enjoyed it. Definitely recommend giving it a go. 

Goblin Slayer

The first episode came out and this was the hottest show to talk about. Not exactly because the first episode was so amazing, but because it was very controversial and contained some graphic sexual imagery (adventurer being raped by goblins). The show is unsurprisingly about an adventurer that goes and slays goblins, and so far that’s really it. The story is loosely based off of the author’s many years of role playing games and it shows a lot in the world too. You’re basically watching an animated DnD campaign. After the edge got toned down from the first episode it’s a reasonable but not particularly noteworthy fantasy show. 

Seishun Buta Yarou wa Bunny Girl Senpai no Yume wo Minai

I still don’t know what people are calling this show short hand, so I’m gonna go with Bunny Senpai. The comparisons to Monogatari and Oregairu are apt, but do sell the show sort of its own charm. One thing the show really has going for it is that by the 3rd episode it has already finished its first arc which gives you a really good idea of what exactly you’re going to get for the rest of the show. There isn’t a lot of wasted time on needless things, and the chemistry/banter between the two leads has been good so far. If you’re looking for a character based drama/romance/something than this is a solid pick. I’m definitely excited to see how the show ends up. 

Tensei shitara Slime Datta Ken

I’ve been reincarnated as a slime has been a surprising treat. Going in I was expecting “just another Isekai with a twist” but it’s done quite a bit to set itself apart from the rest of the pack. The premise is pretty fun, it’s got a bright and colorful animation style, and the studio is making excellent use of digital effects in the production. So far it’s been a charming adventure of a slime consuming the world it comes across and assimilating it all and learning new skills. The world seems to be heavily based off of RPGs and the OST plays into that with some great classic video gamesque music. This is quite the fun Isekai and I’d give it a go if you were looking for something a little more light hearted. 

JoJo part 5:  Vento Aureo

Are you watching JoJo? If you’re not you really should be. Since this is the 5th entry into a series I’m not really gonna be trying to convince you to pick up JoJo since there’s quite a bit to see before this, so I’m just gonna comment on how good it is. David Pro has knocked it out of the park with Vento Aureo. The animation is exceptional, the stands look so good animated, really everything is good so far. The ED caught me off guard so hard, but I’m loving it now lol. It’s been so long since I’ve read part 5, and part of what I read was the not as great scanlations so there are large parts of the show that I’ve completely forgotten or were sort of unclear when I read it. Getting to see those animated is going to be at treat. 

SSSS.Gridman

Trigger’s show for the season has got me really excited. It’s a mecha that pays homage to the classics but with a good modern touch the to animation style and character designs. I’m not really sure how to describe this show tbh. There are mecha, kaiju, the over the top Trigger touch, and so on. Understanding the historical context of the show as well as some of the directing choices really made me appreciate the show a lot more. So I’m going to leave a link to Sakugabooru’s production notes for the first two episodes. It was a very insightful read. I wasn’t entirely sold after the first episode, but it’s been growing on my steadily. Having a great time with this one so far. 

Sakugabooru post

Release the Spyce

Did you watch Yuru Yuri and think to yourself this is pretty swell, but what if they were spies that got pseudo super speed/agility by eating spices. Then I have the show for you. Character designs are done by Namori and I want to say the director worked on Yuuki Yuuna is a Hero. So far it’s been cute and fluffy as you’d expect from something Namori is working on, but the content itself actually goes really hard. There have been drug rings, brothels, military smuggling, illegal pharmaceuticals, and so on. I’m actually sort of expecting this one to end up quite a bit darker than it has started out. Also the OST is amazing and just throws out trap and dubstep bangers during fight scenes. It was so unexpected but it really adds so much to the aesthetic of the show. Definitely excited to watch more of this. 

Skull faced Bookseller Honda-San

And to round things out I’ve got a short at the end of the list. The show is about Honda and his colleagues that work at a bookstore and their daily adventures of dealing with customers, sales people, and all the daily tasks of running a retail store. I suspect that if you’ve worked in retail, or more specifically a bookstore, this will be extra funny. Even if you haven’t it’s a good laugh. 

And that’s it! This one got a little long, but I hope you enjoy it or something. 

[paulisweeabootrash]

First Impression: That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime

I started writing up this review with the intent of shelving it for this year's end-of-year cleanup (yup, I intend to make that a yearly thing), but the more I watched, the more I felt it deserved a longer writeup.  Especially given how popular and well-received it was, because frankly I don't think it lives up to the hype.  So shapeshift into a more comfortable form as we talk about...

...That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime (2018)

Episodes watched: 14.

Platform: Crunchyroll.

The victim of a freak stabbing, a nice but forever-single 37-year-old has his dying thoughts — from wishing he weren’t feeling pain to wishing he could have a shot with many women in his next life — granted as wishes by a mysterious voice.  The voice turns out to be "Great Sage", a sort of... user interface(?) of a fantasy world that functions according to very RPG-like rules.  Generic monsters vs. named human and humanoid heroes, powers that can be acquired and leveled up, that sort of thing.  Those "granted wishes" come in the form of a new body, that of a slime, impervious to many things and able to absorb the abilities of other monsters by engulfing them, which he can apparently use either to literally eat them or to keep them alive “stored” inside him (which sounds... horrifying) — "analyzing" them using the Great Sage and gaining the use of their abilities in either case.  Granted the name Rimuru by Veldora, a godlike dragon he befriends (and then eats in order to carry him around), our slimy protagonist goes out into the world to explore and fix other people's problems.  Monsters, as we soon see in much more detail, typically have no names and minimal organization or skill, and once named, "evolve" into more powerful variants with not only superior strength but also the capacity to use superior magic and technology.  It's an interesting mechanic/premise that really feels like it would be at home in an ancient etiological myth.

It starts off feeling very much like watching a pretty good adaptation of an RPG or maybe point-and-click adventure, as the plot progresses mainly via Rimuru using items and abilities he has incidentally acquired for unrelated reasons to stumble into and complete quests for other characters.  It bounces wildly in tone from fantasy combat to ecchi to adorable wholesome content, and I assume at some point there will be some kind of confrontation with or followup on the human hero who imprisoned Veldora in the first place?  But for the first five episodes, it's mostly "ooh what's this?" followed by a sort of self-imposed quest to create a goblin nation-state from the ground up by naming everyone, taming the dire wolves who are threatening the goblins, and importing technology from the aforementioned named humanoids.  Then it takes an abrupt turn for the serious, laying on us three episodes of backstory about Shizu, a character who I can't really talk about at all without spoilers, but that short arc was engaging and resulted in Rimuru finally being able to take on a humanoid form, which turns out to be a great disguise in future episodes.

Meanwhile, the vague world conquest plans of majin (a term used here to refer to powerful humanoid magic-users) and demon lords having been taking shape in the background, as a vast orc army is steamrolling through every weaker group of monsters it can find.  The next few episodes focus on a group of oni, ahem, ogres (but they’re totally traditional Japanese depictions of oni) who join Rimuru's village after their own is destroyed by the orcs and an underground civilization of lizardpeople who attempt, in a hilariously clumsily and overconfident way, to join forces with Rimuru's followers against the orcs.  The oni are pretty great, especially Rimuru's secretary/bodyguard Shion and scout/diplomat/spy/whatever Souei, as is the unassuming goblin Gobta, who has frequently been the comic relief up to this point but becomes important to the looming conflict.

The lizardpeople/Rimuru-followers alliance is eventually formed and the show tries to make their war against the orcs epic and dramatic, but... here it largely fails.  This arc is full of tedious repetitive exposition about the same characters and tedious repetitive exposition about the same characters and tedious repetitive exposition about the same characters and tedious repetitive exposition about the same characters, as if they expect the audience goes into every episode having forgotten the events of the previous episode and even several recurring characters' names.  Add to this some sudden new abilities getting pulled out of Rimuru's and others' asses, increasingly frequent jarring tone shifts from scene to scene, combat scenes where everyone is stationary and stupid, and cap it all off with a "boss fight" that only gets started after some villainous exposition monologuing worthy of Dragon Ball Z and an exposition dump flashback about the orcs that raises more questions than it answers, and at this point I'm only still watching to find out where the hell it goes from here.  This feels like a bad adaptation of a game now... but maybe a bad adaptation of a good game.  Maybe it would work better, honestly, in RPG format.  It's not like this doesn't have potential as a premise.  But I don't get the hype, because I really don't think it lives up to it.

W/A/S: 4 / 5 / any random number 3–8, depending on episode / !

Weeb: Like I said about Death March, "not weeb so much as geek".  But this is getting a higher weeb score than that because some basic elements (such as, uh, the main character himself) probably come off as really weird if you've never played any of the Dragon Quest (a.k.a. Dragon Warrior) games, which are responsible for the generic low-level slime monster we know today.  Not to mention that this show's versions of orcs, ogres, and demons are more like depictions of those various races in other Japanese media than they are like the Germanic/Anglosphere/Tolkien-influenced fantasy canon.

Ass: Rimuru likes boobs.  He likes to talk about them.  He likes to cuddle up against them.  He checks out everyone.  He's... a sad old virgin.  Expect gag boobs and gratuitous camera angles, but not all the way to anything sexually explicit.

Shit (writing): Again, it really does feel like we're watching Rimuru complete a series of quests or puzzles to advance through the predetermined areas of a game.  Which is probably the point, but that doesn't work quite as well as a storytelling technique when the audience isn't actually figuring out how to complete those quests.  The sudden tone shift for Shizu's three-episode story arc and the weird exposition dumps throughout feel like they're trying to cram a lot of source material into relatively few episodes and it's not going well — which is odd considering that they got a 24-episode season instead of the more typical 13.  And considering that the source material has been going in some form or other for five years prior to the anime (it originated on Shōsetsuka ni Narō, the same self-publishing website responsible for a great deal of the last decade’s epidemic flourishing of isekai, including the above-mentioned Death March and Re:ZERO).

Shit (other): I like the character designs.  And they did a great job in particular making Rimuru expressive despite not... uh... having a face.  But the animation is sometimes embarrassingly bad, especially in action scenes — I swear, there was a fight at like 4fps at one point, the CG orc army is just painful to look at, and the "battles" between the orcs and lizardpeople are mostly just them staring at each other and then occasionally weakly thrusting a spear forward.

Content: Brief surprisingly violent shots, given the often-silly tone of the show.

-----

Stray observations:

- I said Rimuru pulled new abilities out of his ass, but... wait, do slimes have asses?  Can he form a temporary ass, like a comb jelly?

- Rimuru is not only lusting after the various elf and oni women; he is also obviously attracted to Souei, one of the male oni, and this is not played as being surprising or gross or funny in-universe, so, uh... yay bi representation... I guess...

- PS: I continued watching (even though this is frustrating) past the episodes this review covers, and I just want to add that I hate the pegasus knights.  Nobody had the sense to equip them with either ranged weapons or large melee weapons like lances.  They just fly around with swords that wouldn't be able to reach their enemies unless they pull up right alongside them.  This might make sense if they attempted a charge and attacked at point blank, which is the entire point of the distinctive cavalry saber, or maybe they could even dismount to fight on foot, and use the ability to fly for extreme maneuverability getting to a particular point on the battlefield?  Nope.  The closest they come to either of those tactics is to just fly leisurely towards Charybdis's open mouth without even unsheathing their swords in ep. 19.  WTF?  Look, I'm hardly a military expert by any stretch of the imagination, but I think these pegasus knights were dreamed up by someone who has only dimly heard of the concept of cavalry of any kind and hasn't spent more than a few seconds thinking about how you even can use horses in war, let alone bother to look up even a basic overview of how armies actually historically did.

[jq37]

Can I ask for your thoughts on the newest Fantasy High ep? I enjoyed it, but honestly I'm more excited for the next episode based on that preview...

**even more spoilers for the sisterly showdown**

OK, I’m back for Hot Takes: Part 2. 

First, just a few stray things I forgot last time:

I’m sure Adaine is enjoying having bested Aelwen (yeah,spelling #3 guys) in the moment but I can’t imagine she’s gonna enjoy all these nerds making cow eyes at her if her time in the AV office is any indication. Though, to be fair, these nerds could have more game.

“OOPS BITCH.” Siobhan with the awesome episode enders back to back.

Anyone who saw Fabian jump on the Hangman, make a lap while on fire, and then come back, still on fire, was probably like, “Classic Fabian.” I wouldn’t even question it. Very on brand. 

Did y’all notice that at a certain point of the fight, everyone clearly went “Game Face” and started playing to win? Like they were joking a lot less and getting all quiet. I was almost holding my breath for them at points. I am convinced they were all having war flashbacks to the first fight. I know I was. 

OK, on to new business!

I think I’m on record as saying that combat is my least fave part of RPGs.You’re spending a lot of time IRL to cover relatively small amounts of time in story and I especially dislike RPGs that use initiative based fighting systems (which is most of them I think) because then you end up with situations like in this ep where Siobhan kept  wanting to attack Aelwen but she couldn’t react when it would make sense for her to do so because she rolled low on initiative. And it’s where most of the rules of the game are and it can get nitty gritty when I prefer to loose, sandbox-y elements of an RPG.

I want to also reiterate that I think Brennan does a fantastic job of making the combat fun to watch by having inventive fight themes and the rest of the cast is fun no matter what.

That being said, I far and away prefer the story episodes to the combat ones and the entire ep I was like, “OK, but then I’m gonna have to wait a whole week for the conversation that happens after this fight,” WHICH IS THE PART YOU WANT TO SEE OBVIOUSLY.

So I am also more looking forward to the aftermath of the fight than I was the fight itself (although the little bit we got of Adaine getting to finally beat Aelwen was great). Here’s a shot list of things I want addressed/am looking forward to.

What exactly is Aelwen’s part in this? Mastermind? Doubt it. Pawn? Maybe. Being magically manipulated? I mean, possible but I kinda hope she’s just Like This. Anyway, if everything is going to end up dovetailing together (like these stories usually do) and Aelwen is a part of the Palimpsest conspiracy which was part of the Harvestmen’s attempted hit on Kristen which was part of the effort to start a war I’m curious about what reason Aelwen would have to want a war. Like, is that conducive to her lifestyle? Does she know about the war thing specifically or does she just know that s/t shady is happening and if she doesn’t ask too many questions, she’s in the clear? Brennan, fighting slime monsters is great but I have story questions. 

They basically have Aelwen dead to rights on this, but I wonder how she’s gonna play this. She doesn’t strike me as the spill guts immediately type. And she should be smart enough to play the diplomatic immunity card. But I hope we at least get some info out of her. 

Man I hope Riz’s mom gets to arrest her. Which would lead to Mr. Abernant yelling at her which would lead to Adaine yelling at him which she should more because it’s great.

 If Fabian lays low, he’s probably gonna get away with the whole kissing Adaine’s sister thing. She really did not care AT ALL compared to how pissed she was at Aelwen, even before she started actively trying to kill them. On the other hand, she could just be prioritizing and Fabian’s still in for it a, “What the hell, man?” Even if she’s not actively mad at him, this won’t be a point in his favor if he ever decides to make a move on her in the future (which it looked like he might).

I wonder how much, if anything, Mr. Abernant knows about Aelwn’s extracurricular activities. Because either he doesn’t know what she’s up to or he does but he’s in denial and/or protecting the family name. I wouldn’t even be asking the question except for that clip of  him being all, “You can’t jail a diplomat’s daughter!” Although, wouldn’t it be wild if it turned out he was talking about Adaine instead of Aelwen there?

And what’s up with Aelwen and Ostentasia? What did she know? What was she helping her with? Did Aelwen have this whole party set up just to get a good chance to snatch her? 

Y’all, there are 4 episodes left. FOUR. We’re getting close to the endgame. There’s not a lot of time to introduce a new set of antagonists, you know? So I feel like next ep has to drop some pretty major info bombs. Especially since we still haven’t addressed all the weird crap Adaine found in her sister’s room. See, the conversation right after the fight! That’s where the magic happens. 

Riz’s dad! I’ve been waiting for this to go down since the graveyard ep and it looks like it finally will! In the promo, Riz says, “Hey Mom. I know about dad.” Which is kinda throwing me for a loop because either that means he doesn’t know exactly how his dad died and Adaine tells him or (the more intriguing option) something even wilder went down which Sklonda is keeping from him and Riz is about to have a storm coming.

“Detect maiden.” MMM ominous. So, is this an classic maiden sacrifice for big spell thing we’re leading up to?

KVX? Ominous again. 

I’ve been meaning to say this. Wasn’t it established in E1 that the setting of FH is this weird little area of the world that happens to look like a modern irl suburb, and the rest of the world is like a normal DnD setting? I didn’t think that would end up mattering since the story has so far been confined to the immediate area but if war ends up happening, it could factor in. 

Also, Adaine finally read that book on Aguefort which raised a lot of questions and suggested time travel might become a factor at some point? Which would be WILD. Imagine Back to the Future but instead of Marty it’s Fig. The timeline would be in shambles.

Brennan keeps mentioning this Nightmare King person and I’ve been keeping that in the back of my head all season, waiting for it to pop up because I refuse to be blindsighted.

And, speaking of, that ice cream later wish is still in play. Don’t think I’ve forgotten.

So yeah! Next episode should drop some big story bombs and I’m SUPER pumped. Lemme know if I missed anything you wanted to hear about.