#and Chinese Odyssey 'fixes' it's bad ending

[the-monkey-ruler]

How many adaptions has a bad ending for the group, like I remember there was one where Sun Wukong murdered Tang Seng in his sleep and he didn't remember afterward?

That is from a light novel Bio of Wukong. And while that was the height of JTTW angst popularity it still didn't get that adapted into any movie/show.

I can't say that there is any 'bad' ending because while that could work well in maybe a literature medium. Books allow for a long time to build up characters, exposition, and suspense without needing to worry about limitations like runtime or production costs. I can't say that there are a lot of shows that are bold enough to have a 'bad' ending really as movies only have a limited time, especially for something like JTTW that is always seen more as a Fantasy/Adventure story than anything dramatic. Not saying that JTTW can't have horror elements or dramatic elements, but that it just isn't common that this is the main element.

That being said that there are two pieces of media that are inspired by Bio of Wukong. One being a movie by the same name "Bio of Wukong" where we see Wukon's whole mountain being killed off and that even shows Wujing and Bajie's past lives Juanlian and Tianpeng being killed off as well. While this is the most 'bad' ending movie it isn't really the end as it more takes place right before Wukong is about to be trapped under the mountain. Moreso this takes what is already there, the Burning of Flower Fruit Mountain, and is the focal point of the movie. However, while it ends with Wukong trying to take on Heaven one more time we never see the actual journey so I can't say it is a 'bad' ending when that isn't shown.

Another that can be a 'bad' ending somewhat is from where the Bio of Wukong light novel is actually inspired by which is the Chinese Odessey. This one Wukong does try to kill Sanzang, but fails, and he gets trapped by Guanyin where in the next life he turns into Joker. Sanzang does end up 'dying' in that verse. However this is a time-travel movie so Joker does go back in time and he does become Wukong again and then he does go on the journey so that is also not really a 'bad' ending.

A better one could be considered Westward the animation series. This one is where by the end of the journey Wukong is killed in heaven and Sanzang, Bajie, and Wujing are separated after the scripture are lost. Pretty much someone evil has secretly taken over heaven and what to use the scriptures for evil stuff. Now Wukong dead, Sanzang, Bajie, Wujing, Bailong (Ao Xue), and now BaiLang a wolf demon are on a mission to bring back the scriptures to Western Heaven so that the evil people don't get their hands on them (also the scriputres have cultivated into a dragon girl). This one is more adventure/action but it is a 'bad' ending for the journey officially which leads to this SECOND journey to fix it.

Also a strange addition but God of High School the anime. You would never guess but the main character is Sun Wukong without his memory and apparently, the gods of that world lied to him and his pilgrimage about the scriptures and it was all a ploy for 'buddha' or the god claiming to be him to eat Sanzang and become all powerful himself. Sadly ends with Bajie and Wujing dying and Wukong has to eat Sanzang himself in a last-minute desperate move to defeat the evil deity which does work but leaves Wukong eventually going to earth and becoming 'human'. Kinda insane but that is a 'bad' ending that is only revealed like after 400 chapters in.

[teecupangel]

So this is absolutely because @twitcherpated suggested the AC x Fruit Basket AU could have Western Zodiac Signs instead of Chinese Zodiac Signs as a reference to both AC Odyssey and the main Isus of Desmond’s Saga and my high school self just burst through the door and went: LET’S TALK ABOUT DESMOND’S AND HIS ANCESTORS’ ZODIAC SIGNS!

Because there’s actually something… interesting and kinda funny about them.

First of all, here are their Zodiac Signs:

Altaïr: January 11 (Capricorn - Cardinal - Earth)

Ezio: June 24 (Cancer - Cardinal - Water)

Ratonhnhaké:ton: Apr 4 (Aries - Cardinal - Fire)

Desmond: March 13 (Pisces - Mutable - Water)

(By the way, Cancer (Summer N - Winter S) and Capricorn (Winter S - Summer N) are opposites because of their season signs) which I find funny)

If you notice, Desmond’s main three ancestors’ Zodiac Signs all have cardinal modality. There are three times of modalities: Cardinal, Fixed and Mutable. We’ll be focusing on Cardinal and Mutable on this post:

Cardinal signs can be interpreted as the ones who push for change or initiate change.

Mutables signs can be interpreted as the ones more flexible and adaptable to whatever comes their way.

Which does sound like they could be about Desmond and his ancestors.

Cardinal:

Altaïr was known as the father of the modern Brotherhood and brought many changes to the Assassins as a whole.

Ezio brought change to the entirety of Rome (and even Italy to some extent) during Borgia rule.

Ratonhnhaké:ton helped shaped the events of the American Revolution.

Mutable: Desmond’s story had always been about him adapting to his circumstances. When he left the Farm, he adapted to a world he was unfamiliar with and, after being kidnapped by Abstergo and getting ‘rescued’ by the Assassins, the last few months of his life had been him adapting to what was happening in the real world and adapting to the Bleeding Effect he got from using the Animus.

It is funny how Desmond's main ancestors are all cardinal signs while his secondary ancestors (Haytham who he only saw a few memories of and Edward who he only started to have Bleeding Effects of during AC3 according to Valhalla) are both mutable signs with Edward being a Pisces like Desmond while Haytham is a Sagittarius (Mutable - Fire)

And then we have their elements:

Altaïr is Earth (practical, cautious, material world) which shows in the way he fights and how he handled the Apple. Instead of relying on superstition and the belief of men for things they cannot explain, Altaïr focuses on finding an explanation for this material world we live in but he was cautious enough to not fall into the Apple’s temptation until… well… near the end.

Ezio and Desmond are Water (emotion, empathy, sensitivity) which makes sense as Ezio is ruled by his emotions (especially in AC2) and that’s not a bad thing as his sensitivity and empathy are what made him a good mentor while Desmond’s empathy lies in his connection with his ancestors and his sensitivity with the Animus and the Bleeding Effect.

Ratonhnhaké:ton is Fire (assertion, drive, willpower) which fits Ratonhnhaké:ton a lot as, no matter what he did, his main drive had always been to protect and avenge his village. No matter what was thrown his way (even if it was a cannonball), he never faltered.

Of course, zodiac signs should never be taken as a way to summarize a person but I just thought it was funny how their Western Zodiac Signs were able to fit their personality and also how all three ancestors are cardinal signs and of different elements with Desmond having the same element as the ancestor he spent the longest time with in the Animus.

Let’s be clear though, the ambiguity of the characteristics of Zodiac Signs makes it easy to interpret it however we want, for example: Altaïr and Ezio could easily fit the Fire characteristic as well considering they were also driven. Desmond himself could be explained as a cardinal as his story is what kicks the modern day AC story.

In other words: Zodiac Signs are fun but don’t take them too seriously… Like me… who wrote 650+ words for this one.

(I had to doublecheck with Wikipedia on this one because it’s been a long time since I read up on this XD)

[immortalbutonlybyname]

Reviewing Dramas I have watched part 3

My rating system goes like this: 1- Did not like, 2- Enjoyed but probably wouldn’t watch again, 3- Enjoyed and would watch some episodes again (or for movies may watch again), 4- Enjoyed and would watch again, 5- Loved 

TV Series

Pinocchio: 4/5

Trigger warning: Suicide, Victim blaming, attempted murder, actual murder

Pinocchio is about a kid who, after a massive tragedy blown up and twisted by the media causes his mother to attempt a murder suicide by throwing them both in the ocean, gets washed ashore a small neighboring island and takes on the identity of a old man with dementia’s deceased son. Him along with his “niece” who has Pinocchio syndrome, where one will get uncontrollable hiccups whenever they lie, must work to become reporters for two different goals and find themselves facing a giant conspiracy and a question of fact versus impact in media. I really enjoyed this show, it was especially nice how each episode was named after a children’s story. I began this show because I really loved Lee Jong-Suk’s acting in High School 2015 and I was not disappointed. The episodes had a lot of painful scenes but also plenty of funny scenes to balance it out. It kept my interest really well throughout and I don’t remember an episode where I was bored. It does have darker themes so I would be wary of those if you are sensitive to such themes.

I Can Hear Your Voice: 4/5

Trigger Warning: Attempted murder, Actual murder, Victim blaming

I Can Hear Your Voice follows a woman who witnessed the murder of a father and the attempted murder the victim’s son, despite her fear she decides to testify as a witness. Her statement and evidence as a witness gets the criminal a guilty sentence, effectively making the murder wish to seek revenge. Years later, she is a lazy, cold public defense attorney who does not care for her clients and lacks manners, the young man whom she saved from the murderer and helped is actually a telepath and they meet again. The two of them, along with a former police officer turned lawyer, work together to help those who are truly innocent while also protecting themselves once the murderer has finished his sentence and begins to seek revenge. This show was great, it was funny, sad, annoying, and cute. I watched this one shortly after Pinocchio and it was kind of similar in feel but personally a little more interesting in my opinion. There were a lot of moral dilemmas that not only the characters but I as a viewer struggled with. I even got on my group chat with my friends and asked them about the issues and they struggled as well. I liked a lot of the characters, including the female prosecutor who is the main’s rival. Overall a really great show, definitely worth watching.

Flower Crew: Joseon Marriage Agency: 5/5

Warnings: Forced suicide, OCD/Nervous habit/ possible hint to self-harm warning.

Flower Crew is about a former, escaped slave who becomes a member of the most sought-after marriage agency in Joseon era Korea after her husband disappears before their wedding leaving her with many debts to the aforementioned agency. She soon finds herself in a very sensitive situation of pretending to be noble and going through the queen choosing tests to save her slave brother, all while trying to decide if she loves the cold, stand offish leader of the marriage agency or if her heart is still after her missing fiance. The best thing about this show is that each character gets their backstory and closure they needed. Usually with shows, my favorite characters (as they are usually the secondary ones) never get the closure or even backstory they deserve. In usual my review fashion, I will not lie to you, I found out about this show about a week before the first episode aired and decided to watch it as it aired mainly because Park Ji-hoon was one of the main actors in it, and he didn’t let me down, he was a proper cringey asshole but I loved him so much. I was worried as the show progressed that he wouldn’t have a proper backstory and only the few hints they threw at me that I would have to piece together, but I was more than pleased when his arc finally came. It was definitely worth the wait and while waiting I ended up loving all the other characters and actors/actresses involved in this show. Definitely would recommend however, dark themes are a regular.

Beating Again (aka Falling for Innocence): 4/5

Trigger Warning: Heart conditions

Beating Again or Falling for Innocence depending on where you watch it, is about a stern, cold hearted man with a genetic heart disease and a kind but serious secretary whose father betrayed the main character’s father when they were kids making them enemies.  After a set of coincidences, the main character goes through a heart transplant and ends up with the heart of the secretary’s husband. Shortly after the transplant he begins to experience new mannerisms and personality traits that were once the husbands as well as finding himself falling for his secretary. Throughout the show they work to fix his past mistakes, trying to find out what exactly happened to the secretary’s husband, all while figuring out if he is the one in love or if it is his heart who loves her. I really enjoyed this drama; it was more on the serious side most times but had some great humorous moments as well. It also did an amazing job at pissing me off towards the end, most kdrama’s do but this ish was next level anger. I saw it on YouTube and decided to watch it while bored one day and I was not disappointed it was such a great show.

Who Are You School 2015: 2/5

Trigger Warning: Attempted suicide, HEAVY Bullying, Depression, Victim blaming,  

Who Are You School 2015 is about two long lost twins, one living the life of a pretty well off school bully and the other still living in an orphanage and being ruthlessly bullied. After the bullied twin attempts suicide by jumping off a bridge, the adopted twin who just happened to be nearby due to a school trip saves her. The bullied twin wakes up with amnesia and gets mistaken as the adopted twin, but as she gains her memory she discovers that while she lived the twin who saved her died in her place leaving her with not only guilt for surviving but also with the blame of the death of a friend from her sisters past. This story deals with finding who she truly is and coming to terms with her past while also trying to find the truth behind her sister’s past. This was a good show, however it took me forever to finish as the content messed with my own mental state if I watching too many episodes at one time (and I am a perfectly healthy person mentally so please be careful when choosing to watch), a few episodes was okay for me but when I first attempted to binge it was not a very good idea. I did honestly watch it for Yook Sungjae as I loved his performance in Goblin and while I knew what I was getting into, I did not expect it to affect me as much, his acting is great as usual and his story line just broke my heart. This show also does have a love triangle and it’s honestly the worst written most dissatisfying love triangle I have probably ever personally seen, so, there’s that. Once again very good show, however, practice caution if you are at all sensitive to these topics.

A Korean Odyssey: 5/5

Trigger Warning: Jump Scares, Anorexia, Self-Harm (sort of)

A Korean Odyssey is loosely based off of the famous Chinese story A Journey to the West. It follows Jin Seon Mi, a young girl who can see ghosts and Son O-gong, a former monkey deity reduced to the status of a common monster after being punished and kicked out of the spirit realm. After Seon Mi frees O-gong from the marble mountains she is cursed with the fate of Samjang, a human who must protect the world from evil spirits. If the Samjang is devoured, the monster who eats her becomes incredibly and uncontrollably powerful. O-gong wants to eat her to gain this power, however a deal made to get Seon-Mi to release him from the mountains, stops him. In fear of O-gong, Seon Mi, with the help of the demon king, gives the monkey deity a Geumganggo, a magical bracelet which makes it impossible to go against the words of or hurt the one who has gifted it, with an unexpected side effect, he is now uncontrollably in love with her. Now Seon Mi has to deal with saving the world from horrible destruction all while dealing with a head over heels and hating every second of it, deity meanwhile questioning both her feelings for him and his true feelings for her. I absolutely love this show. It is my favorite kdrama to date, I am actually watching it a second time with my friend and we are about halfway through, then a few days ago started watching it over again with my older sister so I would say this was deserving of a 5 ranking. I really love all the characters honestly (minus the main bad guys but no spoilers, if you’ve seen it you know who they are) they are all equally assholes and precious children who must be protected. I have to admit though, my favorite story line was the devil king and my favorite character has got to be the shopkeeper’s grandson despite his lack of scenes. I have never seen or heard of One (Jung Jae-won) before this show but I love him so much now. I actually watched this for Hong-ki (notice a pattern, but hey, at least I am honest in my biases.), but I finished this show with more favorite characters than I thought was possible. It does have ghosts and demons which can be creepy to some, but as someone who has yet to be affected by scary movies such as The Ring, and the whole Conjuring series, it really just looks to me like those demon snapchat filters so it’s not actually scary. Overall an amazing show, definitely recommend, 110% worth watching.

Korean Movies

Secretly, Greatly: 5/5

Trigger Warnings: Graphic images of gore, Mass suicide mentioned, Suicide, Death and Loss

Secretly, Greatly is about three North Korean spies who were sent to South Korea and are given disguises as a fool, an aspiring singer, and a high school student. They soon become accustomed to South Korean lifestyle and find happiness in each other, wanting to live their lives happily instead of spying for North Korea. After an information leak of all the identities of the North Korean spies they must stick together to survive while being hunted down by both sides. It’s a movie about finding family and happiness even in the toughest situations, questioning where one’s loyalty lies, and the strength of the bonds between those who have nothing but each other.

Northern Limit Line: 2/5 and 5/5 explained below

Trigger Warning: Graphic images of gore, Death and Loss, Actual funeral footage,

Northern Limit line is a movie based of the true story of the North Korean attack of South Korean naval ships during the 2002 FIFA World Cup. It follows the crew members on one of the navy patrol boats, from when Corporal Park Dong-hyuk joins, to after the attack. This movie is really great, and I still love it. The ONLY reason I am giving this a 2/5 is because it messed me up for three whole days afterward. I was an emotional wreck; I had no previous knowledge of this attack and the extent of my knowledge of the movie going in was that it was based off a true incident of a North Korean attack. While I don’t regret watching it, I would probably never watch it again unless I really really wanted to and had like 3 days of free time to be emotionally damaged simply because of the heavy content of the movie thus the 2/5. It is rather graphic with quite a few shocking scenes and even real clips of the actual funerals of the fallen crew members and their families grieving. I cried, and honestly still feel like crying as I am writing this. I did lots of research on the incident afterward as well to further understand the content of the movie. Every actor did amazing in portraying the highs and lows of serving in the South Korean navy and the eventual close friendship between all of the crew only made it even more tragic. If you are able to handle the heavy material of this movie, I highly recommend it as it truly is an amazing and sad story that everyone should see at least once.

The Con Artists: 4/5

The Con Artists is about Ji-hyuk, a thief that specializes in safe-cracking who teams up with the young genius hacker Jong-bae, and the planner Goo-in for their biggest mission yet, to steal $150 million from Incheon Customs in 40 minutes. This show was pretty good, I liked all the twists and turns as the movie basically took you on a roller coaster ride throughout. At one point I was thoroughly pissed off, but I was played, and it only made the movie better. If you are looking for plot twists galore, you are in the right place with this one. I can’t really say much about it without giving any spoilers (that’s how elaborate it is) so I shall end this review here. Highly recommend!

Taiwanese Movies

Secrets in the Hot Springs: 5/5

Trigger Warning: Death and Loss, Jump Scares, ghosts

Three teens who have begrudgingly, at least to two of them, become friends go to one of the characters families hot spring to help run the place during school break, strange and hilarious things begin happening around them. They now must figure out the secret behind the mysterious hot spring. Personally, I feel this movie is so underrated, so much so I can not even find a gif for it so, have a picture. I decided randomly to watch this movie after boredom scrolling through Netflix one day and I am so glad I did. I thoroughly enjoyed it and did end up watching it again the day after. It’s really cute, if not a little awkward at points, and definitely hilarious. I didn’t find it exactly scary because the humor really distracted me. Some of the humor might not land exactly right with some people, like the constant mention and jokes of two of the boys being in a relationship together when neither were gay. I personally didn’t mind these and see them simply as a culture difference, but some may be a little more sensitive to these materials. Overall, I recommend this movie to anyone who wants a funny, slightly suspenseful, feel good movie to watch.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 4

Part 5

[masterskywalkers]

End of the year asks - #8, 9, 11, 14, 18, 25?

8: Game of the year?

Oh wow!

2018 was great for me because not only were there so many amazing new games out, but I got a chance to play a bunch of older games I missed to. I think though, I’d have to narrow it down to:

Pillars of Eternity (+ Deadfire) and God of War.

I wanna add Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, but I haven’t finished it yet, but that’s definitely up there too!

9: Best month for you this year?

Probably October? It’s when I went to Florida again and really began to feel settled into my new job and not just stressed about it. There was some bad news that hit our family that month too, but I try to keep on the positives even despite that.

11: Something you want to do again next year.

The usual fan day our town does where people dress up as various popular characters from pop culture movies, tv, comics etc. to help raise money for a children’s charity. I said I was going to cosplay last year but didn’t, but I’m a little tempted to do it this year and dress up as Qi’ra from the Solo movie. It’s certainly an idea I have.

14: Favourite book you read this year?

It’s between the first new Thrawn book, and Circe by Madeline Miller. I adore both authors, and both books were an utter delight to read.

18: A memorable meal this year.

… Kinda want to say the staff Christmas meal from hell where the ice cream never melted and the yorkshire puddings were hard as rocks, but for a good meal? There’s a chinese restaurant in our town that’s incredibly special to my family, as it’s where my parents had their first ever date. We go there sometimes for special birthdays, and I can’t remember if it was my birthday or my Mum’s this year, but we visited and it was just as amazing as I remember.

25: Did you create any characters this year?

I did, in fact, Faeluna was ‘born’ this year, as was my D&D paladin, Natalia.

Faeluna is a sweetheart who starts off just a bit lost and naive, but grows into a powerful figure, whose only real goal is to find a home for herself.

Natalia is a princess from a disaster struck kingdom, as well as the last of her family, and she’s really just a lost, scared young woman thrown into the deep end of fixing a great mess. Luckily, the Raven Queen is there to guide her when she feels especially alone.

[xseedgames]

2017 End-of-the-Year Q&A Extravaganza Blog! #1

It’s time for our first 2017 End-of-the-Year Q&A Extravaganza! We’ve got a bunch of these we’ll be posting over the holiday break, so please look forward to them. Now, let’s roll right in!

We have answers from: 

Ken Berry, Executive Vice President / Team Leader John Wheeler, Assistant Localization Manager Nick Colucci, Localization Editor Liz Rita, QA Tester Brittany Avery, Localization Producer Thomas Lipschultz, Localization Producer

Question: Has selling your games on PC worked out for you so far? I know supporting the PC platform is a relatively recent choice for XSEED. - @Nate_Nyo

Ken: Being on PC has been great for us as it allows us to reach anyone anywhere in the world regardless of region or console. We were probably one of the earlier adopters in terms of bringing content from Japan to PC as we first published Ys: The Oath in Felghana on Steam almost 6 years ago in early 2012.

Brittany: I love working on PC. The work involved is greater than working on console, but I feel like it's a bigger learning experience, too. For console, the developers normally handle the graphics after we translate them, and they do all the programming and such. For PC, everything falls on us. I wasn't that experienced with Photoshop in the beginning, but I think I've gotten a lot better with it over the years. We can also receive updates instantly, and since I talk with our PC programmer through Skype, it's easier to suss out our exact needs and think of ideas to improve the game or bring it to modern standards.

Question: What non-XSEED games do you praise the localization for? - @KlausRealta

Brittany: Final Fantasy XII. I love everything about Final Fantasy XII's writing. I'm also a big fan of the personality in the Ace Attorney localizations. I'm still playing Yakuza 0, but you can feel the passion of the localization team in the writing. There are some projects where you can tell the editing was phoned in, and then there are games where it's obvious it was a labor of love. All of these games have a color I aspire to.

Tom: Probably going to be a popular answer, and not an especially surprising one, but I've got to give props to Lost Odyssey. It's hard to deny the timeless quality and absolutely masterful English writing that went into basically every line of that game's massive script, with the many short stories being of particular note. That game really does represent an inspirational high bar that I think most everyone else in the industry will forever strive to reach in their own works.

For a more unexpected answer, I've also got to give mad props to Sega for their work on Monster World IV. As a Sega Genesis game released digitally in English for the very first time less than a decade ago, I guess I was kind of expecting a fairly basic "throwaway" translation -- but instead, the game boasts a full-on professional grade localization that's easily up to all modern standards, brimming with charm and personality. It's really nice to see a legitimate retro game being given that kind of care and attention in the modern era, and it makes it very easy for me to recommend (as does the fact that the game is actually quite fun, and is sure to be enjoyed by anyone who's played through all the Shantae titles and really wants to try something else along similar lines).

John: I played Okami on PS3 earlier this year (before the remake was announced), and I was awed by how skillfully the team handled text that is chock full of localization challenges like quirky nicknames, references to Japanese fairy tales, and regional dialects. I was especially amused to see a reference to "kibi dango," the dumplings Momotaro uses to bribe his companions in that famous story. We dealt with the same cultural reference with STORY OF SEASONS: Trio of Towns.

Nick: My go-to response is always Vagrant Story, because it’s the game I credit with getting me really interested in a career in localization. Before that point, I had enjoyed games for their story and characters, but hadn’t realized just how much the specific word choices and tone contributed to a reader’s perception of a story as a whole. The gents behind VS’s localization would go on to be industry luminaries, with Rich Amtower now calling shots in Nintendo’s Treehouse department and Alex Smith being synonymous with the highly regarded prose of Yasumi Matsuno’s games – including the cool and underappreciated Crimson Shroud for 3DS, and Final Fantasy XII, which as anyone who’s played it can tell you is a stellar localization. Having spent a lot of time with FFXII’s “The Zodiac Age” remaster this year, the care and attention to detail put into the localization still blows me away. The unique speech style of the Bhujerbans (with...Sri Lankan inflections, if memory serves correctly) sticks with me, because I knew that I myself would never have been able to pull off something like that so deftly. I guess you could say Vagrant Story started a lineage of games that’s always given me something to aspire to as an editor.

Final Fantasy XIV, which I’ve been playing this year, also has a very good localization, especially considering the reams of text that go into an MMO of its size and scope. Michael-Christopher Koji Fox and his team have done a bang-up job giving life and personality to the land of Eorzea, and I’ve enjoyed seeing how the localization has changed in subtle ways as time has gone on. The initial “A Realm Reborn” localization sort of cranks the “regional flavor” up to 11 with heavy dialects and vernacular, but in subsequent expansions, they kind of eased up on that and have found a good mix between grounded localization and the kind of flourishes that work well in high-fantasy settings.

 And, while I haven’t played it in a number of years, I remember Dragon Quest VIII having a really great localization, too, with ol’ Yangus still living large in my memories. Tales of the Abyss was fantastic as well, and both DQVIII and Abyss delivered some really brilliant dub work that showed me how much richer one could make characterization when the writing and the acting really harmonized. I still consider Tales of the Abyss my general favorite game dub to date. The casting is perfect, with not a bad role among them. I also want to give mad props to Ni no Kuni’s Mr. Drippy, just as a perfect storm of great localization decisions. Tidy, mun!

Question: How hard is it to turn in game signs and words to English for Japanese? Is it as simple as going in and editing text? Or as hard as creating a whole new texture for the model? - @KesanovaSSB4

Tom: We refer to this as "graphic text" -- meaning, literally, text contained within graphic images. How it's handled differs from project to project, but the short answer is, yeah, it involves creating a whole new texture for the model. Sometimes, this is handled by the developer: they'll just send us a list of all the graphic text images that exist in-game and what each image says, we'll send that list back to them with translations, and they'll use those translations to create new graphic images on our behalf. For other games, however (particularly PC titles we're more or less spearheading), we'll have to do the graphic edits ourselves. When the original PSDs or what-not exist for the sign images, this is generally pretty easy -- but as you might expect, those aren't always available to us, meaning we'll sometimes have to go to a bit more trouble to get this done.

John: The best practice is to review graphic text very early in the localization process because it takes effort to fix and can throw a wrench in schedules if issues are discovered too late. On occasion, it is too difficult to change ubiquitous textures, especially those that might also appear in animation. This was the case with "NewTube" in SENRAN KAGURA Peach Beach Splash, which the localization team wanted to change to "NyuuTube" to make the wordplay clearer to series fans.

Question: With the Steam marketplace becoming increasingly saturated and being seen as a greater risk to publish on in recent times, what does XSEED plan on doing in order to remain prominent and relevant in the PC gaming space? - @myumute

Ken: It is indeed getting harder and harder to stand out as hundreds of new titles are releasing on Steam each month. We are working our way towards simultaneous release across all platforms to help leverage some of the coverage from the console version to get more attention to the PC release, so hopefully that's something we can accomplish soon. For PC-exclusive releases it continues to be a challenge, but at least they have a long tail and even if it's not an immediate success at launch we know it can continue to produce sales for years to come.

Question: What was your favorite film that you saw in 2017, and why? - @Crippeh

John: I'm way behind on movies this year (haven't seen Disaster Artist, Phantom Thread, or Get Out, for example), but recently I've enjoyed both Star Wars and Lady Bird. I expect I'll watch my favorite film from 2017 sometime in 2018.

Ken: Wind River. Mainly because of Jeremy Renner's performance and how many quotable lines he had.

Liz: Get Out for horror mindblowing amazingness, Spider-Man Homecoming for genuinely fun comic book movie, and The Shape of Water for Guillermo del Toro. Guillermo del Toro should always be a category.

That’s it! Stay turned for blog #2 later this week. Here’s a preview of the kinds of questions we’ll be answering:

Question: Have you ever considered selling the music CDs for your licenses stateside? - @LimitTimeGamer Question: If possible, would you please consider researching and localizing classic Korean-made PC xRPGs? - @DragEnRegalia Question: Do you have any interest in pursuing the localization of any of the large, beautiful Chinese RPGs that have been hitting Steam? Or are you focused exclusively on Japanese titles? - @TheDanaAddams Question: What inspired you all to do this kind of work in the first place? Also, what’s the story behind the company name XSEED? How did you all come up with it? - @TBlock_02 Question: What was everyone's favorite game(s) to work on this year? - @ArtistofLegacy Question: What's everyone's favorite song from the Falcom games you've released so far? - @Crippeh