#and make a very subtle reference to a certain popular gaming franchise

[ben-drabbles]

Last Adventure CCCVII

The lastest installment in a popular holo-game franchise, proudly maintained by humans descended from the colony ship Hero's Journey. While the game has come under fire for its lack of non-human representation, the developers insist upon keeping to 'the original vision of the franchise,' kept alive since - or so they claim - the golden age of Earth itself. "A world where magic and monsters are real, and a band of true heroes can save the day!"

This installment, like every entry since CCXXIV, takes place in full-immersion virtual reality, a common setup for people with the leisure time and credits to enjoy these games. However, the developers of Last Adventure CCCVII have 'opened the game up to the galaxy' by installing proprietary VR pods in gaming arcades, linking characters to biosignatures rather than user devices. They've also hired on a number of experts in cross-system communication, and for the first time in recorded history, have attained near-seamless VR play across interstellar distances. The dream of holo-gamers across the galaxy has finally been realized - a full-immersion massively-multiplayer galaxy-wide gaming experience.

There are, however, a number of questions as to how exactly these developers accomplished this near-impossible feat. While holographic communication between systems has been possible for decades, the full sensory data required for VR play used to just take too long to send, if it could be sent at all. Some theorize that they've installed backdoors into inter-system comms networks, or bargained with data smugglers; some think they've somehow compressed the data that needs to be sent between pods, perhaps through recent advances in psycho-tech. A few particularly conspiratorial folks believe they're using ancient Earth communication tech, and have been holding out on the common people of the galaxy until now. Whatever the case, the technology is here now, and we're certain to be seeing the effects for decades to come.

Though, perhaps the ghost stories about people entering those pods and never coming out are more than a commnet folktale - the developers of Hero's Journey have certainly been hiring on a lot more psychics and psychic scholars as of late, promising 'the next generation of virtual experiences.' Perhaps these pods are that next generation, or are a field test for some kind of new psycho-tech. What are these VR pods truly capable of? Only time will tell for certain - and in the meantime, who doesn't love pretending to be a wizard with your friends across the galaxy?

[dmss-blog-salian]

Blog Post -07

A Shared Universe: A Brief Look at Intertextuality in Film and Video Games

Intertextuality is a term and a concept that was first coined by renowned French philosopher and Semiotician Julia Kristeva in 1966. It first appeared in her essay titled ‘Word, Dialogue, and Novel’. So, what is intertextuality?

Well, according to Kirsteva, intertextuality refers to the ways in which one form of literary text alludes to another or simply borrows from it. She argues that this occurs among all art forms and I tend to agree with her.

Intertextuality is when various forms of art coincide or overlap. A very simple example would be that of movies and novels. Art isn’t created in a vacuum... It is inspired and very often, it is inspired by other works of art. Books are made into movies, movies are turned into comics, and so on and so forth.

In this blog, I’ll be writing about the intertextuality between games and cinemas. I’ll be looking at a couple of popular game titles and showing you how these games have borrowed material from films. Games are notorious for inserting references and this is often done consciously, as opposed to accidentally or unwittingly.

One signficant purpose of employing intertextuality between games and cinema is to deliver a fun experience and immerse the player into the game. For instance, when we look at specific game genres, we often find references to movies of the same genre. This can elicit a sense of nostalgia or just trigger a deeper interest in the game. Also, fans of a certain genre are likely to be well-versed in it, which allows developers to exploit intertextuality towards delivering a smooth narrative without having to go into too much detail.

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City

My first choice is the game “Grand Theft Auto: Vice City”. It’s an extremely popular game and the whole franchise is known for employing intertextuality. For example, the narrative for the 3rd instalment of the game is heavily influenced by The Godfather films. Vice City is the 4th instalment in the franchise and contains plenty of references to another very popular gangster film, namely Scarface.

You can find plenty of references to the movie peppered throughout Vice City. The first cut-scene, for instance, contains many similarities to Scarface. We see a dimly lit room with the camera doing a 360 around a table that contains stacks of cash and several bottles of champagne. You also see a group of unscrupulous looking men talk about Tommy Vercetti, the game’s protagonist. In fact, even the name Tommy is similar sounding to Tony, who happens to be the protagonist in Scarface.

We also hear the men discuss Cubans cutting in on cocaine deals, which is a clear reference to the plot of Scarface. In fact, the game’s entire plot is almost identical to Scarface’s. We see Tommy Vercetti rise from the bottom of the criminal hierarchy just like Tony Montana. Even the failed drug deal with the Colombians is borrowed from the film and is used to propel the game’s overall narrative forward.

The Silent Hill Games

One of the most popular titles in the Horror genre is the Silent Hill franchise. Players will often finds nods to the works of Stephen King here. For instance, the mist, which is ever-present in the game, is a direct reference to Stephen King’s The Mist, which was adapted into a movie in 2007.

The games also references movies like Jacob’s Ladder. The character Valtiel’s violently shaking head is inspired by one of the demonic characters in the film.

These subtle nods can make games more fun for players by creating a multiverse of sorts.

Sources:

Wikipedia Contributors (2022). Jacob’s Ladder (1990 film). [online] Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob%27s_Ladder_(1990_film).

Wikipedia Contributors (2019). Scarface (1983 film). [online] Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scarface_(1983_film).

Nasrullah Mambrol (2016). Julia Kristeva: Intertextuality. [online] Literary Theory and Criticism. Available at: https://literariness.org/2016/03/22/julia-kristeva-intertextuality/.

Plothe, T. (n.d.). Digital Games as the Intertextual Medium | CCTP-725: Remix and Dialogic Culture. [online] Available at: https://blogs.commons.georgetown.edu/cctp-725-fall2014/2014/02/02/digital-games-as-the-intertextual-medium/ [Accessed 31 Dec. 2022].

Study.com. (2017). Intertextuality in Film: Definition & Examples | Study.com. [online] Available at: https://study.com/academy/lesson/intertextuality-in-film-definition-examples.html.

Vader, V. (2016). Gaming Conceptz: Context and intertextuality in games. [online] Gaming Conceptz. Available at: http://gamingconceptz.blogspot.com/2016/05/context-and-intertextuality-in-games.html [Accessed 31 Dec. 2022].

[the-bjd-community-confess]

Dear 'Anime Bad' Anon: I Want To Help I pity your situation, so please have a list of weebshit that isn't moeified, or wherein the cutesy art-style serves a greater purpose. (Note: though they won't be soft marshmallow uguuuu, they may still have issues in other ways. Some may have aged badly with regards to how society views or portrays groups or beliefs, some may have upsetting content and dark themes, and some may simply not be to your taste. Note: Anime is a genre, not a monolith, and the disparaging stereotype that it's all cute girls uwuing over their brother s-s-senpai!!! is as much of a disservice as saying all western movies are just vapid cash grab superhero movie sequels with no inegrity or thought put into them. There are indeed a lot of superhero movies, but they're not all identical schlock (megamind vs venom vs kick-ass),  but even more than that, there is a wealth of creative endeavor just beyond the veil of Marvel's cape: just as there are plenty of good anime if you dig past the isekai high school harem wish fulfillment genre that no one wants to keep making but people keep making because it prints money to a very small demographic of the animation equivalent of a mobile game whale thereby allowing this frankly quite-small industry to work on engaging and worthwhile series where the budget permits, Regardless,)

Mushi-shi: -Pros: gorgeous animation, tranquil vibes, episodic stories so you can cram in an episode between classes or on your lunch break. highly recommended by the literal-who typing this out. -Cons: some themes or stories may cause emotional distress, learning to tell apart Urushibara Yuki's characters is a learning curve.

Baccano-Pros: meticulously-researched 20s-and-30s-era mafia violence with a hint of the supernatural, as a treat, told anachronistically with flair and jazz music. practically made to be binge-watched. the novels are finally getting translated into english as well. -Cons: lots of characters to keep track of, fair bit of blood and violence, some scenes or themes may be upsetting, lots of jumping around between different time periods. See Also: Durarara, another series by Ryōgo Narita with a ton of characters and a plot with more threads an overpriced sheet.

Cowboy Bebop-Pros: incredibly well-regarded, space bounty hunters are cool, episodic series that slowly takes on a plot towards the end, fantastic animation, scoring, and even dub work.  -Cons: some scenes or themes may be uncomfortable, some parts have not aged quite so well, the smart doll version of the main character is ugly, you're gonna carry that weight.

Trigun-Pros: starts lighthearted, develops an increasingly investing plot as the series goes along. fictional westerns are cool. this world is made of love and peace -Cons: some scenes or themes may be upsetting, and probably will be. gun violence is naturally present, but that ain't all of it.

Hellsing (standard or Ultimate. or Abridged)Pros: vampires killing nazis. the original adaptation isn't bad, the second adaptation (ultimate) is generally viewed as an improvement. abridged is a youtube parody version that was so popular the voice actors reference it in convention interviews.Cons: a Lot of violence, even trending to the gorey side of things. Uncomfortable Themes Everywhere, but it's a horror-tinged action series about killing nazis, so that's to be expected. 

Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood-Pros: while the original anime was quite good, the second iteration is a large improvement. does to alchemy what naruto does to ninjas: It's Basically Battle Magic. the plot starts on a strong note and doesn't let up from there. -Cons: there are distressing scenes and themes that may or may not be tolerable to the viewer. there are moments of cheesecake and even an occasional joke or a moeblob here and there, and it's not all doom and all gloom all the time, but this doesn't detract from the abject horror-despair that comes to permeate this series as it progresses. finally understand why people on the internet respond so negatively to the name 'nina'! 

[Mod: many more recs/reviews under the break, worth reading for those who like more obscure anime and animation]

Grave of the Fireflies-Pros: you will remember how to cry. it's a good reminder that one country's 'triumphs' often come at the expense of another country's people.  -Cons: this movie is incredibly dark, do not watch if you are in a bad headspace. see also: Barefoot Gen, a similar tale but this time from the perspective of an actual survivor from Hiroshima.

Michiko to Hatchin-Pros: an actually diverse cast of characters tangled up in a messy and very humanizing story, interspersed with Shinichiro Watanabe's particular flare for adventure. -Cons: some scenes or themes are very likely to be distressing. can be tricky to find, too.

Mo no no Ke (not the ghibli movie, though it is also quite good.) -Pros: incredibly unique art style and pacing that draws heavily from japanese theatre traditions, every screenshot is wallpaper-worthy. -Cons: may cause motion sickness. it is a psychological horror series, and one that does not need blood, nor gore, to cause visceral emotional response in the viewer. scenes and themes will be distressing- as really, that's the point.

Tokyo Godfathers-Pros: a transwoman, a (self-identified) homeless bum, and a runaway teen girl find a newborn in the baby on christmas. incredibly wholesome, somehow, and grounded in reality, with wonderful animation from the tragically late satoshi kon. -Cons: it is grounded in realism, and sometimes, people are dicks. mild transphobia warning, too, but in-universe- the transwoman herself is portrayed with kindness and allowed to be her own (wonderful!!!) person. still, viewer be mindful.

Kino no Tabi (the first series is my preferred, the second is shinier but lacks emotional impact- in my onion.) -Pros: mostly episodic, very unique series that can be gritty where it counts and kind where it matters. -Cons: some scenes or themes might be disturbing. finding it's not easy, either, and unfortunately, i don't think the novels are being translated right now, either.

Spice and Wolf-Pros: it's mostly about economics. there are shenanigans, a harvest god, and a slowly burgeoning romance, sure, but it's still mostly about economics. -Cons: there are moments of cheesecake and comedy, and moments that may cause distress to the viewer. it may or may not be to your taste.

Puella Magi Madoka Magica-Cons: yeah i know, it's moeblobs.  -Pros: you're gonna watch 'em die, though, in case that may interest you. it's quite a good subversion of the magical girl genre overall. somehow volks hasn't made an MDD of anyone from the series and i will never understand how that didn't happen.

Wolf Children: Ame to Yuki-Pros: watch a family grow together as a newly-single mother does her best to raise her twin children after the tragic loss of their father.  -Cons: keep tissues handy. certain scenes or themes may be uncomfortable.

Lupin III (Red Jacket, Ghibli, and the new 3D animation are all A+) pros: heist comedy elevated to an art form before half (or more!) of the people reading this were born. the english dubbed series that used to air on adult swim is a treat. cons: this franchise started in THE SIXTIES, so naturally, some shit has not aged well. certain series (fujiko mine) are darker than others in themes and material. the 3d movie that released recently is an excellent starting point.

Samurai Champloo-Pros: breakdancing samurai, a fascinating roster of characters, and a superb soundtrack by the tragically passed Nujabes. -Cons: it was made in the weird era of the transition from analog to digital animation and so the /series master/ was animated at a painfully low resolution, so even if there's a bluray out there (I haven't looked,) it will be an upscale, which doesn't always look the best. as well, there are scenes and themes that may make the viewer uncomfortable here and there.

The Works of Studio Ghibli Oh, I'm sorry, Ponyo too suffused with childhood wonder for you? My Neighbor Totoro not depressing enough?  In addition to the infamous Grave of the Fireflies, Studio Ghibli has made a wealth of movies that aren't aimed squarely at the kodomo (children's) sector. -Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind: climate change existential dread, the movie -Castle in the Sky: government obsession with obtaining weapons of mass destruction destroys everything beautiful, the movie -Pom Poko: human-caused deforestation and urbanization is destroying the natural world and all that live in it, the movie -Princess Mononoke: industrialization will be the death of everything beautiful in the world, the movie, with a side of sometimes everyone (and no one) is the villain when everyone is simply trying to survive -Howl's Moving Castle: The Physical Manifestation of Depression is a Liquid Ooze, the Movie, also War Is Bad It's not all depressing, but let it never be said that Hayao Miyazaki was subtle. Whisper of the Heart is a good coming-of-age story, Kiki's Delivery Service is a classic, Tales from Earthsea is divisive among fans of Ursula K. Le Guin but I personally liked it. From one studio alone there is a wealth of opportunities.

And that's really the point. These are just some from the top of my head. There are so very many options outside of the cute-girls-doing-cute-things genre that I couldn't list them all if I was here for a week. Or as Madoka Magica so ruthlessly showcases, even series that appear a certain way on the surface might not be what you bargained for once you look into them! These are all (I think) mostly older, mainstream-appeal series that should be easy to track down, too -- there are all kinds of singular animations like The Diary of Tortov Roddle, crowdfunded experiments like KICK-HEART, Masterpiece World Theatre renditions of classic (western) novels that never get talked about, films like A Silent Voice that confront social issues- and of course, series like Rozen Maiden that helped popularize this very hobby!

There is literally an ocean of content to explore from Japanese creators alone, and it opens up even more if you look into works from other parts of Asia- just look at how popular manwha have become, or Chinese animations like Leafie, a Hen Into the Wild! It's a genre unto itself, with all the breadth of content and inter-industry problems that come with it, and without any of the respect that similar art forms have been granted over the years. The way an entire culture's art form is often disparaged, disregarded, and belittled- and by extension, the way most of Asia's animated endeavors are often rolled up into that reductive dismissal along with anime and manga- is honestly Not Great, and there is absolutely a thread of xenophobia that runs through it. The industry has so very many problems (low wages, poor training, overwork of everyone ever, archaic financial modules, the exclusivity and breadth of merchandising necessary to turn a profit and how it leads to consumer burnout and disconnection over time, and yes, the way minors are portrayed not just in anime, but in Japanese media in general- and how much of that is actually bad (some of it is indeed,) and how much if it is cultural difference (I've heard people call the scene where the family in Totoro bathe together problematic because of the nudity, but I've also only heard people say that from the West)

-- none of the actual problems affecting the people who produce this medium are gonna improve when the general response to "animators frequently have to live at home to survive" is "that's what happens when you're a weeb."  It's 5am and I'm gonna point out the problems in the narrative around how we discuss this genre of entertainment because it's important, damn you! Regardless, thank you for coming to my unasked for and overlong TED talk about animation on a doll collecting drama blog, feel free to call me a pathetic weeb etcetera on your way out- but while you do so, might I suggest you also go watch a choice animated series! My current go-to is Bofuri, which is a cute-girls-doing-cute-things moefied isekai series that I refuse to apologize for watching. Be free. (The battle scenes are great and it captures the feeling of learning to play a new MMO with your friends better than most video-game-based anime I've seen in a long, long time. does anyone even still remember .hack? how about serial experiments lain...?)

~Anonymous

[mc-critical]

So something that I’ve noticed is a rather popular opinion (at least as far as what I’ve seen) is that Turhan is the most unlikeable or one of the most immoral characters in the series. Would you agree or disagree with this sentiment and why?

I wholeheartedly agree with this statement and it's one of the popular opinions of the fandom that I can get behind without any reservation whatsoever. Turhan is my least favourite sultana of the whole franchise and at no point did I find her likeable or could I ever sympathize with her.

She's vile, nasty and exceptionally ruthless throughout her entire screentime. What turns me off the most about her is her backstabbing nature and hypocrisy - her dynamic with Kösem never had the chance to feel organic because of it, it all seemed like a false charade right from the beginning. She staged a whole massive coup on the castle and influenced Kösem's decision to kill Ibrahim, then she highly and mightily claims, right when she's planning out the coup, that she's not like Kösem and won't kill innocent children when she already, consciously played a part in such a thing. She has a tendency of consistently manipulating the narrative to her favor and advantage.

There are lots of Sultanas that had the possibility to get quite close to the same ruthlessness, most of them are very questionable people and MCK only tripled down on that trend, which fits so much in the own ruthlessness of the time period itself. Look at Gülbahar, in example, she's far from a good person, she's an incredibly toxic and manipulative mother, but I stan her as a character. I stan her, because she's so nuanced and well-written and has a simplistic, down to earth backstory that complements her motivation. Gülbahar could also be very cruel and her dynamic with Kösem also veered in hypocrisy for quite some time, but there were many moments in her writing that outweighed that and at least gave us perspective as to why she's like that. Turhan's on the precise opposite side of the spectrum, because her unsympathetic traits only make themselves stick because of the writing: they're the only thing she has.

One-dimensional characters are far from rare in Magnificent Century and Kösem, but no display was as insulting as what the show did with Turhan. Turhan's offputting traits are the only traits she possesses, they're all she is from her first appearance. Her introduction becomes confusing from the start, because she's simply playing this game without any backstory or explanation. It's obvious she has to survive in this environment and it is an absolute given that she has to get rid of Kösem, her being a clear threat for herself and her son. But the immediacy of it turned out to be flat out hilarious, because of the relationship she managed to effectively build with Kösem. Turhan's hypocrisy and false play is found out by the audience light speedily quickly and it could cease making sense, because of both Turhan's ambiguous, unestablished motivations and Kösem's earlier attitude towards her. I admit that's more of a writing issue than a personal irritant for the character - it would all be a little better if they tried a E80-84 Şah Sultan-esque hypocrisy. That was more subtle, more interesting and we were waiting for it to fully unfold. Şah's motivation was revealed to us slowly, but surely, Turhan's only seemed to exist in a vacuum. Ibrahim's distaste for her also did very little motivation-wise. It was there and it put certain things into context, but it wasn't enough to justify most of her extremely irraneous actions and these still remained unexplained in their overexagerration. Her betrayal was convoluted and I not only knew it would happen, I waited in boredom for it to inevitably happen.

《Thing is, however, this character could've worked so much better, with such foundation alone. Her traits are heinous, but could be interesting if dealt with better. Turhan's character, in theory, works incredibly thematically: the last Sultana of the Sultanate of Women that turns out to merely contrast Hürrem - her being introduced as a ready product of her environment wasn't a bad idea, it makes her stand out and creates a stark contrast with Hürrem's thorough exploration and character development, the in-depth explanation on why she became the way she was, her character going through many stages of evolution. The way this fleshing out of motivations lowered in every Sultana of the SOW until we get to Turhan, when she's ready to act in an instant is a nice touch, in a way. And it's not only this- Turhan's whole character does to an extent present the evolution of the SOW in the franchise with her structure alone - the development of the concept of power: Hürrem gets her power from Süleiman/ Turhan gets it FULLY from herself, without a sultan who loves her, Hürrem had a long way to go to get her power/ Turhan was immediately in power; the way Turhan is the best example of the MC/MCK contrast that is wanting power because of personal motivation/wanting power for the sake of power - Out of all Sultanas from the SOW, Hürrem has the most personal motives involved with her craving power, because of the many attacks against her and her own situation/with Turhan it seemed as if she was powerful without a single detailed reason whatsoever, the first actual display of that extreme; the narrative roles of each member of the SOW: Hürrem is a main protagonist/ Turhan is a final boss; the shift of personalities: Hürrem is overally cheerful and fierce/ Turhan is overally stoic and cold and what best highlights it all, the contrast between the character establishing scenes of Hürrem and Turhan after the culmination of their respective character arcs. Hürrem's monologue in MC's season 2 finale and Turhan's stampede in MCK's show in such a chilling way the thematic difference between both characters and the respective shows: Hürrem has an active monologue throughout the scene, her purpose being in accordance with everyone around (except Mahidevran ofc), it is set in the center stage/ Turhan's look in the balcony is merely a mirror of the situation in the harem, it all happening over the monologue of another character that is Kösem. {I especially love the additional details of the scenes like the color contrast, the soundtracks that seemigly contradict each other and the massive thing that sells it all with people bowing down to Hürrem/lying dead on the floor with Turhan etc., but I'm really starting to detract from the point here.} Turhan's stampede is the only time that excessive ruthlessness so prominent in her character made some sense and wasn't there only for the sake of it and that was hardly sufficient.》

All these thematic details of Turhan's were amazing in intent, but very messy and almost absent in execution, for they barely show their purpose. Instead of these traits being only additional endorsement of the alleged purpose of her character, she's reduced into a one-dimensional caricature with all these traits only, turning her impossible to stand altogether. She is vile, ruthless and cruel, but her hypocrisy makes sure she's devoid of any actual character and personality. By that I mean that there is no moment where she isn't any of these traits, the balance of them is highly lacking in narrative and there is never a moment where she stops and thinks - we never get to see the character to breathe and to flow, not even a single scene. There is always this prominent facade she likes to keep and all her hypocritical, manipulative games, binding it all together. She never gets to have a moment for herself, where we could know her a little better. She always stays in her own unbreakable mask and that only has an antagonistic role or plays as a plot device. These potentially interesting traits, writing-wise, are devoid of substance and mainly that makes her impossible to root for. There have always been asspulls in character writing, there have always been antagonists later reduced to one dimensionality, but nobody, not even Safiye, is as grossly oversimplified like that as Turhan. Her scenes with Mehmed, her supposed most sincere bond, did nothing as well, with her not showing much affection even towards her own child. We only had a slight sign of that when they tried to poison him and even that seemed to focus on the fact that Kösem dared to go that far, not that Turhan was about to lose the one dearest to her. I'll never forget her smug grin when she was looking at the results of her coup (which was in the scene I was referring to when contrasting her to Hürrem). Looking like that at so many people who died because of you, no less, and only focusing on your newly put on thematic ring, not even thinking to check on your child, is something indescribable. This woman lacks conscience and that is very offputtingly utilized by the writers, leaving us with no reason to sympathize with her or think she has any moral scruples whatsoever. Even Dilruba, Halime and Safiye have softer sides that give us a chance to delve deep into their psyche. Turhan was a wasted potential through and through, with even lesser screentime and less chance to even show she's more than a cruel, ruthless sultana.

[And I find that really unfortunate, because historical Turhan seems so fascinating... If the writers gave MCK Turhan more material to work with, and they had a lot of that, in my opinion, she wouldn't be the worst sultana of the whole franchise, both sympathy-wise and writing-wise.]

[airoasis]

Did Detective Pikachu Prove Pokemon's Greatest Fan Theory?

New Post has been published on https://hititem.kr/did-detective-pikachu-prove-pokemons-greatest-fan-theory/

Did Detective Pikachu Prove Pokemon's Greatest Fan Theory?

All right Pokemon HQ let’s take our most usual personality recreate him in loving detail cast the web’s favorite voice of sarcasm adhere to based Canon and drop in fairly just a few Easter eggs to fanatics of this sequence movie I opt for you in the meantime over at Sonic HQ yeah guys let’s do it they did however alternate everything about the persona put off any ties to based lore and set the entire element to basic gangster rap come on cash hiya internet welcome to film theory the exhibit that is kinda cringy when it tries to be humorous however at the conclude of the day stays to be endearing same to detective Pikachu hey so headquartered on the web’s collective reaction it looks like we finally got ourselves the essential great online game movie of all time do not overcook it it’s fun it is first-class it can be wonderful it can be about as simply right as a are living-motion Pokemon film might be and by and large say it may be the primary watchable videogame film ok dialing again the reward right right here the essential watchable videogame movie of all time No in all honesty I saw it final night time time and that i ought to agree it was once without difficulty countless gratifying nothing groundbreaking but it surely used to be only a relatively fulfilling movie to appear at and as an expertise it confirmed really just a few things for me Ryan Reynolds nevertheless humorous Pikachu still lovable mr.

Mime still ordinarily creeping on children at night time time nonetheless more so than any of that detective Pikachu appears to have provided the ideal portions of proof wanted to affirm one of the vital longest-going for walks and coolest Pokemon theories that is been taken round for the reason that the primary iteration of video games method back within the 90s inside the method of fixing the thriller of what happened to Tim Goodman’s father detective Pikachu can have additionally readily solved a way more most important thriller a case that is been open for over two many years a case whose answer has colossal implications about the legitimate nature of Pokemon so pull out your magnifying glasses and put on that deerstalker cap due to the fact we have got purchased ourselves a case to comfort a case begins with the video video games manner once more in 1998 365 days when every individual idea that they had been king of the world and the peak of cell gaming used to be an 8-bit egg to your pocket named Tam gachi little did we all know then that we had been in the core of a revolution the pokken revolution iteration 100 fifty beautiful little pocket monsters that may provide upward push to the simplest-incomes media franchise of all time devour your coronary heart out good day Kitty two years prior in 1996 the sector had been met with pokemons purple green and blue but that came pokemon yellow in 1998 which contained one principal trade Pikachu is now your starter Pokemon simply followed you throughout the overworld that was most of the time it other minor variations had been to make it think towards the vastly general anime sequence at the time the health club chief Giovanni utilizing a Persian phrase characters like Jessie and James replacing popular personnel rocket grunt appearances but versus that it was without problems the usual video games in every single place over again or was as soon as it you see there used to be one other very subtle alternate made in Pokemon yellow within the direction of your ride across the Kanto neighborhood you seek advice from a place referred to as the pokmon mansion on Cinnabar Island a tremendous constructing stuffed with rubble scattered during it our journal entries referencing the invention of MU within the journals of Guiana and the following production of the highly powerful enormously violent mu to the wreckage around the mansion is the sport’s procedure of telling us that he was created right here and later escaped some thing that later video games in specified the modern day let’s go Pikachu and Eevee series makes rather more certain you ultimately to search out Mewtwo within the cerulean cave the location he can sooner or later be caught however that is the major exchange in pokemon yellow a company new wild pokemon can also be decided roaming the halls of the mansion ditto the turn out to be Pokemon a little bit blob of pink goo particular for its ability to shape-shift utilising DNA as his pokedex entry says equipped of copying an enemy’s genetic code to immediately transform itself into a replica of the enemy appears find it irresistible’s most effective a minor shift in spawn areas correct maybe it looked as if it would many to be more than just a twist of destiny that a genetically headquartered Pokemon would show up in an subject the place Mewtwo was being created utilizing genetic experimentation might be there was once a way that ditto was involving each and every Mew Mew 2 made just probably dittos had been the failed clones of mute the experiments that didn’t make the minimize unless science was once ultimately capable to create the excellent new clone in Mewtwo seems love it’s somewhat little bit of a stretch rice purists like me grasping at straws all they did was as soon as exchange one spawn region but the nearer you regarded into this factor the extra details started out to line up the connection between the 2 most effective obtained better when avid players observed that once more in yellow the only different spawn area for ditto was the cerulean cave the place Mewtwo finishes up hiding out after his get away from the mansion so anywhere Mewtwo was as soon as dittos seemed to agree to it was once ample to get theorists like me to staring at nearer and boy hello did we ever find a treasure trove of proof the similarities between Mew and ditto are indisputable in the video video games to have the particular identical weight of kilos they’re the one two Pokemon which probably ready to be taught the emerge as move simply by way of levelling up even their coloration appears to investigate I mean detailed ditto is traditionally purple and Mew is more often than not crimson however in lots of instances some iterations of the sport Mew is crimson and most commonly in some iterations of the video games ditto is red and in detective Pikachu the ditto was once once surely as an alternative more in the crimson spectrum nonetheless there’s no denying that continually every ditto and you will have got vibrant sorts which can also be each the same color of sunshine blue and that is all simply the superficial stuff if you happen to dig further into the sport’s information even the numbers inform the story of how they may be linked every Pokemon has base stats that govern their common attributes like HP assault protection speed and lots of others mu is a fashioned jack-of-all-trades on the discipline of his base stats he has equal base stats throughout the board if you occur to appear at dittos base stats you’ll find the distinct identical thing same base stat distribution throughout the board now all of dittos are fifty two percent minimize than muse nevertheless it’s precisely 52 percentage for all six of the principal stats the distribution of those knowledge is same it’s almost as if dito had been a weaker replica of the original mew and that there’s the point dito is not Mew it’s a lower than ultimate replica it’s the impact of failed cloning experiments cloning experiments eventually provide upward thrust to Mewtwo and go away the little pile of gooey DNA ditto over there within the corner wandering round looking at for stuff to do form of a bizarre Pokemon all of it supplies as so much as an awfully compelling wide variety of circumstantial proof however for the two decades in view that yellows liberate that is all it may be been circumstantial a bunch of similarities not ever outright validated by way of utilizing any singular piece of Pokemon media after which bought here detective Pikachu let’s lay out what we realized from the film and sure we’re gonna have to have some minor spoilers right here not the gigantic twist of what passed off to Tim’s father or whatever like that however for the smaller mysteries which maybe uncovered alongside the best way where i’m going to give you three seconds so you have to use that factor to click away and/or click the subscribe button to get notified of every time now now we have a cool concept like this one help this channel get to 10 million subscribers please it would be ample to get that glorified paperweight o.K. All of us excellent everyone is certain who’s gonna shore exceptional inside the film it’s stated that Mewtwo is a genetically altered clone of the ancient pokmon Mew confirming everything that we simply recounted nonetheless the film goes one step further they explicitly say that Mewtwo disappeared from the Kanto regional two a long time ago now the Kanto region is the situation the first video video games took location and where the anime started enjoyable twist of fate but nothing earth-shattering it may be that twenty years detail that exceptionally disorders you see detective Pikachu is coming out conveniently over twenty years after the discharge of the generation 1 games and exactly two decades after the release of pokmon Mewtwo strikes back the primary ever Pokemon film which used to be all about you guessed it Mewtwo’s escape it is all related and that is no longer even hypothesis it’s something outright established by the use of the screenwriters in an interview they did with polygon quote the implication which the screenwriters confirmed to polygon is that that is the equal Mewtwo from the Canon Universe finish quote I imply I gotta quibble with them saying dull can and universe due to the fact it may be like which Canon universe are you speaking about nevertheless hello i’ll take it so now we have now an based and validated canonical connection between detective Pikachu and the broader Pokemon franchise cool however the writers went on in yet another interview this with display Rant to affirm that they have been mindful of the ditto Mew theories when engaged on the undertaking quote all over again so we went into the historical past of ditto we checked out all of these concerns and we form of desired to leave it as much because the viewers of men and females which are extra mindful of the story we didn’t always consider that we wanted to go an excessive quantity of into that nevertheless all of these matters are a aspect and that i consider the deep opening place of ditto is a provocative question that we desired to trace at for the reason that of the interplay with Mewtwo’s genetic fabric it did appear like there used to be a shrewd connection between MU 2 and the ditto so we’ve now writers who’ve been accepted to work throughout the reputable canon who had been additionally aware of the doable connection between ditto and mute so now the question is how does that obviously translate to what we see on reveal well within the film we see ditto taking part in a pivotal operate via the highest of the film it is released that Howard Clifford the founder of rhyme metropolis is our precise villain a man or woman who’s out to hijack Mewtwo’s mind so he can acquire the psychic pokemons powers for himself so that you could do this he makes use of his partner pokemon ditto nevertheless this isn’t any traditional ditto you see Howard’s ditto has the capabilities to transform at will and within the film’s climax we see him do exactly that he transforms correct right into a champ to beat up Tim then reworking right into a cubone to offer him only some knuckle taps to knock him off a constructing and later remodeling right into a raging Charizard hack his ditto can also trade into into humans which is a whole different communicate for an extra day all of these behaviors though immediately conflict with what we find out about a traditional day doze abilities we’re recommended time and again at some point of the animes and video video video games that ditto can simplest reproduction matters it sees in gameplay phrases seeing that of this ditto are usually not capable to only grow to be into any random Pokemon it continually has to repeat whatever enemy it is dealing with but this is not only a gameplay mechanic it’s whatever that is a component of this wider franchises canon as situated via quite numerous pokedex entries ruby and sapphire emerald diamond and pearl black and white ditto rearranges itself constitution to transform itself into one of a kind shapes nonetheless if it tries to convert itself into anything with the aid of counting on its memory this pokemon manages to get details wrong a ditto rearranges itself structure to convert itself nonetheless if it tries to vary centered on its reminiscence it can get predominant aspects incorrect it has the ability to reconstitute its entire mobile constitution to convert into whatever it sees that is further supported with the aid of utilising what we see within the anime the primary ditto we meet within the anime are these belonging to the copycat duplicate and in her episodes we found out that ditto are simplest competent of remodeling into Pokemon which might be bodily reward and that it’s a situation of the species as a entire likewise all the other episodes which have ditto fine show ditto reworking into Pokemon which can also be present for it to repeat throughout all of our learn there have been zero canonical circumstances of ditto randomly shape-shifting at will without having a Pokemon regional to repeat to this point Howard’s ditto and detective Pikachu to cycle between varieties so swiftly and so precisely varieties that it is not seeing and continues to be in a position to repeat flawlessly it have got to be some type of significant ditto something that we’ve got no longer seen on this series before some thing that was artificially birthed out of a laboratory off of Mewtwo’s genetics keep in mind that every one this time the working notion that we have now been looking for to show is the connection

Between Mewtwo and ditto that like Mewtwo ditto was once additionally born out of the equal genetic checking out now in detective Pikachu twenty years later we see ditto and Mewtwo related yet another time Howard Clifford is doing genetic experiments on Mewtwo and outskirts of Rhyme metropolis and in the system produces a ditto with powers that surpass the opposite members of its species Tim says what type of advantage was once that that was once one amongst my father’s genetic experiments for individuals who had been watching for the final piece of affirmation for the hyperlink between new Mewtwo and ditto that is it and almost always as express as we’re ever gonna get ditto is constructed from the genetic stuff that Mew and u2 are additionally created from it is extra viable now than ever that ditto is only a bunch of failed protoplasm coming out of Mew cloning experiments again in 1998 it was all about creating the primary sorts of Mewtwo and the random regular dittos that spawned out of that process now 20 years later in 2019 with detective Pikachu it may be elevating and exploiting Mewtwo’s powers for the following stage of Howard Clifford’s evolution and within the process he’s Cree a larger more evolved sort of ditto subsequently it took a movie suggestion to verify one of the vital crucial noted recreation theories of all time however hi there that’s handiest a concept a multimedia go-platform idea and in case you wish to see extra on detective Pikachu verify out my movie thought on why detective Pikachu himself would absolutely be Ash’s Pikachu the film does now not outright D verify it an act you relatively likes using on Tim’s shoulders the entire time or hop on over to my exclusive channel activity thought for some extra Pokemon pleasure i’ve over 20 episodes theorizing the whole lot from how geography influences evolution within the Pokemon series to dead Pokemon and what happens in heck this final weekend just about did one exposing the real story behind one of the crucial mysterious ghost women that haunts the Pokemon video games honestly i am gonna hyperlink to the whole Pokemon playlist right correct here so that you could be comfortably binge watch Pokemon theories to your coronary coronary heart’s content so now if you’ll excuse me I obtained to move lure them all catch the whole distinct titanic unencumber movies that hit in like a one month span there is a lot to look at that I have got to get by way of so have to run back to the theater now that this episode is done confidently produces some just correct theories

[batterymonster2021]

Did Detective Pikachu Prove Pokemon's Greatest Fan Theory?

New Post has been published on https://hititem.kr/did-detective-pikachu-prove-pokemons-greatest-fan-theory/

Did Detective Pikachu Prove Pokemon's Greatest Fan Theory?

All right Pokemon HQ let’s take our most usual personality recreate him in loving detail cast the web’s favorite voice of sarcasm adhere to based Canon and drop in fairly just a few Easter eggs to fanatics of this sequence movie I opt for you in the meantime over at Sonic HQ yeah guys let’s do it they did however alternate everything about the persona put off any ties to based lore and set the entire element to basic gangster rap come on cash hiya internet welcome to film theory the exhibit that is kinda cringy when it tries to be humorous however at the conclude of the day stays to be endearing same to detective Pikachu hey so headquartered on the web’s collective reaction it looks like we finally got ourselves the essential great online game movie of all time do not overcook it it’s fun it is first-class it can be wonderful it can be about as simply right as a are living-motion Pokemon film might be and by and large say it may be the primary watchable videogame film ok dialing again the reward right right here the essential watchable videogame movie of all time No in all honesty I saw it final night time time and that i ought to agree it was once without difficulty countless gratifying nothing groundbreaking but it surely used to be only a relatively fulfilling movie to appear at and as an expertise it confirmed really just a few things for me Ryan Reynolds nevertheless humorous Pikachu still lovable mr.

Mime still ordinarily creeping on children at night time time nonetheless more so than any of that detective Pikachu appears to have provided the ideal portions of proof wanted to affirm one of the vital longest-going for walks and coolest Pokemon theories that is been taken round for the reason that the primary iteration of video games method back within the 90s inside the method of fixing the thriller of what happened to Tim Goodman’s father detective Pikachu can have additionally readily solved a way more most important thriller a case that is been open for over two many years a case whose answer has colossal implications about the legitimate nature of Pokemon so pull out your magnifying glasses and put on that deerstalker cap due to the fact we have got purchased ourselves a case to comfort a case begins with the video video games manner once more in 1998 365 days when every individual idea that they had been king of the world and the peak of cell gaming used to be an 8-bit egg to your pocket named Tam gachi little did we all know then that we had been in the core of a revolution the pokken revolution iteration 100 fifty beautiful little pocket monsters that may provide upward push to the simplest-incomes media franchise of all time devour your coronary heart out good day Kitty two years prior in 1996 the sector had been met with pokemons purple green and blue but that came pokemon yellow in 1998 which contained one principal trade Pikachu is now your starter Pokemon simply followed you throughout the overworld that was most of the time it other minor variations had been to make it think towards the vastly general anime sequence at the time the health club chief Giovanni utilizing a Persian phrase characters like Jessie and James replacing popular personnel rocket grunt appearances but versus that it was without problems the usual video games in every single place over again or was as soon as it you see there used to be one other very subtle alternate made in Pokemon yellow within the direction of your ride across the Kanto neighborhood you seek advice from a place referred to as the pokmon mansion on Cinnabar Island a tremendous constructing stuffed with rubble scattered during it our journal entries referencing the invention of MU within the journals of Guiana and the following production of the highly powerful enormously violent mu to the wreckage around the mansion is the sport’s procedure of telling us that he was created right here and later escaped some thing that later video games in specified the modern day let’s go Pikachu and Eevee series makes rather more certain you ultimately to search out Mewtwo within the cerulean cave the location he can sooner or later be caught however that is the major exchange in pokemon yellow a company new wild pokemon can also be decided roaming the halls of the mansion ditto the turn out to be Pokemon a little bit blob of pink goo particular for its ability to shape-shift utilising DNA as his pokedex entry says equipped of copying an enemy’s genetic code to immediately transform itself into a replica of the enemy appears find it irresistible’s most effective a minor shift in spawn areas correct maybe it looked as if it would many to be more than just a twist of destiny that a genetically headquartered Pokemon would show up in an subject the place Mewtwo was being created utilizing genetic experimentation might be there was once a way that ditto was involving each and every Mew Mew 2 made just probably dittos had been the failed clones of mute the experiments that didn’t make the minimize unless science was once ultimately capable to create the excellent new clone in Mewtwo seems love it’s somewhat little bit of a stretch rice purists like me grasping at straws all they did was as soon as exchange one spawn region but the nearer you regarded into this factor the extra details started out to line up the connection between the 2 most effective obtained better when avid players observed that once more in yellow the only different spawn area for ditto was the cerulean cave the place Mewtwo finishes up hiding out after his get away from the mansion so anywhere Mewtwo was as soon as dittos seemed to agree to it was once ample to get theorists like me to staring at nearer and boy hello did we ever find a treasure trove of proof the similarities between Mew and ditto are indisputable in the video video games to have the particular identical weight of kilos they’re the one two Pokemon which probably ready to be taught the emerge as move simply by way of levelling up even their coloration appears to investigate I mean detailed ditto is traditionally purple and Mew is more often than not crimson however in lots of instances some iterations of the sport Mew is crimson and most commonly in some iterations of the video games ditto is red and in detective Pikachu the ditto was once once surely as an alternative more in the crimson spectrum nonetheless there’s no denying that continually every ditto and you will have got vibrant sorts which can also be each the same color of sunshine blue and that is all simply the superficial stuff if you happen to dig further into the sport’s information even the numbers inform the story of how they may be linked every Pokemon has base stats that govern their common attributes like HP assault protection speed and lots of others mu is a fashioned jack-of-all-trades on the discipline of his base stats he has equal base stats throughout the board if you occur to appear at dittos base stats you’ll find the distinct identical thing same base stat distribution throughout the board now all of dittos are fifty two percent minimize than muse nevertheless it’s precisely 52 percentage for all six of the principal stats the distribution of those knowledge is same it’s almost as if dito had been a weaker replica of the original mew and that there’s the point dito is not Mew it’s a lower than ultimate replica it’s the impact of failed cloning experiments cloning experiments eventually provide upward thrust to Mewtwo and go away the little pile of gooey DNA ditto over there within the corner wandering round looking at for stuff to do form of a bizarre Pokemon all of it supplies as so much as an awfully compelling wide variety of circumstantial proof however for the two decades in view that yellows liberate that is all it may be been circumstantial a bunch of similarities not ever outright validated by way of utilizing any singular piece of Pokemon media after which bought here detective Pikachu let’s lay out what we realized from the film and sure we’re gonna have to have some minor spoilers right here not the gigantic twist of what passed off to Tim’s father or whatever like that however for the smaller mysteries which maybe uncovered alongside the best way where i’m going to give you three seconds so you have to use that factor to click away and/or click the subscribe button to get notified of every time now now we have a cool concept like this one help this channel get to 10 million subscribers please it would be ample to get that glorified paperweight o.K. All of us excellent everyone is certain who’s gonna shore exceptional inside the film it’s stated that Mewtwo is a genetically altered clone of the ancient pokmon Mew confirming everything that we simply recounted nonetheless the film goes one step further they explicitly say that Mewtwo disappeared from the Kanto regional two a long time ago now the Kanto region is the situation the first video video games took location and where the anime started enjoyable twist of fate but nothing earth-shattering it may be that twenty years detail that exceptionally disorders you see detective Pikachu is coming out conveniently over twenty years after the discharge of the generation 1 games and exactly two decades after the release of pokmon Mewtwo strikes back the primary ever Pokemon film which used to be all about you guessed it Mewtwo’s escape it is all related and that is no longer even hypothesis it’s something outright established by the use of the screenwriters in an interview they did with polygon quote the implication which the screenwriters confirmed to polygon is that that is the equal Mewtwo from the Canon Universe finish quote I imply I gotta quibble with them saying dull can and universe due to the fact it may be like which Canon universe are you speaking about nevertheless hello i’ll take it so now we have now an based and validated canonical connection between detective Pikachu and the broader Pokemon franchise cool however the writers went on in yet another interview this with display Rant to affirm that they have been mindful of the ditto Mew theories when engaged on the undertaking quote all over again so we went into the historical past of ditto we checked out all of these concerns and we form of desired to leave it as much because the viewers of men and females which are extra mindful of the story we didn’t always consider that we wanted to go an excessive quantity of into that nevertheless all of these matters are a aspect and that i consider the deep opening place of ditto is a provocative question that we desired to trace at for the reason that of the interplay with Mewtwo’s genetic fabric it did appear like there used to be a shrewd connection between MU 2 and the ditto so we’ve now writers who’ve been accepted to work throughout the reputable canon who had been additionally aware of the doable connection between ditto and mute so now the question is how does that obviously translate to what we see on reveal well within the film we see ditto taking part in a pivotal operate via the highest of the film it is released that Howard Clifford the founder of rhyme metropolis is our precise villain a man or woman who’s out to hijack Mewtwo’s mind so he can acquire the psychic pokemons powers for himself so that you could do this he makes use of his partner pokemon ditto nevertheless this isn’t any traditional ditto you see Howard’s ditto has the capabilities to transform at will and within the film’s climax we see him do exactly that he transforms correct right into a champ to beat up Tim then reworking right into a cubone to offer him only some knuckle taps to knock him off a constructing and later remodeling right into a raging Charizard hack his ditto can also trade into into humans which is a whole different communicate for an extra day all of these behaviors though immediately conflict with what we find out about a traditional day doze abilities we’re recommended time and again at some point of the animes and video video video games that ditto can simplest reproduction matters it sees in gameplay phrases seeing that of this ditto are usually not capable to only grow to be into any random Pokemon it continually has to repeat whatever enemy it is dealing with but this is not only a gameplay mechanic it’s whatever that is a component of this wider franchises canon as situated via quite numerous pokedex entries ruby and sapphire emerald diamond and pearl black and white ditto rearranges itself constitution to transform itself into one of a kind shapes nonetheless if it tries to convert itself into anything with the aid of counting on its memory this pokemon manages to get details wrong a ditto rearranges itself structure to convert itself nonetheless if it tries to vary centered on its reminiscence it can get predominant aspects incorrect it has the ability to reconstitute its entire mobile constitution to convert into whatever it sees that is further supported with the aid of utilising what we see within the anime the primary ditto we meet within the anime are these belonging to the copycat duplicate and in her episodes we found out that ditto are simplest competent of remodeling into Pokemon which might be bodily reward and that it’s a situation of the species as a entire likewise all the other episodes which have ditto fine show ditto reworking into Pokemon which can also be present for it to repeat throughout all of our learn there have been zero canonical circumstances of ditto randomly shape-shifting at will without having a Pokemon regional to repeat to this point Howard’s ditto and detective Pikachu to cycle between varieties so swiftly and so precisely varieties that it is not seeing and continues to be in a position to repeat flawlessly it have got to be some type of significant ditto something that we’ve got no longer seen on this series before some thing that was artificially birthed out of a laboratory off of Mewtwo’s genetics keep in mind that every one this time the working notion that we have now been looking for to show is the connection

Between Mewtwo and ditto that like Mewtwo ditto was once additionally born out of the equal genetic checking out now in detective Pikachu twenty years later we see ditto and Mewtwo related yet another time Howard Clifford is doing genetic experiments on Mewtwo and outskirts of Rhyme metropolis and in the system produces a ditto with powers that surpass the opposite members of its species Tim says what type of advantage was once that that was once one amongst my father’s genetic experiments for individuals who had been watching for the final piece of affirmation for the hyperlink between new Mewtwo and ditto that is it and almost always as express as we’re ever gonna get ditto is constructed from the genetic stuff that Mew and u2 are additionally created from it is extra viable now than ever that ditto is only a bunch of failed protoplasm coming out of Mew cloning experiments again in 1998 it was all about creating the primary sorts of Mewtwo and the random regular dittos that spawned out of that process now 20 years later in 2019 with detective Pikachu it may be elevating and exploiting Mewtwo’s powers for the following stage of Howard Clifford’s evolution and within the process he’s Cree a larger more evolved sort of ditto subsequently it took a movie suggestion to verify one of the vital crucial noted recreation theories of all time however hi there that’s handiest a concept a multimedia go-platform idea and in case you wish to see extra on detective Pikachu verify out my movie thought on why detective Pikachu himself would absolutely be Ash’s Pikachu the film does now not outright D verify it an act you relatively likes using on Tim’s shoulders the entire time or hop on over to my exclusive channel activity thought for some extra Pokemon pleasure i’ve over 20 episodes theorizing the whole lot from how geography influences evolution within the Pokemon series to dead Pokemon and what happens in heck this final weekend just about did one exposing the real story behind one of the crucial mysterious ghost women that haunts the Pokemon video games honestly i am gonna hyperlink to the whole Pokemon playlist right correct here so that you could be comfortably binge watch Pokemon theories to your coronary coronary heart’s content so now if you’ll excuse me I obtained to move lure them all catch the whole distinct titanic unencumber movies that hit in like a one month span there is a lot to look at that I have got to get by way of so have to run back to the theater now that this episode is done confidently produces some just correct theories

[whatwillyoudodifferently]

Hearts Of Gold – A Very Brief Look at the Character Design of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure

If I were to describe Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure in a single word, I think it would have to be “audacious.”

I would be very surprised if there’s anyone out there that doesn’t have even an inkling of an idea of what Jojo is about, but to put it as briefly as possible: Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure is a long-running manga (that has since given birth to a multi-media franchise, including animation, video games, and an exhibit in the Louvre) that tells the story of the Joestar family, spanning years, generations, and various casts of characters. The foes that the Joestars face range from vampires to superhuman immortals to everyday human beings empowered by the ghostly avatars of their resolve and desire. The Joestars and their allies use their own ghostly avatars (most commonly known as Stands), along with other forces such as the manipulation of energy via proper breathing or the weaponization of the Golden Ratio. Oh, and later in the story alternate universes come into play.

I’ve joked in the past that the secret to Jojo’s success is that the mangaka, Araki Hirohiko, simply does whatever he wants. Emotions are rarely anything less than bombastic, characters pose like abstract art pieces, Stand abilities range a seemingly endless range of possibilities, and are named after popular Western musicians and songs, and can be found in infants, turtles, hawks, haunted cat-plant hybrids, intelligent colonies of plankton, and trees. Basically, Araki never seems to ask himself “is this TOO ridiculous?” Honestly, in my opinion, at times it can be— but most of Jojo’s appeal is in how fantastic and delightfully bonkers it can get. If there’s anything Araki does differently, it’s that he is unafraid to let loose, which has made Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure the pop culture sensation it is today.

And if there’s anything Araki is good at letting loose about, it’s character design. Araki (who has gone on the record confirming the importance of the fashion world as an influence for his work) has a knack for designing outfits that are absurd and iconic and outlandish and stunning all at the same time— and in the world of Jojo, a character’s wardrobe is always a key part of their design. Iconic hairstyles, accessories, and tattoos are plentiful. And I could write an entire essay about the otherworldly and delightfully bizarre Stands alone.

I’ve come to find I have a deep love for character design and the thought that artists put into them— so much so that I’m actually in the middle of writing another essay about the character design for another series, Yowamushi Pedal. But as a sort of “appetizer” for that essay (and a “warm-up” to get me back into proper writing form for this blog), I’ve decided to write a small essay on what’s probably my favorite example of character design from this series while also examining what makes it so good.

Higashikata Josuke is the protagonist of Diamond is Unbreakable, the fourth major part of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, and (at the time of writing) the part that has most recently been adapted into an animated series. Unlike previous Jojo installments, DIU has a specific and consistent setting: Morioh, an average and unassuming Japanese town whose only real oddity is the disturbingly high amount of missing person cases. This, of course, ends up being linked to the power of Stands, and Josuke and his companions take it upon themselves to solve the mysteries of their beloved hometown and bring the unknown killer to justice.

Despite a few vices typical of your average teenage boy and a shockingly explosive (and specific) temper, Josuke’s defining character trait is his kind and noble heart. His major goal of the series is to keep his hometown safe from malevolent Stand users, but he actually ends up befriending many of the enemies he and his companions defeat.

What does all of this have to do with character design? Simple: Josuke’s design effectively communicates almost all of this information.

We’ve already established Araki has an eye for fashion, and even working with a typical high school uniform he’s able to create a look that’s all at once stylish, grounded (at least, for Jojo) and instantly recognizable. But the main thing I want to talk about here is the repetition in Josuke’s design. Repetition is one of the principles of visual design, and the idea is simple: repeating a visual element in your design will create a sense of unity and cohesiveness. This is mostly applied to things like graphic design, but I find repetition is a great way to create excellent character design as well.

Have you guessed what the repeated element in Josuke’s design is? That’s right: he wears his heart on his sleeve.

Or, rather his collar. Josuke customizes his school uniform with pins, and three of those five pins are heart. Most notable is the larger one he wears on his open jacket flap, opposite a large peace sign. One could definitely say that “love and peace” is Josuke’s ultimate goal in bringing the killer of Morioh to justice.

Speaking of the flaps of his jacket, take a close look. While it’s not as obvious as the stylized pins, the shape of Josuke’s open jacket creates what’s unmistakably a heart shape. Even Josuke’s silhouette calls to mind a heart: compare the width of his shoulders and chest to his waist.

Of course, we can’t talk about Josuke without talking about his hair. Josuke’s hairstyle is great, not just because it’s snazzy (it is) but also because it’s a rare QUADRUPLE-hitter of character design. First, obviously, is the fact that it continues the heart motif (only at certain angles— it’s even more pronounced in the anime). More important than that though is the fact that it’s instantly distinctive and even iconic, setting him apart not only from his fellow “Jojos” but from other characters in Japanese pop culture as well. Even if you only saw him in silhouette, you could probably identify Josuke by the shape of his hair alone.

Perhaps most cleverly of all, though, is how it sets up a contrast that serves to communicate Josuke’s character depth. See, in Japan, particularly in Japanese media and pop culture, pompadours are typically shorthand for a delinquent. When the audience first meets Josuke, more likely than not they’d assume he’s a bit of a rough kid (especially since the previous “Jojo” was a delinquent himself), leading them to be surprised when his introduction scene sees him attempting to be friendly with a local turtle to get over his fear of reptiles.

It’s a classic set up and reversal: “the delinquent with a heart of gold.” Nowadays it’s starting to become a bit of a cliché, but at least it’s a starting point for character depth. But Araki gives this trope another twist: in Josuke’s introduction (and establishing character moment), Josuke encounters some of his upperclassmen. They talk down to him, harass him, and even hurt the poor turtle, but Josuke, being a freshman, is of course too polite to talk back to his senpai.

And then one insults his hairstyle.

Instantly Josuke’s entire demeanor changes. One broken nose later, the upperclassmen are running for their lives, the turtle’s shell is mysteriously fixed, and the audience is beginning to get it. Josuke is a nice guy, he has a set of morals he sticks to, but he’s not a pushover, and he’s definitely not opposed to violence. In short, he’s far more than just a high school punk.

As for why Josuke’s hairstyle is such a big deal to him, that’s the last important detail about it: it ties into Josuke’s history, and therefore, his motives. As it turns out, Josuke’s hairstyle is modeled after that of a mysterious stranger that helped him and his mother many years ago. Inspired by the man who saved his life, Josuke decided to live his life as he believed his savior would, which reflects in his compassionate nature at the time of DIU— wouldn’t you know it, linking neatly back to the heart shape, specifically as a symbol of love.

It’s things like this that make me wonder is Araki is a genius, or simply ridiculous.

Anyways, the short and long of it is that’s Josuke’s pompadour continues the heart theme. That theme also just so happens to continue in his Stand, Crazy Diamond. There’s hearts all over Crazy Diamond’s design, some blatant, some more subtle (hint: look at its shoulders). And of course, its helmet-like head is an obvious parallel to Josuke’s hair while also incorporating a heart-like shape. As an extension of Josuke, it’d only make sense for Crazy Diamond to also possess his motif.

But what does the motif mean? Well, I probably don’t have to tell you. Even if you somehow didn’t know that hearts are visual shorthand for love and affection, the round edges might clue you onto the fact that it’s a “soft” shape, similar to how a circle carries connotations of approachability. Hearts are love, kindness, compassion— all that warm and fuzzy stuff. Basically, Josuke’s “hearts” are all meant to clue the audience to the fact that he’s a good kid.

This is reflected in the main ability of Crazy Diamond. On paper, Crazy Diamond’s ability is “restoration,” allowing Josuke to return anything to a previous state. The most common application he uses this ability for, however, is healing the wounds of others. As Jotaro says early in the story, while humans are naturally drawn to violence and destruction, Josuke’s strength is rooted in his compassion. It’s his compassion that leads to him befriending his many allies over the course of DIU, even those who started as his enemies. And ultimately, it is the culmination of all these different bonds that lead to the defeat of Morioh’s killer.

Diamond is Unbreakable is often referred to by fans as something of a “slice-of-life” series. While there’s plenty of action and drama, this classification isn’t entirely inaccurate, what with the small town setting and the fact that most of the cast are high-schoolers and otherwise average people, despite all the punch ghosts. Even with all the fights and mysteries, DIU is more of a story of characters, of their strengths, weaknesses, inner conflicts and interactions. It’s a “softer” chapter in the story of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, and Josuke, with all his “softness,” is the perfect protagonist for it.

In talking about Josuke’s character design, I actually ended up talking a lot about a lot of other things, including Josuke as a character and the themes of Diamond is Unbreakable— and that’s precisely why Josuke’s character design is so fantastic. You see, aesthetics are great, but a character’s design should ultimately tell me about the character, and if it also happens to communicate some central themes of the story, well, the more the merrier. Josuke’s character design is one of my favorite Jojo designs, and stands as a testament to the power of a few repeated elements as well as what a good character design can communicate.

Araki Hirohiko, your manga is ridiculous, but it’s a damn good kind of ridiculous. Shine on, you crazy diamond.

Diamond Is Unbreakable can be watched with subtitles on Crunchyroll, along with all the previous seasons of David Production’s current adaption of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure.

[translationandbetrayals]

Militaristic Japanthropomorphism

Anime and manga, as a cultural medium and an art style, are generally associated to a couple of things: highschools and cute girls, fanservice, over the top unrealistic action, one or two good plots here and there, fanservice, and sometimes weird fan art of inanimate objects drawn as girls. Or men, but more than often, girls.

Anthropomorphism is the act of giving human attributes to animals, objects, concepts, and non-human things in general. In anime and manga, this has been widely done, specially with animals, in this case named kemonomimi (lit., “animal ears”) where animals are drawn as humans with animal ears and/or tails. This also has been done a lot with dojin purposes (self-published content, manga, novels, games, etc., original or based on an established franchise), on internet sites, or by some brands that want to make pets to advertise themselves. All in all, it’s a big part of moe and otaku culture.

But in a more specific topic, this practice has reached a huge popularity on military hardware.

Take a minute, and google the name of any Japanese naval warship from the WWII. Yeah,it is a liiiittle bit specific. But the first search result that’ll appear will most surely be a picture of the anthropomorphic version of it from Kantai Collection (Kancolle for short). Kancolle is a browser game featuring Japanese and some other ships from the World War II depicted as girls. It has reached such a popularity that several other media has spawned from it: an anime series, various manga and novels, figures, and other videogames; not to mention all the fan-made content.

Hint: It’s a LOT. In the COMIKETS following it’s release (the biggest dojinshi market in the country, realized twice a year)  it was almost as popular as Touhou Project, the big protagonist of the dojin scene in Japan.

Japanese are well known for the respect they have for they culture and they own history, and it’s a topic that’s been seen more than a couple of times on their media. What may seem just as another over sexualized, kinda weird game with a… “Interesting” premise, actually shows a lot of accuracy about what it’s portraying. It could also be seen as a weirdly specific (but very Japanese nonetheless) way of spreading their history.

I’m not going to lie and say the game directly teaches about it (let’s not even mention the anime adaptation). It’s a full moe oriented game about obsessively collecting boat waifus and fighting alien humanoid ships, who, surprise, also happen to be girls. Pretty standard. But if you dare to search a little bit more about each character, details like their sizes, apparent age, clothes, eyes, and their design in general, are made according to the real life naval ships. Even more subtle things like their in-game stats, quotes, relationships or personality traits refer to the irl characteristics, purpose, or events related to them during the course of the war.

*The gameplay is mostly RNG based. It can be pretty frustrating

On the context of trying to explain the popularity of the franchise between his demographic (mostly young men), Japan national newspaper Asahi Shimbun even stated in 2014 that “the game’s unforgiving mechanics, such as ships permanently sinking, some of them may even trace for their grandparents’ military service history, so helps players understand the brutality of war given the desperate situations, that they can gain a more positive understanding of history or even oppose conflict itself”

But of course, this isn’t anything new. Kancolle was released in early 2013. Manga like Strike Witches (2005), about an alternate universe WWII where girls (based on real life pilots) fight using real life airplane based machines, or Upotte!! (2009), about an academy for gun girls, used the idea of anthropomorphizing military tech into moe. The boom of Kantai Collection though, promoted the popularity of both war, historical or naval anime and manga; and franchises that follow the same formula, like Touken Ranbu, that takes historical swords and turns them into warriors (men this time), made by the same online game company that is in charge of Kancolle (DMM) and has enjoyed a pretty big success too; or the less known Shiro Project, also by DMM, that transforms mostly Japanese castles into girls.

Wether you take it as something pretty weird, as another excuse to make more moe and fanservice filled media, or as something actually interesting, it’s (or at least was) a huge phenomenon in Japan that, want it or not, draws attention; and as for anthropomorphism in general, a staple of anime and manga that has been there since forever, so there’s nothing to be surprised about. Certain internet rule explains it pretty well…

My take on this? Battleship Water Demon best waifu ❤

Also, Panzermadels is on Steam for any even-more-specific tank related needs…

 Miguel F. Rodriguez 

-Well, as a weapon hardware lover myself, I personally approve this post and all of its content.

I’m sorry but I had to delet the last image, it was corrupted.

Also, garupan <3