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smash-64 · 1 month ago

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2024 Game of the Year Countdown Honorable Mention: Pokemon Leaf Green Nintendo GameBoy Advance, 2005

Playing another Kanto game so soon?? (Preview: there will be another Kanto game on my GotY list) AND doing a poison type Nuzlocke? Am I crazy?

Well, not entirely. I’ve been wanting to replay Pokemon games lately and I’ve seen Kanto dozens upon dozens of times over the years, so I’d definitely need something to keep it fresh. Add in that Gen 3 is probably my least favorite generation, and I DEFINITELY needed encouragement. As this particular replay was more about my Nuzlocke attempt, my “review” will lean entirely on that aspect rather than anything else. Check below the cut for a lengthy summary!

I have only ever truly tried one Nuzlocke in my Pokemon career, and it was also on a Gen 3 Kanto remake. I tried a bug type only Nuzlocke on Fire Red a very, very long time ago, and it ended in tragedy. I made it all the way to Lance, where I lost my Beedrill, and then lost the other four members of my team against Gary. A critical hit at the wrong time put me in a bad spot and Scyther couldn’t Swords Dance me outta that one. Bug types had me hamstrung from the start, as I only had five available to me: Beedrill, Butterfree, Parasect, Venomoth, and Scyther (no Pinsir since I had no trade options open to me at the time). It was rough and Blaine involved a LOT of luck. However, this is not about my failed Nuzlocke attempt from long ago; it’s about my successful one from 2024!

I fell into poison type as my option since it offered me a few choices, but none of them were exactly OU tier crushers. Additionally, I was stuck without certain options, like Crobat due to the lack of friendship evolutions, and Gengar, since while I do have trading available to me now, I wasn’t willing to restart my post-Elite Four Fire Red in order to complete a trade. Gen 3 had some stupid roadblocks and the trade limits are really annoying. Don’t get me started on how they permanently ruined the entire stat system, not to mention how hard it was to Catch ‘em All. I digress.

Bulbasaur was my starter and obvious choice for a strong, early poison type. With both Nidorans catchable before Mt. Moon, and two Moon Stones within, I was able to waltz into Cerulean City with a Nidoqueen and Nidoking. This made the early game a breeze! I appreciate the original Gen 1 designers for making it possible to find such strong Pokemon early in the game, should you know where to look and what to do.

My next team member was going to be Haunter, and I did give myself one rule exception to the standard Nuzlocke: Haunter, as a ghost, is allowed to faint; but ONLY when using Destiny Bond. Seems fitting and proper for a ghost to be able to do stuff like this. As an attacker, Haunter was destroying teams with her crazy high special attack. This was nice since I wasn’t going to be able to do the trade evolution required for Gengar.

Tentacruel came next and easily slotted in. I found myself riding high for a long time, but I knew I’d eventually have to face my most difficult challenge: taking on Sabrina. With only poison types available, I was fully exposed to everyone in the gym. Destiny Bond Haunter can only get me so far, so I was glad to see that Gen 3 did at least one thing right: they gave Nidoking Megahorn.

Sabrina ended up being a huge pushover. As did Giovanni and Victory Road. Before I knew it, I was at the Indigo Plateau and the Elite Four. Now, I recall my Fire Red bug type Nuzlocke going similarly, but I wasn’t going to allow myself to grind levels for a simple advantage like that. I had to do it the hard way.

I got lucky with some odd choices by the AI when fighting Lorelai; Slowbro vs Nidoking saw her use Amnesia when I didn’t OHKO her with Megahorn, which is a very strange choice. I know Gen 1 had some poorly programmed AI, but I figured they would have fixed it by Gen 3. Then, Nidoqueen’s Thunder got a critical hit against Cloyster, and I easily Destiny Bonded Lapras with Haunter. Bruno was a joke, and Agatha was as well, aside from her higher-level Gengar, which turned into a war of attrition with the Poke Flute constantly playing in the background while she got extremely lucky on like eight Hypnosis hits in a row. 55% accurate move, but 100% accurate in the hands of the CPU AI.

Lance was also surprisingly easy. Putting Ice Beam on Tentacruel proved to be crucial, as was keeping Barrier. But Gary’s sheer level advantage was always going to be a huge challenge.

Nidoqueen took care of Pidgeot easily enough, and Destiny Bond took care of Alakazam thanks to another strange AI choice, when it opted for Future Sight over Psychic on turn one, as I discovered that Haunter, despite putting all the EV’s I could into speed, was slower than Alakazam. Nidoking OHKO’d Exeggutor, but this is where I started to run into trouble. I threw one Rock Tomb on Charizard, but had to switch out after a much too powerful Fire Blast. Nidoqueen missed Thunder TWICE, and fell to Gary’s Charizard. RIP Nidoqueen.

Tentacruel was up next, and with Rock Tomb’s speed reduction, cleaned up easily. Rhydon never stood a chance, either. Gary’s last Pokemon, Gyarados, would prove much more difficult than any Gyarados should in the pre-physical/special split era. I figured Venusaur would be a good matchup, and I got one Leech Seed off before a Thrash critical hit claimed another victim. RIP Venusaur.

Nidoking was next and got off only a single Rock Tomb before Hydro Pump claimed him as well, but I did get the speed reduction I wanted. RIP Nidoking.

Tentacruel was my only Pokemon left, I tripled up on Barrier to max out my defense, and Thrash was doing like 17 damage. With Leech Seed, the speed reduction of Rock Tomb, and maxed out defense, I knew I was in a really great position for the long haul. After what felt like a dozen Full Restores, the AI finally gave up and I took the fight.

Technically, only Haunter and Tentacruel survived the Nuzlocke challenge, which is a bit disappointing if I’m honest. But it was still a fun way to play an old game from a generation that isn’t one of my favorites.

#pokemon #leaf green #Gen 3 #gba #gameboy #gameboy advance #nintendo #goty #game of the year countdown

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aestheticsfandomsandmore · 4 years ago

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I decided to review all Pokémon episodes starting from season 1 and I’ll probably be reviewing them once a week, because I’m busy with University and stuff. While I was rewatching the first episode, “Pokémon I Choose You! (ポケモン! きみにきめた!)” I noticed something that could be pretty interesting for a discussion about the Alola League.

I know that this is a controversial topic, so I want to make a cautionary tale first: I don’t think that the Alola League is any different from the Orange League. I mean it. If you think about it, they even have similar structures: to compete in these Leagues you have to go through trials that may even have anything to do with battling at all, you have to move from Island to Island in order to reach the Gym Leaders/Captains (the Captains aren’t even a thing in the anime) and the League itself has no Four Heavenly Kings/Elite Four. In order to win the Orange League Satoshi/Ash only had to defeat the Head Leader, some sort of a Champion, while in order to win the Alola League he only had to beat the tournment; no Four Heavenly Kings, no Champion. He was close to win a tournment in Sinnoh and Kalos too, but that wouldn’t have made him a Champion. The Alola League was fresh-made, it still didn’t have a Champion, so Satoshi happened to become the first. I’m not saying he didn’t deserve it or that it was too easy, I’m just saying that it shouldn’t really count has a Championship as we usually mean it. It counts as a League victory though, just as much as the Orange League victory counts.

With all of that being said, without further ado, let’s get to my point here. My point here is that people had a milion reasons to question this victory but they still chose the most stupid one: comparing it to the Kanto League. Yes, I’m talking about Mokuroh/Rowlet falling asleep in the middle of the battle and that not counting as a loss.

“Zenigame/Squirtle was considered unable to battle in the Indigo League because it fell asleep.”

“Lizardon/Charizard refused to battle and that was still counted as a loss.”

First of all, Zenigame didn’t just fall asleep, he was put to sleep by Hiroshi's/Ritchie's Butterfree, so it has nothing to do with Mokuroh taking a nap on his own.

Second, Lizardon straight up ignored Satoshi’s orders, while Mokuroh had entered the battle and put on some amazing fight right before falling asleep. Those are two very different things.

Third, are you seriously bringing the Kanto League up as a comparison? The same League where Satoshi won battles with completely unexperienced Pokémon? The same League for which Satoshi didn't even earn all of his badges? The same League included in a season where a Metapod could evolve by getting their cocoon broken, the same season where a Raichu could run out of electricity after a couple of electric attacks, the same season where a Isitsubute/Geodude could be taken out by a Thunderbolt, the same season where a Sidon/Rhydon’s horn could conduct elecricity? Are you fucking kidding me?

This is one of the very first scene of the first episode of Pokémon. A Nidorino was put to sleep by that Gengar and his trainer had to return it. A few moments later, that same trainer tried to use Normal-type attacks against it. Yes, against Gengar, a Ghost-type Pokémon.

You cannot use the Indigo League to prove your point. You think that the battle between Satoshi and Hau sucked? Okay, great. You think Satoshi didn’t deserve to win? It’s your opinion and I respect it. You think the Alola League was not even to be considered a League? You’re kinda right, honestly (or, at least, the writers should have given more credit to the Orange League as well). But do not bring up Kanto because it doesn’t make sense.

#kanto league #kanto #pokemon season 1 #pokemon generation 1 #pokeani #orange league #alola league #alola #ash vs hau #ask ketchum #satoshi pokemon #hau pokemon #mokuroh #mokuro #rowlet #alola champion #pokemon analysis

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nelvana · 5 years ago

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In which the travelers regroup

First [ARC 1]: In which the human is transformed First [ARC 2]: In which a present is prepared Next: In which two dungeons are explored Previous: In which the god of antimatter is met

Nelvana stared out into the empty expanse of the night sky, silently counting the stars while she listened to the rest of her team sleeping. Though she had checked everyone when she had first been woken up, now she kept her gaze glued away from any of them. Being startled awake from another nightmare, and then being reminded that the one that had scared her back to consciousness was actually still with them always made her stomach turn.

One look to soothe her worries that all her friends were still present and doing alright was all she needed anyway, it wasn’t as if she was awake to keep watch. Tsuki was usually on that job, her and Edgar. Well, and Nelvana supposed, Dusknoir wouldn’t be sleeping much either. Either way, they were all resting on the ground, and herself and some of the others were up in a sturdy tree they had camped by.

Some rustling from above tore Nelvana out of her tired thinking, and Alex’s golden eyes peered out from beyond the foliage. While they had picked a tree that had more leaves than some others, there were certainly holes between the branches that could be seen. He gently lifted a finger to his mouth to tell Nelvana to stay quiet, and he patiently waited for her to calm down from being startled before he spoke.

“Nightmare?” Alex whispered, and Nelvana nodded. “Yeah. Me too. I just noticed you were up though, been awake for awhile now?” he continued, and she nodded again. “Alright… Normally I wouldn’t bother you, both of us could probably use some sleep, but I just remembered something I should tell you.”

“Important enough to keep us up and to whisper, but not enough to switch languages?” Nelvana questioned, finding a small smile returning to her face just as being able to hold a quiet conversation.

Alex chuckled softly, “yeah, well, ‘m too tired for that right now,” he responded, “anyway… it’s autumn now, isn’t it? Our first real one,” he murmured, his gaze drifting over the treetops momentarily before returning to look down at his partner. “My birthday should be coming up soon.”

Nelvana blinked, “oh yeah, you’re right,” she agreed, recalling when Alex had mentioned his age to Keahi months ago. “Do you want to celebrate it? Like Keahi did?”

“I’m not sure,” Alex sighed, “dunno if that’s something I’d enjoy for me. Was fun with Keahi, but…” he said, “besides, we’re off doing this right now. This is more important. I’ll check what the calendar date is when we get back, and maybe if it’s still before my birthday then I’ll see about giving it a go. If not, we can do something small or skip it altogether.”

“We shouldn’t skip it,” Nelvana told him, “you haven’t had a real birthday party before.”

“Yeah, you’re right. The others ’ll probably think the same,” Alex agreed, chuckling again. “Anyway, I just wanted to let you know. You generally have a pretty good memory, so if I forget when we get back, you’ll probably remember.”

“Alright, got it,” Nelvana replied, “anything else then?” she asked.

“Nah, we should probably sleep. Goodnight Nel,” Alex answered with a hum.

With that, he turned back around to rest on his branch. Exhaling, Nelvana closed her eyes a few moments afterwards, deciding to take the time to try to go back to sleep while her mind was no longer racing as much.

It was around midday after that that they received proper word from Ceebee, along with the rest of their team and friends back at home. She had spoken to the judge, and would be flying to catch up with the rest of the group that day.

The B Squadron and Gardevoir, looping in with Ceebee’s telepathy message to get to hear from everyone, confirmed that so far everything was fine back around Pokemon Square. Maurice had woken up, and while loopy from some of the medicine the kecleons recommended, seemed to be recovering well. Baguette explained that Maurice them all the best of luck as well, and was thankful that they had managed to get the warning in the end; Baguette adding afterwards that they explained the dimensional scream to Maurice so he wouldn’t be too confused, but they had only told Maurice.

With that message, the hope was that Ceebee would be back with everyone else with what she had learned by the end of the day.

“Alright, if we time this right, we can end the day right by Howling Forest too, so Ceebee will be back just in time for our first dungeon of the expedition!” Keahi exclaimed, reviewing the map that Damien had pulled out.

“Hey, it shows this lake right here though. Will that be a problem?” Damien asked, pointing out a blue circle on the map, not far from where they were if Keahi’s location estimates were enough to go by.

“Oh, right! Those are just the Mystic Lake! I believe there’s a community of dratinis and lapras out there,” Keahi replied, “that’s shouldn’t be any problem. We should be able to walk around just fine. Might take a bit of extra time, but it isn’t another dungeon, if that’s what you were worrying about!”

“Dratinis?” Nelvana questioned, glancing back at the other two from her position further up the line.

“Yeah! Well, the entire line is there, dratini, dragonair, dragonite…” Keahi responded, “er, are those another pokemon you guys didn’t get to see much of in the future? I guess that would make sense, they’re pretty rare, even now, as a lot of dragon-types tend to be.”

Alex nodded, “think we’ve seen some statues of them, the name does sound familiar,” he replied, “but there weren’t many dragon-types in the dead timeline. Think most of them went into hiding or rampaged enough early on to be a threat to be teamed up on,” he continued.

“I wonder if some of them would have gone to places like Sky Tower!” Edgar commented, “that would have been pretty safe, right?”

“Well, we’re not sure what happened to Sky Tower specifically, but yeah, I guess that sort of place would be used for some pokemon that can handle it,” Alex told him, “some pokemon would try living on the safe floors of dungeons to protect themselves from outsiders, but you’d have to be strong mentally and physically to handle it.”

“Oh…” Edgar nodded in understanding. “Back to the lake! Will we be able to see it before we get there? Lakes are just really big ponds, right? Does it have big waves like the beach back at Pokemon Square?”

Keahi laughed, “hey, slow down! I can only answer one question at a time!” zie insisted, “yeah, you could call a lake a really big pond. I’m not sure if the forest will open up before we get to Mystic Lake, I think it does a little bit…? We should be able to see it before we’re right on top of it,” zie explained, “er, what was the last question?”

“I don’t remember!” Edgar admitted with a giggle. “I’m just really excited to see new places!”

“He asked if the lake will have big waves, like back home,” Nelvana chimed back in.

“Thanks, Nel!” Keahi chirped, “lakes don’t usually have that big of waves, at least from what I recall. On a day like today, the water should be pretty calm.”

Trotting back closer to the others, Tsuki, who had been scouting ahead, spoke up, “you can go see for yourself,” she told them, “the forest opens up slightly up on that hill. We can see the lake from there.”

“Oh wow! Come on, let’s go look!” Edgar exclaimed, floating off and ahead of the rest of the group.

Following behind the energetic duskull, the group arrived to the aforementioned hill, and looked out over to the path ahead of them. While more forestry covered the direct land ahead, they could also see that not terribly far out was a large, deep blue lake. Even further ahead they could see where the terrain grew rockier, crested with mountains and expansive valleys running between each dip. The trees that still dotted the area even so far ahead were dappled with the warm colors they had been seeing before, painting the landscape with a colorful view.

“Woah… now would you look at that,” Alex whistled, “probably one of the best views out here for miles.”

Keahi stared out, beak dropped over, before letting out a squeal, “it’s so pretty! I had been told this looked nice, but wow! Coming out here in autumn definitely adds to it too!”

“Wonder what this would all look like in winter,” Tsuki mused, “there weren’t forests like these, or a lake, or even so many mountains back at the Frosty Forest…”

Dusknoir floated up silently behind the others, choosing not to speak about his opinion on the scenery ahead of them, though deep down he had to agree with every word that had already been said. Edgar eyed him momentarily, though did not say anything to him and simply chose to enjoy the sight for himself.

“Gee, I wish I had a camera with me,” Damien commented, “we’re gonna see a lot of cool stuff out here, and there’s no way to take a picture…”

“What’s a camera?” Edgar asked, turning his gaze to the gengar.

“Oh, it’s a device you can use to take pictures,” Damien answered, “er, I guess like an instant painting?”

“That sounds neat!” Edgar replied.

Damien nodded, “yeah, we could hang them around the base or just keep them around as memories.”

“We’ll just have to commit this to memory instead,” Nelvana joked, “nah, I’m sure we could get an actual painting someday if we really wanted,” she added.

“Well, better commit it to memory while you still can!” Keahi chimed in, “’cause if we want to make it by Howling Forest by the end of the day, we had better start looking for a way to get around Mystic Lake.”

“Ah, so you’re the one rushing us now?” Alex teased, elbowing the torchic gently with a laugh. “They learn so fast…”

Keahi laughed, nudging Alex back, “knock it off!” zie snapped playfully, “I was just saying!”

“Keahi is probably right. We should move on soon,” Dusknoir agreed, already beginning to move on ahead.

Alex’s smile shifted down to a scowl, abruptly cutting off his laughter. Rolling his eyes, Alex waited for someone else to begin to move on before he would follow as well. With a sigh, Keahi was the one to do this, and after zim and Alex had begun heading down the path with Dusknoir, the rest of the group was soon to follow on.

Aside from the enjoyable view that hill had provided, however, now those who cared to notice now realized that it would be generally faster to go eastwards around Mystic Lake, and after relaying this information to everyone else, they adjusted their path slightly in the hopes of saving on time. Of course, they did realize that Ceebee would still be trying to catch up, but unlike them she could fly above all the forests and the lake they would have to trudge through or around, so they knew she was unlikely to actually far behind, despite them having the head start on her for this part of the expedition.

The forest didn’t open up for Mystic Lake until another hour after passing over the hill, and thankfully with the previous path adjustment, they found themselves more towards the east side of Mystic Lake, still relatively close to the remainders of the woodlands and within reasonable walking around distance for the large body of the water. By now, just over the tree tops they could see more mountains around them, some tall enough to be topped with a layer of white snow.

Around Mystic Lake, they could see various serpentine shaped pokemon flying above the water, as well as some familiar lapras families swimming about. Some caverns licked the edge of the shores, and by the mouth of one the shape of a large orange colored pokemon could be seen lounging inside. Keahi pointed out each pokemon as zie spotted them, making sure to introduce the different species to zir friends who were not familiar with them.

Though some of them would have liked to socialize, there were enough that did not, and enough knowledge between all of them that they didn’t have time to be wrapped into a long conversation. Thus, they continued by the edge of Mystic Lake and did not engage with any of the residents of the area. None of the various pokemon living there seemed to take enough notice or interest of the group to go and speak with them, so eventually they made it around the lake and back into the forest uninterrupted.

“Next summer, we should go back and see if they’ll let us hang out there!” Keahi proclaimed as Mystic Lake disappeared from view, swallowed by the trees around them. “I know some of you like to swim, so it could be nice!”

“Well, I don’t l know about the swimming part, I might be the only one who likes that, but that does sound like a nice idea,” Nelvana agreed, “it seems like a nice spot. It would be nice to stick around longer sometime.”

“We could stay for a weekend, and set up camp at the top of that hill to always have the view,” Damien suggested.

“Do you plan on sticking around for an entire year?” Edgar asked, “sorry, I just mean that when you first decided to stay here, it sounded kinda temporary! I’d love to have you stick around longer!” he added.

“Oh, yeah, I had kinda forgotten about that…” Damien admitted, “well, I think I’ll hang out until you all get sick of me,” he joked, “I don’t really have plans to head out elsewhere quite yet.”

“Well, like Edgar said, you’re welcome to hang around longer if you’d like,” Nelvana hummed, “right?”

Alex chuckled, “yeah, you’ve definitely improved a lot. I don’t mind you staying around us longer. Might as well give your bed a good dent in it, we paid for that after all.”

Damien laughed, as did a couple others in the group. Keahi and Tsuki both nodded in agreement in Alex, and then conversation was soon passed on from. Dusknoir remained silent.

After another few hours, as the sun began painting the sky with its colors of departure for the night, Keahi suggested that they set up camp while there was still daylight. Zie admitted that zie didn’t know what the entrance to Howling Forest actually looked like, and didn’t want to run the risk of stumbling into the dungeon as the night darkness crept up on them. This was agreeable to the rest of the group, and they began to set up camp similarly to before.

It was then, about an hour after setting up their camp, that Ceebee finally arrived.

“There you guys are!” Ceebee exclaimed, practically dropping out of the sky to sit down with her friends. “Boy, am I exhausted. Flying all around the continent is no easy feat, you know,” she groaned.

“Ceebee!” Edgar cheered, swiftly floating over to where his friend had seated herself.

“Hey, Ceebee! I hope we weren’t too hard to find out here, we wanted to camp before running into the first dungeon of the expedition!” Keahi greeted.

“Nah, it wasn’t too bad, don’t worry,” Ceebee assured zim, “the light from the fire you all set up helped out too. I had just been getting worried I missed you all somewhere in the forest when I saw the smoke.”

“Heck yeah! Score one for the campfires!” Damien exclaimed, and then laughed at himself.

“So, do you want to explain first, or eat first? I’m sure you’re hungry from all that flying,” Alex offered.

“You know… I think I’ll eat first. How about you all tell me about how things have been over here?” Ceebee decided, already reaching for a small collection of blueberries that had been sitting out. “You’re all still here, which is always a good sign.”

“No one has killed each other yet,” Nelvana joked in response, poking the fire with her club before returning it to her side. “It’s actually been pretty nice, for the most part. The sights have all been gorgeous.”

“You should see it in the air!” Ceebee blurted out, bits of the blueberry spitting out from her mouth. “Sorry,” she apologized, wiping off her mouth. “It was an amazing view though. Made getting tired from the distance soooo worth it.”

“We’ve discussed plans for making it to the Howling Forest dungeon tomorrow morning. Keahi has said that depending on how things go, we can either get Pitfall Valley done in the same day or skip it altogether,” Tsuki spoke up.

“Well, neither of those should be too bad anyway,” Keahi added, “Howling Forest will be really easy, only about fifteen floors with weaker dungeon ‘mons. Pitfall Valley is a bit stronger, I think around twenty floors, but we can handle that, easy,” zie explained, “the main types, from what I remember, aren’t anything most of us are weak to either.”

Ceebee nodded, “that’s good! And then the day after should be at the guild?”

“Yup!” Keahi hummed, “again, if all goes well, we should only have about half a day’s travel from Pitfall Valley to the guild.”

Watching as Ceebee finished off the blueberries she decided to eat, Dusknoir spoke up next, “that’s most of what we have to share. What did the judge tell you?” he asked.

“Hm, someone’s in a hurry,” Ceebee huffed, brushing the fruit juice off from her hands into the leaves beside her. “Well, I am mostly done eating for now, at least. Thanks for waiting for that,” she added, “but yes, I did speak to the judge, and I did learn a lot about our situation from them… and, I actually brought them with me.”

With those words, Ceebee reached into the sack she had brought with her for her journey and pulled out a rock. To Nelvana and Damien, they recognized the stone as a piece of rubble from Murky Cave. Otherwise, it seemed ordinary in every way. Edgar floated closer to give it a better look, and after analyzing it for a few moments, he spoke up.

“Wow! So, the judge is a rock?” he asked, sounding equally as excited as he could have been if she had actually pulled a pokemon out of her bag.

“What?” Ceebee frowned, staring down at the rock. “Dammit, that could have been really cool! I thought you were supposed to come when called!” she hissed, poking at the rock.

Now with that cue, a presence arrived to the rock. It went generally unsensed by most, but Tsuki stiffened suddenly, and Edgar’s eye widened as they picked up on the new energy from the rock. Dusknoir narrowed his eye, though while he wasn’t about to say it, couldn’t sense much more than the general presence of something new.

“Oh wow! There’s a spirit in the rock now!” Edgar exclaimed, “Hello! Can you talk?”

A laugh rumbled from the stone, “yes, I can speak. Hello there everyone.”

Damien blinked, and then smiled broadly, “hey, that really is the judge! Hello!”

Standing up, Damien joined Edgar in crowding around to look over at the judge in the rock, and Nelvana followed suit. Naturally seeing their friends get up, Keahi hopped over as well, though by now it was getting challenging for everyone to get a good view.

“Ah, hello there, Nelvana and… Damien, is it now? That’s a nice new name,” they greeted, “how are you all? How is Gardevoir? She is back at the base, correct?”

Nelvana nodded, though unsure if they would be able to see her doing it, “yeah, she is. Did Ceebee tell you?”

“I let them pop in when we were visiting with the others before I flew out here to catch up with you all,” Ceebee responded, “now, everyone sit back down again! We don’t all need to crowd around, not like there’s really that much to actually look at here.

Complying with Ceebee’s wishes, those who had gotten up sat back down again where they had been originally. Ceebee placed the rock down as well in front of her, allowing them to “sit” as well.

“Can you see us from there?” Edgar asked, floating restlessly in place.

“No, I’m afraid I cannot. I can, however, sense you all from here, so I do know who is here and generally where you are,” they answered.

“How did you get to be able to put them there? Is it because the rock is from Murky Cave…?” Nelvana questioned, looking up curiously at Ceebee.

“Ehh no, not quite.” Ceebee rubbed the back of her neck with one hand. “Apparently it’s… something I can do as a celebi. Here, we’ll loop it in with the rest of the information. Should we just start from the beginning…?”

Nods and general words of agreement chorused from the group, all except from Tsuki, who still had her eyes locked on the rock. She slowly blinked at it, before sitting up more again from her more hunched position, fur still bristling slightly.

“That’s Giratina,” she said.

It was as if those words themselves had frozen time all over again. As realization clicked for everyone as to who Giratina was, and what legends spoke of them in the past, the previously cheerful mood was drowned in the new tension in the air. For a moment, it stayed silent like that, no one quite sure how to react right away.

Dusknoir abruptly rose from where he had been seated. Being directly to Ceebee’s right, it wasn’t difficult for him to get within arm’s length of her and the rock.

“That’s Giratina. In that rock,” he rumbled.

“Their spirit, yes. The judge is Giratina,” Ceebee replied, instinctively shuffling back. “Look, we’ll explain if you’d just-“

“You brought Giratina here?” Dusknoir demanded, voice raising as he closed the distance Ceebee had made. “Do you even realize who they are? They were banished for their violent nature! You are endangering us all by bringing them here!”

“Step back!” Alex snapped, suddenly standing up as well. “Back! off! Ceebee knows what she’s doing and you’re just making things worse! Sit down, now!” he snarled.

Dusknoir merely glared back at Alex, not moving at first. Though his stance didn’t change much, eventually he floated back slightly, still not as much as before, and still not sitting down again, but this seemed to relax Ceebee enough to continue speaking.

Ceebee exhaled, “thank you, Alex. Now look, I understand what the legends say, and even Giratina has admitted to their accuracy. But as I was saying, if you’d just let us explain…”

Giratina gave their thanks as well for everyone calming down some, and then took the time to explain their story once more, as they did to Ceebee when she was in Murky Cave. When they finished, Ceebee picked up with her thoughts on the situation, as well as the questions she asked and information she had gained from speaking to Giratina.

“So, I believe it would be in our best interest to allow Giratina to continue conversing with us,” Ceebee concluded.

“How can you be sure this isn’t a trick? They admitted to trying to trick others into releasing them in the past,” Dusknoir questioned.

“Because I can sense tricks; I’m a psychic-type!” Ceebee snapped, but then sighed again and tried to compose herself, running her fingers through her hair.

“If you truly distrust me, you can simply break the rock and my connection to your group is over,” Giratina added, “you are all in a position of power in this relationship. If you do not want me here, so be it. But I will assure you that I only wish to help.”

“Tsuki? What are your thoughts?” Keahi asked, turning to the absol sitting to zir left.

Tsuki let out a low hum, “they certainly still carry disaster with them, but it is faded. They have certainly done more good in recent times.”

“So, you’re saying you don’t get a headache around them?” Alex responded, glancing over at Tsuki as well.

Tsuki nodded, and Alex grinned. He shifted his gaze momentarily back to Dusknoir, still with the same smug grin, before facing Ceebee and the rock that held Giratina again.

“Well, if both Ceebee and Tsuki are fine with it, I’d say that seems to be at least good enough reason to keep them around,” Alex said, “we’ve had worse, evidently.”

Dusknoir tried not to show any reaction to this, but how his eyes narrowed and his posture stiffened again was caught by the grovyle, who only seemed to grin just a little bit more.

Damien was tearing grass out of the ground as he thought, rolling the vegetation in his hands before either tossing them into the campfire or simply letting them fall loose onto the ground again. As he finally reached a conclusion, he glanced over at Edgar by his left, and then Nelvana across from him, before speaking up. He knew alone he wouldn’t have enough authority here to land a final verdict, but he could hopefully sway some thoughts with his own conclusion.

“Giratina… did help us bring back Gardevoir, and without asking for any cost,” Damien stated, “I’d say, that is more good now than back like… a billion years ago. And if that’s not an argument to be accepted, I guess we could say this is repaying them for their help, since they want to come with us.”

Nelvana nodded, “I agree with that, and with what Alex said. Besides, now both Dialga and Palkia have threatened the world too, and a lot more recently than Giratina, and we’re going to be giving Dialga a chance to help us, so…”

“Thank you,” Giratina responded, relieved.

Edgar glanced at Keahi, the two of them being the only ones that hadn’t really weighed in their thoughts yet. Letting out a smile, Keahi smiled softly and nodded, and Edgar mimicked the movement after a moment.

“Alright, I’ll trust that Ceebee knows what she’s doing here with this. We’ve already said we can use all the help we can get,” Keahi hummed, Edgar nodding again.

Dusknoir scoffed at this, but didn’t say anything. He was clearly outnumbered in this discussion at this point, and he didn’t have enough influence here to really sway anyone’s thoughts anyway.

“Thank you,” Giratina repeated, “I will do my very best to assist you in whatever way I can.”

Ceebee nodded, “yeah, thanks everyone for trusting my choice on this. I think Giratina has already proved themself to be helpful, and them offering more of their services to us will greatly benefit us on this mission.”

“Well, the more help the better!” Edgar chirped, “glad to have another on board!”

“Hm, it is starting to get dark now though… I guess if that’s all settled, should we get some rest?” Keahi commented, glancing upwards through the foliage to peer at the night sky.

“Unless anyone else has any burning questions they’d like to ask Giratina, then yeah. Frankly, I’m exhausted. We should all get some rest for tomorrow,” Ceebee replied, “you said two dungeons, right Keahi?”

Keahi nodded, “mhmm, two dungeons. Maybe just one, but that’s only either if we’re too slow or if we manage to skip the second one.”

“Two new dungeons should be a new challenge for us, something we haven’t done as a team before,” Nelvana added, “we’ve done a few dungeons a day before, but never completely unfamiliar ones. We had better make sure we’re well prepared here.”

“And some rest can help with that!” Keahi chirped, “goodnight then everyone!”

First [ARC 1]: In which the human is transformed First [ARC 2]: In which a present is prepared Next: In which two dungeons are explored Previous: In which the god of antimatter is met

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tuchimuchibrainvomit · 7 years ago

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EPISODE 1:

Aloha, fellow Sakuga Seedlings!

Welcome to my case study series, Brain Vomit.

Name’s

Tuchimuchi Yoshinori – or just Tuchi...

And I enjoy animation. Especially animation from the eastern archipelago of Japan, also called “Anime”

In this series, right here, I’ll be exploring Japanese Animation Production and enlightening this growing community and myself to the power they have in this expansive animated medium.

In this episode, we will focus on Defining Anime, Production Roles that go into creating anime and more!!

I welcome you all to join me on this exploration into Anime.

Without a moment’s hesitation, let’s start with the crust and make our way downward!!

What is Anime?

Anime (アニメ) the word, is moniker for Japanese Animation.

Anime, the art form, is a style of Limited Animation that came into prominence during the rise of Disney in the 1960’s, although Japanese animation dates back to the beginning of the 20th century. The most prominent and well known anime began from Osamu Tezuka -- known for Astro Boy, Black Jack and Kimba the White Lion -- creating new techniques after being inspired to simplify Disney’s rigorous animation aesthetics.

As manga began to be noticed as the popular thing in the 70s, anime began to shift from a Disney imitation to a new style of its own.

Sakuga (作画) is a catch-all term in Anime, where a certain scene or event’s production value and animation quality exceed the usual fare. It’s often these moments that enraptured our eyes to anime and got us interested. This can be anything from effects, to characters to background animation! Sakuga is limitless in it’s potential EPICNESS!!

Here are some awesome examples by Web Animator’s Yotsube and Bahi JD!

I know, it’s pretty damn cool. And Sakuga, there is actually a word for it! Literally translated from “Creating Pictures”. The name for this community that I call “Sakuga Seedlings” comes from the pun of “Saku” also being read as “to Bloom”.

(Source)

Some of the most famous anime were created by the world renowned Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki.

But other important, often forgotten legends are:

Hideaki Anno, Katsuhiro Otomo, Mamoru Hosoda and Makoto Shinkai.

If you haven’t heard of these guys, check them out. I’ve linked to their wikipedia articles in their names, so feel free to click on them and get a basic gist of what these guys are about.

In a future episode I plan to go over each and every one of them!

Next, I know you all saw that word “Limited Animation”...

Q: What is Japanese Limited Animation?

Unlike most Disney animation -- or Full Animation, where every frame is painstakingly drawn to create an almost true to life smooth motion -- Limited Animation is a style that takes advantage of the limited frames, partial frame changing and movement to create visually stimulating works. This is a much cheaper method and can be used to varying results.

Most Western TV cartoons and pretty much all anime is Limited Animation.

Full Animation is In an environment in which redraws most every frame are MANDATORY to create as realistic/fluid as possible movement. Unlike it though, limited animation often breaks traditional norms by keeping redraws to a restriction (often by getting creative with animation styles and shortcuts), but allowing for a more dynamic visual spectrum, as they are, ironically, not limited by realistic standards of full movement.

Many techniques of Limited Animation can be incorporated into more Western Full-Animation as well.

Limited animation is not limited to Japanese Animation, but because that is the focus, I want to focus my attention there.

(source) (source) (source)

So let’s, compare them!

Q: Compare Limited vs Full Animation

Let us compare Disney’s Full Animation and Limited Animation.

For this example,

Compare to Disney, which has very realistic perceptions of movement to Limited Animation.

Limited Animation often MUST exaggerate movements, repeat frames and manipulate the camera far beyond to get the sense of movement without frequent redraws.

It takes advantage of the mind’s magnificent ability to fill in movement on it’s own.

Note this: All of this is considered Sakuga. Pretty cool, right?

This type of animation still on paper before colored and composited is called “Genga” (原画).

No, not the Pokemon, Gengar! Nix the “R”!!

(Thank god, for now Tumblr gives have the sources -- so I can save time on listing them. As the series goes on, I’ll be grabbing actual clips and editing them in my own way, so those sources will have to be better defined...)

Q: OK. Back to Anime, How is Anime Produced?

Using the anime Shirobako as a fantastic launchpad, as well as other studies, Anime Production is built upon multiple roles and hierarchies.

(If you are at all curious about Japanese Anime Production, watch this series; It’s on Crunchyroll for free. I’m not being sponsored, but I recommend it. Linked above.)

(I will also be leaving Executives, Producers, Writers, Voice Actors and Sound Crews out of this list, which have a different important roles. But I would like to give this focus eventually along with Marketing Techniques, etc.)

For now, I’ll use basic definitions to keep things simple, but the most common roles in any anime production are:

Director: The individual in charge of keeping production staff on task and keeping the overall visual aesthetic. For Example: Akiyuki Shinbou of SHAFT fame.

Animation Director: This is the head person in charge and oversees all of the individual animation production. They are ALWAYS talented Key Animators with years of experience and have the last say on EVERY FRAME USED THE FINAL PRODUCTION. They have other responsibilities such as as Redraws and Correction.

Character Designer: The person who either creates or adapts designs for TV animation. This is Episode 2’s main message in a nutshell. But to sum it up here, it is not uncommon for Animation Directors and Character Designers to either be the same person, or a pair who have worked together on a lot of stuff.

Key Animator: The people in charge of drawing key poses (important movements and poses). There can be very few or very many depending on the production staff. We’ll get into that at a later time. These can often be Freelance Animators as well, which is very important as Studios often Freelance and can get different feels because of it.

In-Between Animator: The people who draw in-betweens to keys, connecting them all together and clean-up. These people refer to the Key Animators, while Key Animators refer to the Animation Directors.

Color Artists: Pretty straight forward, depending on whether traditionally or digitally animated, add color and shade to the basic animation. During the days of Cel-Shading, these were hand-painted, but with technology, tools like Photoshop, Toonboom and After Effects are more commonly used.

Check Artist: This person reviews each frame and checks for inconsistencies. They help the central aesthetic, style and models are on point. If not, a frame may have to be redone. When these guys mess up, we get things like this. These also can be Animation Directors themselves. Many roles can bleed into one another, if that wasn’t obvious enough. (Show example of animation error)

Background Artist: These guys design the backgrounds, whether 2D or 3D. We’ll get into this more later as well. My 3D knowledge is very limited, so I’ll do my own homework on more information on that.

Compositor: This group puts everything together, can take care of digital effects and edits such as atmospheric lighting and weather, depending on the production company. These guys create the crisp polish you’ll see in Ufotable Productions.

I know you must be thinking, these are very similar to Western Production Studios, and you’d be right.

They are very similar, as each piece is needed to produce like a well oiled machine. But there are many VERY important differences. If you know Animation History, Anime production was based on and eventually deviated from Disney’s original model.

Now that you have most of the basic pieces to understand we can begin digging in the differences from the ground up, work to each role and it’s importance and how that all comes together.

Now we can start to looking into the question of,

Q: What is different about Japanese and Western styles of animation production?

Not in the aesthetic choices, but in the setup and philosophy of animation.

It all comes down to the production at hand, but the main basic philosophy is something I like to call “Western Order and Eastern Individuality”.

This is a good start and the start of some of my liberal take on defining different parts of anime and animation -- A main point of this series was to break down and find a way of defining little things like this in a more digestible method:

So, what is the Western idea of “Order Animation”.

Well, how staff is put together is what dictates it.

If you look at any Disney frame, what do you see? Animation that is completely kept on model and shows the visions of the Director and Animation Leads based on strict values of Order and Perfection.

This is often formed by having teams for every character and aesthetic throughout the entire picture remaining as physically consistent as possible.

It’s very impressive that they can get this group of people so on point! I admire it, even if it isn’t the philosophy I prefer in my own tastes in animation and production.

Then, there is the Eastern idea of -- what I like to call -- “Individuality Animation”. This is just another way the production team is staffed and ordered. Most Key Animators have what are called Cuts -- specific scenes in each production that they are in charge of animating. Think about a Cut like cutting a camera in a film to a new scene. Many film making techniques are used in animation, this should always be kept in mind constantly.

Once again, this goes more onto which you find better in your opinion, but I tend to find these definitions slightly ironic based on their respective cultures, but there is a lot of truth to them.

Q: Now, why does this Individuality Animation interest me?

Because, it allows for every Key Animator and In-Betweener to add their own spice and flair to a scene, to the point where based on the animation, you can tell which individual worked on it.

-- AND THIS IS WHAT I LOVE!

LOOKING AT A PIECE OF ANIMATION AND BASED ON STYLISTIC AND AESTHETICAL TROPES, YOU CAN POINT OUT A SPECIFIC ANIMATOR OR ANIMATORS INSPIRED BY ONE ANOTHER!!

I believe Order Animation tries to represent a company as a whole, which is great in its own right.

While Individual Animation tries to represent the identities of those who worked on it. Which I am much more in support of and interested in. If you’ve ever met me, I am the type that remembers faces and personalities more than names and the bigger picture. With how I work and how I love to meet new people, Individuality Animation allows me to really get to the heart of an animator.

Ahem, I lost my composure there! Haha!

Next on the chopping block:

Q: Digital Animation vs Traditional Animation...

How are they addressed?

Simply, are Keyframes and In-betweens hand-drawn on paper and then scanned for clean-up and color?

Or are they drawn on digital tablet or are they 3D models?

Traditional Animation is still very common in Japanese Animation production, and most every anime you’ve seen started as hand drawn on paper.

Digital Animation uses programs such as Photoshop, Flash, ToonBoom and etc. to draw everything. Animators that focus on this medium are lovingly called Web Generation Animators. Believe it or not, one of the eldest animation studios, Tatsunoko has evolved to include many web generation animators.

youtube

(From the Studio Tatsunoko produced “Yoru no Yatterman”, hosting a wide array of web generation animation talent!)

In a later episode, I will do a more complete diegesis on Digital Animation Programs as it’s one of my favorite topics.

3D Animation is a new sensation that started an arise in anime at the start of the 2010’s. All of these anime are produced in 3D animation softwares, but are produced using techniques descended from Limited Animation. Look as series like Guilty Gear Xrd and Black Rock Shooter for some amazing examples of this.

youtube

(Guilty Gear Xrd belongs to Arc System Works. It is on PS3, PS4 and Steam PC, Go play it! The GDC also produced this great video on how the 3D Cel-Shaded style was used to imitate sprite anime form the previous entries! It’s about an hour long, but super informative!!)

Mixed Media is often used, where anime can be produced using all three methods for different reasons, be it backgrounds or the animator had a preferred way of animating. Most modern anime uses a form of mixed media from Pokemon XYZ’s 3D Camera to To Aru Majutsu no Index’s 3D Background design. It’s more common than you’d think.

(Most noticeable at 0:39 and 0:58. Look how the ground around Ash’s feet is swiveling in a new way. Or how the camera follows Pikachu to Pangoro and Honedge. Fun Fact: Quick Attack is ineffective on Honedge, it’s a Ghost type!)

youtube

(Pokemon XY belongs to OLM, Game Freak, Nintendo and Creatures Inc., OLM actually means Oriental Light and Magic, inspired from Industrial Light and Magic, known for Cinematic VFX.)

But these can be used in a myriad of creative ways to make each cut feel distinct depending on which animators are behind the wheel.

Since I’m focusing on Japanese Animation Philosophy, as it’s what I know better and prefer, I will focus on that through most of my future studies.

However, you are free to use whichever method you want!

The great thing about art and animation is that you have a choice in how you go about doing it. I wholeheartedly believe in having whatever style interests you and making the most of your creativity.

If I can help bring in a new interest or skill set into your work, or just entertain you with my geekiness about anime, then it will all be worth it.

Who knows, you may be surprised at what we discuss!

I’ll call this episode a wrap for now! Next time we’ll be discussing the basic principles of animation.

If you haven’t gotten a copy of the Animator’s Survival Guide, I highly recommend finding a copy of it! It’s a must-have for animators of all skill levels, even amateur ones like me.

I’ll see you all next time!!

ON THE NEXT BRAIN VOMIT!!

EPISODE 2: ANIMATION PRINCIPLES ARE THE MOON PRINCESSES?!!

STAY TUNED NEXT SATURDAY AT 7PM EST FOR NEXT EXPEDITION INTO SAKUGA GOODNESS!!

DON’T MISS IT, OR I’LL HAVE TO PUNISH YOU!!

Remember: Always bloom proudly,

– TUCHI OUT!!!

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gengarghast · 1 year ago

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Thoughts on Sparkle Care

They're a bit negative, so don't look if you can't handle it :/

Bro what the fuck I just looked on the Sparklecare wiki and the original plot sounds ten times better than the reboot's.

bruh

Why did you get rid of the interesting part What was wrong with it being an interpretation of Purgatory That's ten times more interesting for it being some Big Pharma Chop Shop that "NOBODY EVER LEAVES!!!!!!!!"

Either way, Awful Hospital is still better than both versions, because in AH the doctors are actually good and trying to do what's right, they've just been fucked up because of the Bad Things™ affecting the Hospital and that's screwed with their judgement.

Shit dealing with alternate universes/dimensions/realties/timelines is usually ten times better than something that doesn't.

Also I'm gonna add that if people have begun noticing that "anyone who goes in never comes out" then there's gonna be some major fucking backlash, unless whatever Rainbow Furryland this place takes in is a tyrannical dictatorship where anyone who says a bad word is taken to an undisclosed location and shot. Major unbelievability. If it's gonna happen it's gotta make sense IN-WORLD.

Anyways rant over, Sparkle Care doesn't make sense and could've been much more

#awful hospital #gengarghast #sparklecarp #gengar reviews stuff

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cutiecrates · 5 years ago

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Cutie Reviews: Gacha Gacha Crate Sept 19

With this box it’s officially been a year that Gacha Gacha Crate began! Unfortunately they didn’t make any note of that so I feel a little disappointed they didn’t do anything special for it- not only that, but I actually didn’t like this box. I liked maybe 1 or 2 things in it and that is it. This review will probably be skimpier than the August one because of that, and I do plan on giving impute, I’ll just be leaving out the ratings.

But before I begin I wanted to address this so that I don’t sound like an ungrateful brat; please do not let this discourage you from checking out the box. The contents are not in bad shape or low quality, it’s just that you can’t be expected to like every box you know?

Also also, in other news, TokyoCatch has began it’s early stages of testing :3 and I was one of those selected to test it! It’s a lot of fun, although we can’t really win anything yet, I’ve managed to get a handful of stuff and it’s a lot of fun just practicing. I don’t want to give too much detail right now though and risk breaching my agreement to testing, so if you’re curious in that you’ll just have to stay tuned~

For this month, the booklet features an article on Rilakkuma :3 including where he got his start, his concept and name, and his growing popularity; did you guys know he has a 3D animation out on Netflix?! If you want to learn more it’s called “Rilakkuma and Kaoru“.

Rilakkuma Figure

It’s really plain looking right? Well that’s because this is one of those build-able figures, the gachapon comes in the characters body and you just assemble it. So far I’ve gotten Donald Duck and Gengar, and now Kiiroitori- he pretty much came pre-assembled because there’s nothing else to do to him!

That’s kind of lame, but if you like him I guess it’s okay? I’m not a fan of him at all, I mean he’s a little cute but I prefer the bears.

Pokemon Keychain

This series of keychains was inspired by the remake(?) of Mewtwo Strikes Back. Besides Togepi we could get Mewtwo, Mew, Pikachu, and Dragonite, each on a thickly woven chain.

Although I won’t be using this (my phone doesn’t let me use charms on it sadly <_<), I think this is pretty cute. The paint job is pretty decent, but I do see a lot of small lining/indents and it seems the colors are a little off from their positioning. You can’t tell in the pic at all but in person it’s more obvious. I sill think it’s pretty good though.

MTV Keychain

This box is kinda obsessed with keychains don’t you think?

Anyway, this one ended up surprising me, this was definitely not something I expected to see, but because I’m a sucker for food-themed things I found it a little charming. They had a cola one though, I kind of wish I got that but this is just as nice.

This is a rubbery keychain made by Takara Tomy Arts, and each keychain is inspired by past variants of the MTV logo. When I was younger I used to watch that channel a lot, but I eventually outgrew it and it’s probably been 15 years since I watched it. I can’t say I miss it because I’ve become more into things like vocaloids and foreign music, American music doesn’t really appeal to me anymore.

Sushi Mascot

This was the only item I ended up really liking honestly, because it’s a squishy! These sushi sets focus on the various Sashimi plates one might find when preparing or eating sushi; like squish, shrimp, various fishies like tuna and salmon. I’m not a big sashimi type, I really don’t like fish at all, but I still think this is adorable~

The lid can be removed, but the rubbery-squishy pieces are stuck to the inside and can’t be removed. The detail on it is very nice, and the pieces are ultra-soft, this would be a fun item for re-ment or doll pictures. The only thing is that I noticed the little painted details on the shrimp and... whatever is next to it is a little messy. Oddly, those two are also a little sticky in comparison to the other two pieces.

Red Lantern

Red Lanterns (Akachouchin) are often strung up along traditional Japanese drinking and eating establishments and along the streets. There was a handful of possible options to obtain this set, each with their own writing, and as you can see you get 2 stickers, which I think is nice so if you lose a sheet or something would happen, you can replace them.

Also check this out

They light up like real lanterns! It’s really fun, and you can hang them up with the little loop on top of the piece. It’s a cute little thing if you like Japanese cultured items, it’s a bit too big to be used for re-ments though.

I wish we got this during summer, it would have been cute for them to do a fun summer festival themed box.

Dragonball Z Figure

Figures were also kinda hot in this box huh?

Our last item is this decent Dragonball Z figure, as usual I got Goku. I love the translucent hair, it’s neat to look at (it’s also super pointy), and it’s pretty neat for his outfit to be inverted in color. You have to assemble these but they only come in 2 or 3 pieces, plus a clear stand base that is usually a mystery as to how you use it; it took me about 5 minutes to figure it out this time.

As I said, I used to love this series but I can’t say I’m that big into it now; I’d rather get adorable things with anime girls, idols, PriPara and Aikatsu, Pretty Cure, etc... I’ll probably sell this or give it to someone I know.

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Okay guys, that will be it for this review. I know it wasn’t really a review, but I really wasn’t feeling it and I just wanted to hurry up and get through this so that I could get back on track. I’m really, REALLY hoping I like next months better...

#cutie reviews #gachagachacrate #pokemon gacha

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cutiecrates · 6 years ago

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Cutie Reviews: Gacha Gacha Crate April 19

Welcome to last months Gacha Gacha crate review :D

Er... I forgot to get a picture for the opener of this post, but rest assure the review has pics!

Sailor Moon Pouch

Our first item is perfect for magical girl and/or Sailor Moon fans, an adorable pouch that comes in six variations: the crystal star I got, another brooch (I’m sorry but its been ages since I watched Sailor Moon, I can’t remember everything), Luna or Artemis, the Moon Stick/Scepter, a patterned pouch, and a rounded “secret pouch”.

Each pouch is fairly flat but has accurate detailing and feels very smooth with a great working zipper. The inside has cloth-ish fabric.

The back of mine had this design on it, but I assume they all have it or something similar. In terms of what it can fit, I noticed it can fit 1 of any size gacha capsule, or several little trinkets like change, dollar bills, cards, certain beauty products; just not too many at once.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

I think it’s pretty cute and well made. I wish it might have been a little bit bigger or spacious, and the material makes me think it wont hold up against staining- but I’m not going to test that theory out. I would have liked it if it had a ball chain or strap to attach it to things as well, but as a long-time magical girl fan I kind of like that feeling of being able to pull out a magical transformation device- even if it’s only to summon money or a card rather than a cute outfit and wand.

Build A Pokemon

I heard these “figures as the capsule“ are popular lately, and that seems to be the case. This is our second one we’ve gotten in the Gacha Gacha crate, which features adorable Pokemon!

There was 4 available: Pikachu, Gengar, the new electric mouse I never remember the name of, and Mew. They’re all cute but I’m very happy I got Gengar, who has always been one of my favorite Pokemon x3

This piece serves no purpose other than to keep the plastic wrap that was on him smooth, due to his “spikes” on his back.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Compared to my Donald Duck (whose beak still isn’t on right) Gengar was much easier to build. He’s very accurate in appearance, and he makes a really cute decoration! It’s also fun putting together figurines, even if this wasn’t as detailed as my Yokai Watch collection (pretty much every version of Jibanyan I found back when I was collecting them. I still have them but I don’t buy them anymore).

Kuma and Tanooki Handkerchief

This is our biggest item yet by far! Kuma and Tanooki are popular characters who have their own twitter in Japan, and this handkerchief is perfect for this season when spring allergens start kicking up, or say, if you needed somewhere to sit a food item or clean up a spill.

There are 5 possible “4-koma“ you can get in this collection, and it is by Takara Tomy Arts.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

I think it’s very cute, kind of a random item but you guys know how much I like practicality. One of my concerns is getting items from the gachapon that I can’t actually do anything with- and considering I have “seasonal change weather allergies“ this will probably come in handy in some shape or form.

However... After barely touching it I noticed that it already has a couple of loose strands and I’ve done nothing to it. So I’m kinda worried about getting something on it/using it and then trying to wash/clean it off. It’s a very delicate and thin material.

Shiba Terrarium

This next item combines the adorable, popular shiba brothers and the recent trend of Character Terrarium displays. I really like things like snowglobes, toy house displays, re-ment, so I quickly took a liking to Terrariums too. Lately I’ve been seeing all kinds of popular character ones, like Pokemon, Kirby, Sumikko Gurashi, Rilakkuma.

In this specific set there are 4 to collect, each one is 400 yen and features one of the shiba brothers in one of the seasonal settings. Each terrarium includes the little setting/stage (in 2 pieces) the shiba, and decoration, they also incorporate the capsule, which is the terrarium obviously. The bottom part is flat so that they can be sat out to display.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

I really like the white shiba (who has spring) but my favorite season is winter, so I think this was meant to be~

It’s extremely easy to put together, there’s no gluing or even pressing needed; although considering how easy it is for the pieces to move around when jostled or shifted, I kind of wish there was some pegs or something to hold the shiba and items down.

The detail is also spot-on and looks very nice for such tiny pieces, besides the perfect paint jobs on the snowman and shiba (he even has toe beans!), but there are markings in the snow where they sit for added detailing.

If you like terrariums but want a cheaper and less-messy (as in if something would happen less clean-up) this would be the way to go.

Mushroom Bird

This would be an adorable addition to a fall-themed terrarium, a MUSHROOM BIRD. Japan really likes cutesy animal-item/food combinations; and this is one of the few I’ve seen for birds. It’s by EPOCH and each one costs 200 yen.

As you can see by the checklist this is a medium-big collection. Each bird has a “rarity“ marking beneath them, mine being 2 out of 3 stars. At the second I don’t recall what mine is, I want to say shitake but I’m not positive- although I do like eating mushrooms.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

It’s small but the detail on it is really nice and it’s very cute in my opinion. As I said above, you could use it in things like terrariums, or even re-ment or decorative items like planters or something.

Squeeze Sushi

This is our final item- and if you’re wondering why the setting looks different it’s because when I was uploading the images, the one I took was like... glitched or something? It wasn’t uploading right, so I hurried up and grabbed another pic.

Anyway, these types of Squeeze toys/squishy are pretty popular in Japan, and as of late here too! There’s a really adorable series I like collecting called Moj Moj that has some like this, but I know there are several varieties that can be found online too.

There are 6 sushi types available, from my cucumber (maybe avocado? I’m pretty sure it’s cucumber), crab, salmon, something that looks like fish cake, egg or vegetable, and fish eggs.

I usually see the one I have on a lot of videos from Youtubers I watch- and as a squishy fan I REALLY wanted my own but never bothered looking online to get one, so I was extremely happy when I saw this~

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

This was everything i hoped for and more! I love squeezing it and watching the stuff come out, then get sucked back in. The item is in a little oiled sack as I’ve learned watching people cut them open, and they can be a little fragile if handled too roughly (they’re also sticky so they collect dirt); but they’re super cute and fun.

♥ Cutie Ranking ♥

Quality - 5 out of 5. Everything is fine and I love all the detailing put into each item. From the perfect coloring jobs to the rice texture of the squeeze toy and elaborate handkerchief.

Content - 5 out of 5. I really liked everything, maybe not as much as I did the prior months box, but I would put it in the top 5 thus far.

Total Rank: 7 out of 10 cuties. It was a lovely box full of adorableness~ and even though there was 3 non-practical items (unless you consider displaying an item practical) I still really liked them a lot. I didn’t dislike anything in this box, which is probably a first for this series. I’m not sure what kind of price range all of these items were together, but I could say that this box was worth what we pay.

♥ Cutie Scale ♥

1. Sushi Squeeze - I love squeeze toys, squishies, and sushi; and considering how much I wanted one of these, I think my choosing this as my #1 item for the month wasn’t a surprise to anybody.

2. Shiba Terrarium - It was simple, but still detailed enough. I still wish they had included pegs or something to hold the pieces in place, and looking at it again I wish the Shiba interacted with the items a little more, but it makes a very cute decoration regardless.

3. Handkerchief - As a fan of manga and cutesy or funny comics, I really appreciated the design behind this one. It has an adorable charm to it.

4. Mushroom Bird - it’s kawaii and little x3 but at the same time, unless you really looked at it, you probably couldn’t tetl it was a bird due to how small it was. I really wish I got one of the more colorful ones.

5. Sailor Moon Pouch - If I got Luna or Artemis this would have been higher up on the list. But it’s a perfect representation of Sailor Moon’s more known compact/brooch/whatever and just holding it gives me all sorts of feels~

6. Build a Pokemon - As much as I adore Pokemon, there isn’t really anything different than this Gengar. In fact it almost looks exactly like a plush keychain Gengar I got when I was little.

Alright, we’ve reached the end of another box and review. As usual I will be resuming normal order so up next we got the two beauty boxes, NMNL and Kira Kira crate.

Until then, remember to open up a box of cuteness every day!

#gachagacha #gacha gacha #gachagachacrate #Gacha Gacha Crate #sushi squishy #pokemon gacha #sailor moon gacha

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cutiecrates · 6 years ago

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Cutie Reviews: Gacha Gacha crate Feb 19

I’m not actually sure if I got the March GGC yet, but I’ll be looking after I finish this to see if I did. If not then I'll be starting up my september box reviews!

(In case you were wondering, I don’t show the cover image of the pamphlet because it’s always a faded image of various Gachapon machines and that would get boring :P)

The featured topic in this months pamphlet is about Retro video games from Namco, to go with an item in the crate. It talks about 11 games, including:

Galaxian - a game there you control a spaceship at the bottom of the screen and shoot at various enemies while avoiding their attacks. Released in 1979.

Pac-Man - Everybody knows this game : D I played it a lot when I was a child. You control the little yellow Pac-Man and eat all the pellets before the ghosts get you! Released 1980.

Xevious - Some kind of piloting game where you blast various targets. Released 1982.

Mappy - You play as Mappy, a police mouse trying to find the items stolen by the Meowkies and taken to their mansion. Released 1982.

Dig Dug - The player must rid of the underground monsters by either blowing them up with an air pump or dropping rocks on them! Released 1982.

The Tower of Druaga - The player controls Gilgamesh, a hero who arrives to save the maiden Ki from the demon Druaga and must go through his 60-floor tower. Released 1984.

Valkyrie No Boken - Everyone lives together in Marvel Land in harmony, and together they work to improve it. Released in 1986.

Family Stadium - Now-a-days known as Famista, this is a series of baseball games. Released in 1986.

Dragon Buster - In the name of his father, Clovis goes on a quest to save Princess Celia from a dragon. Released 1985.

Super Xevious Gamp No Nazo - A challenging riddle game released in 1986. Okay! Now it’s time to get on with the review!

Mt. Fuji Figure

Our first gacha is a relatively simple one. It’s a figure of Mt. Fuji, one of the highest peaks in the world and a very popular icon of Japan. This series is by Epoch and each one costs 300 yen.

This set included 4 different colorful displays one could get... and I can’t actually understand the list, so I’m not sure what mine is.

Rating: ♥ ♥

The detail on it is really nice, and it’s very clean looking. But (and I say this in hopes of offending no one) I don’t really care for it. I mean I really like Japanese culture and stuff, but I’m not really into these types of figures and I don’t see myself using it for any sort of purpose or doing anything with it. I don’t even think I’ll keep it.

Patient Cats

These little kitties are trying to patiently wait for someone to turn off/down various noise makers. This series is by Epoch and each is available for 200 yen.

There was 3 types available: television, boombox, or telephone, each in 2 colors of object and cat.

I got the white television kitty :3

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

What makes this really fun is that not only are you getting 2 items for one gacha, but you can also use them together or separately. They would be perfect for Re-ment displays!

The detailing on the two pieces is also really nice. There’s no paint issues or anything. It’s a really cute, simple display.

Pokemon Clinging Cable Cover

Cable covers must be really popular as of late huh? I keep finding them in my crates these days. I’m beginning to get used to them though, they are awfully cute. It’s by Kitan Club, and each is available for 300 yen. You can see whose available on the checklist in the pic.

I would have been happy getting anybody really. I really like Gengar and Eevee, but Pikachu is a must, and who doesn’t love the three original starters? My favorite of the trio is Bulbasaur, but I collected stuff of all of them when I was younger. I was pretty much happy just getting something Pokemon related.

So basically, you just pull apart the white thingy and put a coord inside, then stick it back together and attach your Pokemon to it.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Besides how difficult it was to get the thingy open to put the cord inside, I think this is really cute! I decided to swap Umbreon with Charmander, and yes My Melody is still hanging on strong! She seems happy with her new friend.

Osechi Mascot

Inspired by the delicious, tiered foods eaten on New Years in Japan with loved ones. This set is single tiered, but from how it’s made I feel like you can stack the layers together. I could be wrong though.

This one came with an odd slip of paper, but I don’t really know what it means. If I had to guess I’d say it either lists materials used to make the items in this, or it lists the foods?

There is 5 available, and this series is by Toy Spirits. The one I got includes three crab claws, flower carrots, Tuna/salmon or some kind of fish, simmered vegetable, and three dumplings or rice or sesame balls or something? There is also a lobster and fish set, a scallop with tons of vegetables, a cooked fish (maybe sea bream?) and one I can’t really identify.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

See this type of figure I really like! I love food based things like this. Everything is plastic, but to my surprise the balls are squishy! It’s really fun to poke~

It would also make for a fun re-ment item... and maybe it’s just me, but there’s something really fun about putting the lid on and taking it off.

Floral Card Pouch Miniature

Based on Japanese Hanafuda (flower cards), this little artistic looking pouch is perfect for keeping money, cards, or other little items you often lose track of or want to carry around but worry over it’s small size.

This is another Epoch series, and there was 12 available consisting of 6 designs in either red or black. I got the red version. Each one costs 200 yen.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

I think this is really sweet looking, even though it’s a little bent up from being in the capsule. It’s very well made, sort of floppy/flimsy, but the material and inside lining feel very nice. It’s really easy to close and open, and the fabric is a little flexible.

Namco Museum Cassette Pin Collection

Our final item for the month and the one related to the featured article above. As a girl obsessed with video games I’m a sucker for wearable accessories based on them, and I’ve really been into pins as of late too so this is perfect.

Each one comes in a little box with images from the game print on it, and a tiny itty-bitty description of it on the back with a screenshot. The pin resembles an old game cartridge/cassette with an image of the game and some designs and logo over it.

Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Dig Dug wasn’t a game I played a lot, I think I might have played it once or twice but it’s been years. It wasn’t like Pac-Man or the Mario (Donkey Kong?) games, which were everywhere. The laundry mat I used to go to as a child still has the arcade machines!

Anyway, I was still really excited. I love opening the little box and taking out the pin. It’s very well made, and it has a tiny bit of weight to it. I’m really excited to wear it or put it on something and see if anybody recognizes it :D I hope we get more cute little things like this!

♥ Cutie Ranking ♥

Quality/Pricing - 3 out of 5. Almost everything was priced, and if I can figure it out, I think they were like... 10-15 American dollars total? We pay about 30 dollars for the box, and considering how small and impractical a couple of the items are... I’m not sure it’s the best box worth the price. If we had more items like the Pokemon cord holder, pouch, and pin then yeah I’d say they were.

Content - 3 out of 5. I really liked the items we got, except for the Mt. Fuji. It, the kitty, and the little food thing are pretty impractical (unless used for re-ment, which I would do if I had sets that went with them) and I kind of hate that- but not all Gachapon can be you know? I understand that.

Total Rank: 4 out of 10 cuties. It’s not the best box in the series, but it’s still kinda new you know? I’m not trying to be really hard on it. I was pretty disappointed they didn’t give us a theme for this one though- like if it was me, I would have went super-cute and girly for Valentines Day. I know they try to cater to both genders, but I’m sure they could have found a way for both to be happy with that theme. Or maybe they could have done a video game theme to go with the pokemon and namco pin. SOMETHING you know?

♥ Cutie Scale ♥

1. Namco Pin - Of course I had to go with this one! I was geeking out over it the whole time. I wasn’t born when these games came out but I can still appreciate them!

2. Patient Cat - it’s pretty simple, but the kitty is so cute and the concept behind it makes it even cuter.

3. Osechi Mascot - I love the concept, and the squishy food inside~ I wish the whole thing was squishy though <3<

4. Pokemon Cable Protector - It’s cute, but fairly simple looking.

5. Hanafuda Pouch - It’s sort of like a simplistic art piece you can use for storing stuff in, it’s pretty cute and has a touch of elegance to it too.

6.Mt. Fuji Figure - I’m sorry but I just didn’t like it. It’s nice if you like landmark based figures and displays, but I’m more into things like train displays and stuff that moves around.

And this concludes our review! I hope you enjoyed or found it interesting. As I said on top we’ll probably be doing the Yume Twins september box next, unless I got my March gacha box already, but I don’t believe I did, that one tends to show up late for some reason.

Anyway, until next time, stay cute! And play lots of video games :3

#gacha gacha #gachapon #pokemon gacha #gacha gacha crate #gachagachacrate #retro namco

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