#i think the character creator thing could work well in spinoff games

[sonknuxadow]

say what you want about forces but the part where you could make your own character and they got to be part of the story and be besties with sonic and stuff was so cool even if it could have been exectuted better . i really want them to bring back the custom character feature but with better customization options in a future game

[unclefungusthegoat]

So I've been thinking about THIS:

for like a whole day now, and it's got me like:

So here are my notes and questions and thoughts:

Gonna be long, going to put under a 'keep reading'

THE PEOPLE INVOLVED

Simon Mirren. He created Versailles, and him posting this image suggests that he's working on a project related to Versailles or the Louis XIV period of history.

'He's back'. The word 'back' here absolutely suggests a return of someone we're familiar with.

Alex Vlahos is INVESTED in whatever it is - suggesting 'HE' is Philippe. He liked the post and commented 'Makes you wonder why he ever went away'...

... and then David Wolstenscroft, the OTHER creator of Versailles, replied saying 'And how'.

This is so cryptic. They all know who 'he' is. Alex seems perhaps wistful, maybe about the end of the show and therefore the end of Philippe. 'And how'... I've no freaking idea what this means. How 'Philippe' went away? How he's come back?

How he went away... the show ended.

How he's come back... well I have a theory later.

This screenshot above is taken from Gabriella Petrillo's Twitter account - as you can see, Alex shared the pic to his Instagram story captioned 'Oh, who invited you?'

Which is in QUOTATION MARKS.

Meaning that this is either Philippe asking the audience, or a general character tagline for the project.

OTHER PEOPLE WHO LIKED THE PIC

Anna Brewster (Montespan), Sarah Winter (Louise de la Valliere), Raphael Roger Levy (The Masked Man in S1), and also Nicki Oebel who works with Alex as the second half of his film company Cowhouse Films

TAGGED NAMES

Tagged in this picture are:

ALEX VLAHOS (and his tag is directly on the man's head, which might not mean anything, but suggests it's him)

EVAN WILLIAMS (not him, Chevy is blond)

GEORGE BLAGDEN (the only other real candidate as to who this could be, but compared side by side to the Versailles promo photos, and with the lack of response from George, I doubt it)

STUART BOWMAN (too young to be him)

Also tagged: Versailles Series, MonChevy Love, Versailles fan club.

Bonus: Helen Mirren (Simon Mirren's aunt), Bella Thorne, both actors, and also Louis Vuitton Official and Harris Reed, both fashion houses/designers

THE IMAGE

OK, so lets assume this is meant to be Philippe.

COSTUME/HAIR

The jacket is the wrong style for 1600s Versailles. It's more 1700s, and the real Philippe died in 1701. The costume designers for the original show were METICULOUS in their choices and the way things were worn. Including COLOUR PALATTES. Every character had their own. And Philippe only wore white like this once... at the costume party in S1 E9 when he dressed identically to Louis. Generally, Philippe wore more grey and silver.

If the figure is Philippe, the hair is the right colour, but shorter, and also half up, which is not a style Philippe ever wore in the show. His hair was sleeker with much looser waves, whereas this man has quite thick hair.

LOCATION

I think the Chateau in the photo is Fontainebleau, where some of Versailles was filmed, but I can't find a direct parallel photo from the position 'Philippe' is standing in. However, Fontainebleau has lots of water near it, like in the photo. (And I also feel like I saw Alex visiting there on Instagram within the past few months but I don't know if my brain is playing tricks on me)

IS IT AI?

My sister pointed out the image could be AI generated and honestly? I agree. No hands on show, and the bottom of the sleeves look a bit weird. No location tagged either. Historical costume that isn't quite right for the period we're assuming it to be, or for Philippe's character, which wouldn't be inkeeping with the series' aesthetic.

Could definitely be AI.

REALITY CHECK

Versailles was the most expensive show Canal+ had ever produced. I think it still is. And a new series, or spinoff series, would be just as expensive to produce. This isn't Game of Thrones we're talking about. The show has its hardcore fans, but it wasn't exactly a household name, which studios would throw masses of money at to reboot.

The story of S3 of Versailles also ended in the early-mid 1680s, just as the cast were reaching the point where it seemed ludicrous that they all still looked so young. The cast are now all doing different projects, several have married and had children since. They've moved on with their lives. To think they'd all return to a reboot or spinoff show... is unlikely.

However...

SAINT CLOUD

Alex Vlahos tormented us all with this snippet of a 'Saint Cloud' concept trailer a couple of months ago. Saint Cloud was the name of Philippe's chateau, and his spinoff idea was always a MonChevy comedy show about their lives and debauchery and stuff at their home.

But let's face it, this whole thing feels unlikely, and more just like a bit of a fun idea than something that a studio would actually produce, and he's only just started writing a concept trailer...

BUT.

SPEAKING OF...

ALEX VLAHOS

I'm gonna do a whole section on Alex Vlahos, because there's no way he's not involved. He, in fact, announced something at the convention that gives me my biggest theory about what this is.

Alex is obviously a driving force for the Versailles fandom. He was a key figure at the conventions and at the con in May I went to, and on Instagram shortly after, he announced he is going to do a Versailles podcast next year. It'll be a 30 episode thing, one for each episode of the show, and he said he'll have guest stars to chat to... including other actors and the showrunners, Simon Mirren and David Wolstencroft.

So.

That is a CONFIRMED upcoming Versailles project.

And so this image?

MY THEORY

I'm running with the theory that it's is a promo image for Alex's Versailles podcast, possibly made with AI.

It would make sense.

It's something for the fans, hence the tagged accounts. It'll feature the tagged actors to talk about the show. It's not something that is going to cost a million euros to make, so is more realistic. It's not a long term commitment for actors who have other jobs now.

It shows a man who looks a bit like Philippe - looking back at the chateau, as if reminiscing about his time there... just as Alex is going to do on his podcast.

BUT'S

Of course, this is just my theory. If it is the case, the fact that this podcast had already been announced twice makes the mysterious nature of this pic/conversation weird. And the fact that it was Simon Mirren posting it first, not Alex Vlahos, would be weird too, although maybe it's just because it's going to be quite an 'official' thing, with the support of the showrunners.

But I digress.

Anyway, on a final note, I would VERY VERY VERY willing to be proven wrong, and have a Versailles S4 or a MonChevy spinoff happening, I might actually cry if it does hahahaha

[littleeyesofpallas]

man im in a weird headspace recently... first The One headcanons, and now this... that's a lotta thoroughly dead content i'm giving brain space to

So, in the now tragically forgotten and buried jrpg franchise, Wild Arms, there was this whole fun gimmick where the wild west influence extended into other tangential americana as well. there's heavy borrowing from D&D, and horror films as well as westerns, and classic romanticized cowboy mythos and such... So in any case the games also had a few cross media spinoffs, including a TV anime and a shortlived manga.

There is a character in the manga named Jye-chi-ka[ジェチカ] which the brave, lone scanlator team, TurtleParadise --back in... what, 2010?-- romanized as Jessica. But I don't know if that's correct.

For context, the other two leads in the series are named Ma-ku-shi Re-mi-n'-to-n'[マキシ・レミントン] transliterated back into Maxi Remington, a clear reference to the Remington Arms Company, his sister, ko-ne-tto[コネット] taken to be something like Conette or Connett, and Gy[ギィ] who they called Guy, as in the French name, which I think was the correct choice. But as you can sort of see, apart from the Remington bit, the names don't appear to be overt references to anything else to help triangulate Jechika's name.

Jechika is btw a member of a minority group of native American analogs within the Wild Arms world, semi-consistent across different games, called the Baskar. Some other Baskar have been named things like...

Tim Rhymeless and Colette Mapleleaf in WA2; both rather innocuous names... And the family of Gallows, Shane, and Halle Carradine in WA3, much more overtly referencing the iconic scene of lawless frontier justice, Shane from the movie Shane, and Halley's comet plus actor David Carradine, probably tied to this thru the now infamous cult classic TV show, Kung Fu, where producer meddling outed Bruce Lee as lead in favor of having David Carradine play Kwai Chang Caine, a wandering shaolin monk in the wild west.

But this all, as you may be catching onto, also does not help establish clear patterns to help with...

Some random NPCs have names like Harold, Ellen, Cordell, and Laraina? Funny enough these I can sort of tie into references with a bit of guess work.

Cordell in particular stands out as a less common name to have picked here, and I want to assume it's a reference to Cordell Walker, Chuck Norris' star character in Walker Texas Ranger.

In the context of wild west icons, legendary outlaw, Ellen Liddy "Cattle Kate" Watson is the first to come to mind.

I have no idea what to make of Harold... Harold Gould? Semi-famous character actor in TV and film of the 60s-70s? He hardly seems reference worthy, he didn't exactly have a lot of standout roles... Harold McCracken? Sort of famous painter of pseudo-historical wild west scenes? Are those names a random Japanese game dev would have really been able to stumble into in the 2000s? It's the name "Harold" it could be practicallyanyone...

And technically "Laraina"'s name is actually written ri-re-i-na[リレイナ] so that one could just be a localization flub. Actually, it appears to be how they japanized the name of Wynona Rider's character in the 1994 movie, Reality Bites; the character's name is Lelaina Pierce. It's far from being a western but it does take place in Texas, for a Japanese creator maybe that's cowboy adjacent enough?)

So I dunno... Maybe it is Jessica and it's just a weird choice of names because the manga author doesnt have access to the core creative team's specific sensibilities. Maybe it doesn't matter because the core team's sensibilities are also unstable. And if anything, it feels vaguely slavic to me? Like, the way those phonetics roll off the tongue to me sounds like it ought to be something like Tetscheka? Dzhetgya?? Czeschka(like the painter)??? But why would anyone have named a native american analog in some sort of pseudo-slovenian?

I realize this is a cold case. And one without any real answers. But it's one of those things that drives me nuts when I look up somethings simple like, "What were those characters' names again?" and then find myself having wasted the morning on a wild goose chase and now i'm late for work...

[luciferfemme]

I'm gonna go on a bit of a tangent here but I have to say like... copyright is such a scam. And like there are two main factors that expose the lie that is copyright and this idea that like if copyright didn't exist then anyone would be able to claim a work as solely their own. a) public domain works b) fanfiction

Every other year a public domain IP is rebooted and we all just kind of intrinsically understand that this reboot or reimagining is not the final version of it. It is not the original, the creator of this reimagining is not taking credit as the creator of the thing and for that matter no matter how many times a story or a concept is retold we always know that the original was always there.

Fanfic is much the same way in the sense that as a general rule 9 million fanfic writers can write a coffeeshop AU featuring a different pairing or even the same pairing and we all know that the characters belong to the original creator and as long as it isn't like word for word plagiarism then we can all just kind of agree that we all have our own interpretation of these characters and scenery and scenarios.

For that matter, we should also talk about officially LICENSED "fan works" which is to say someone who was not the creator of the thing but has permission to write and create their own story within that already copyrighted canon. Take a massive property like Star Wars which has had multiple novels written, video games, spinoff series and the like and all of these things aren't written by the original creator but they're still in that same field. They're in the same set of IP and therefore because they were given the greenlight by their respective copyright holder (which can be transferred eg: Disney now owning it from Lucas) suddenly these works that could in any other context be considered officially sanctioned fanwork is now considered canon.

The fact that "copyright" I think initially was meant to protect creators but has since become entirely corrupted and used to only protect large corporations (eg Disney) tells you everything you need to know about why I say that copyright is ultimately a scam.

It's one thing to say like I created this thing, it is my intellectual property therefore no one can claim that it is theirs over me; it is quite another to say, I created this thing that is similar to 500 other things but if you use it without my permission I can now sue you into oblivion also I'm a corporation so I have the funds to do so infinitely for things that will not actually harm my IP.

And I recognize that there may be the argument about what about stories that could potentially damage the original IP and it's like... ehhhhh. I still find myself going back to the same argument of like... Cinderella has been made a thousand times. And we can all have our favorites and say this version is better and ignore other versions. So I'm not sure the strawman argument of suggesting that the potential for abuse is greater than the current abuses of the copyright system that currently take place.

It's worth noting that for the vast majority of authors when their book is auctioned to a publisher they don't keep the majority of their copyright. So if for instance, a publisher wants to make a film of that book they are under no obligation for that film to have much of anything to do with the original storyline. And I would argue if a film is made of a novel and the film becomes more well known than that novel and the film has little to nothing in comment with the novel itself is that not more damaging to the original IP?

[bathshebaeliam-borninelysium]

"Danganronpa 5: my Worst Dream and Best Nightmare, or the Lament of the Grounded Ultimate Spaceman" by Bathsheba Eliam

(This is the genesis of a self-contained alternate universe worldbuilding assignment and eventually a Multi-Media Masterdocument of sort, dictating a vision of the corporate popularization and immediate selling-out of and moral panic around a hard soft reboot of Danganronpa supposedly made "by the fans" "for the fans."

The situation begins as a byproduct of Danganronpa V3 being received differently, as well as an uptick in the acclaim for the series after 2017 as a sort of cult classic, one that takes over places where no one in this reality cares. This is resulting in perception of it being Game (Series) of the Year for more than one year, coinciding with the 10-Year-Anniversary and the resulting forced cancelation of Kodaka's comparative original vision of I) the pacifist Alterate Universe installment that we recieved a short version of this dimension and II) an immediately following darker, more impressionistic Danganronpa 4 with the working title of "Danganronpa c4 — Great Depression" that would have taken place in the Kuril Islands and followed Jin Kirigiri, who was secretly spared by Monokuma, trying to prove that the killing games have continued in a secret location, years after the aforementioned "broadcast" ended and the world had "rebuilt".

Whatever else happens as a result of the reinterpretation of Danganronpa as a "legacy franchise," the constant marketing of a "Spyfi Era", and constant negotiations around an early-to-mid-2020s-spanning "Inter-active, Inter-national Event" to lead into the fanfare of an announced Danganronpa Monoverse and Multiverse, respectively, is indicated through hints and character introductions in this "pilot."

I will gladly offer my other more visual and varied sources from this controversial dimension, that can include any kind of media from this world but limited to the Monoversal Online Commune (that dimension's resulting militarized fandom specifically for Danganronpa 4, stylized as 5) and its many outlets. Although if anyone cared as much as I did, I would be willing to copy kinds of media that tangential as well (quizzes from fansites, official passages of dialogue from the game(s), biographical featurettes about its creators, merchandise, transcripts of Let's Plays and certainly more, as I do not think of anything as too detailed) in the vein of an obsession of mine that lasted about as long I have been working on these...things.

Enjoy if possible.)

(Taken from Blogger's The Girl's Time-Travelling Closet, published at 9:04 AM, October 4th, 2023, by St. Elizabeth Barnabas)

Danganronpa 5 is real and I thought I would be celebrating, privately at least.

Yet, the enabling vagueness of the unanimous hatred that the fans are feeling in private is enough to compell me to be the Spartacus and be the first to put it into, let's say, unsympathetic words. The appeal of the "killing game international" theory from YouTube based on the "5" anagram in the untouched treasure troves of codes in THH was fascinating and I would have given even more money for it to be true as of 2021 when it was really soaring as people were putting it together again after the first video. It was surprisingly compelling. ALSO. The implications of the Kuma Klan reveal in the early marketing that confirmed the theory was, tantalizing to say the least. The second that the new animation style was revealed and no one cared because they were so dazzled by Kokichi as Headmaster, I had a feeling that the darling campaign of teasers was a "too good to be true" scenario, not that I thought it was too good. Then the premier happened and I fell in love with how the prologue confirmed the entire theory in one uninterrupted gesture, and I soon enough could not be more disappointed.

Why did they let the game come off like a mobile game spinoff with the kindergarten palette of a Cut the Rope or Crossy Road??

Why did the whole first trial get wasted by a bunch of century-old Italian/"dark-skinned European" (I kid you not) stereotypes when the game was supposed to idolize and stylize in a distinctly love-lettery way the countries featured, when we already have to deal with the resulting anticlimactically cartoony Scottish Monokuma makeover stupidity????

Why was my darling Ultimate Astronomer Yura with her whimsy and distinctly Great Glass Elevator/Phantom Tollbooth aesthetic relegated to the straightman and then killed in such a basic manner just because of their sudden ultimately fetishistic obsession with Europe and Southern Asia and wanting to give Japan the "backseat"????

Why did they have god forsaken Jon Wagner the real worst character of the franchise, a literal implied groomer and canonical blonde haired "patriotic" GERMAN (albeit green-eyed), kill three students as if to immediately force him into the Nagito slot and give him a villainous allure posthumously that cannot go away for the rest of the game (before the twist when we get to thankfully have a flashback to easier days)?????

I digress. I do not care about the characters' fashions and debatably humor being "too millennial" like some of the vocal, supposedly liberal young fans that this installment has somehow basically created are making identical video essays about. I do not even resent them, despite how hyperbolic they are with their approach to getting this game cancelled at least ELEVEN MONTHS too late. I just find it ultimately a waste of the fandom's newfound agency that the high-budgeted delights of this whole soft reboot and the beginning of Generation, Too which definitely is getting delayed for a reason, has made other fans into frightened peacekeepers just because of how grateful the new writers say that they should be for how big of a deal it all is, despite only giving them so much in the way of faux-3D visuals and games-within-games that the random, unpunished in-character abuse of past characters, new more vulnerable characters and, in the guise of the "bone-dry humor" of characters like the Quadruplets and even Noa and Catalina, REAL PEOPLE AND CULTURES looks like something that is not a big enough deal that 6 and 4 could be not worth having.

Despite  this ... of course I am looking forward to Danganronpa Feud: All-Despair Dynasty. If anything it's just because of the Arcana Studio/Witchblade-like concept art from the trailer which was practically an AMV (especially that of the  Samurai who I am so psychically confident is the Yokai Form for Nagito not Naegi, despite what the "dead once, born twice" speech by Watatsusami implies) and worldbuilding for the Monobeasts/overall arguably revolutionary concept, even among these Danganronpa Whatif minigames that have been released for the overlong anniversary. In spite of my willingness to discuss this at most conveniences, the summer that I lost to Danganronpa 5: Life Exchange is almost traumatic, to the point where I would literally deny the existence of a trailer if they in spite of the latest "hiatus" WERE to reveal A) the oft-forgotten webseries that IS happening at least according to the self-indulgent Ronpa Writers Room Tumblr, or B) the last of the mascot-revealing short films/teasers for 6, both of which would be befitting of Halloween. I am also irrationally interested in the suspected webseries for the fact that my history with Dimension 20 and selectively Critical Roll gives me a decent insight into what this Erika Ishii-voiced-Monokuma is going to be like, despite the voice filter that she said she did need, however sure I am that that was just a joke about the Batman "and you'll never have to" gag running throughout the similarly recent Adventuring Party finale for Starstruck Episode II—Iliad not that anyone here is going to encourage me having thoughts about my other less passionate interests than this one, AS WELL as this one.

Nonetheless, I should hope that the franchise can get over Suki da Minamoto's infamous scripting method, stop relying on her RWR and their constant "retreats", and have the intended successor for Kodaka return from her still-shelved film project at Picona Studio before this period of reflection is over, and the two most crucial games of the new series are terrorized the same person that came up with the "Danganronpa Decade" era in the first place. I have to stop myself.

Since I am editing this to add any remaining positivity that I have after the epilogue was released, I should say the one part of the game that I have always understood people's willingness to use in fangans and such afterwards, unsurprisingly from Trial 5, in the Colloseum Room.

In the words of everyone's favorite self-proclaimed Ultimate Killing School Dropout, Chester "goddamn the Chevalier" Valentine,

"she made me realize that it's not Hell or Heaven ... It's Hell then Heaven! After everything, after Monokuma, after Tyranno Rex, and after the universe ... good's the last thing there is!"

[desultory-novice]

This might sound a little bias (and stupid) on my part but do you think Kirby gets more love than Zelda or Mario? Don't get me wrong I love all 3 series and it doesn't exactly take a genius to know that Zelda and Mario are a little (ok, maybe a lot) more popular than Kirby. But for some reason it feels he gets more love and justice. With all the things he gets for his anniversaries, merch, spinoffs. Not to mention, though I may be mistaken, I see some talk more about him than the latter two.

More "love" is an interesting question! You already touched on the fact that Mario and Link (and their respective series) are far more popular than Kirby...

...as video game series. But as a standalone character? I'd say Kirby beats them, easily. Part of that is because Kirby is charming in and of themselves. If you look around our little tumblr community, you'll see plenty of people who love Kirby who haven't even played the games - or played very few of them!

Some of them came to love Kirby from watching KRBAY, others just because they... Well, I mean, LOOK at the puff! How could you not fall in love?!

Mario is (*citation needed) behind Pikachu as the closest thing video gaming has to a household name (and that's probably only because Pikachu has a popular anime and card game to boost their recognition.) But outside of "...that game where you play a jumping Italian plumber" there's not much to sell people on Mario as a person outside of, "It's-a me, Mario!" (Same for Link & Zelda.)

You have to have SOME context to really become a Mario or Zelda fan. Usually, that context is playing one of their games. So, Kirby has the easiest adoption rate for fans.

And yet, the Kirby games lack a certain... je ne sais quoi in the West (I blame the foolishly misapplied label of "kids' game" and maybe some lingering "guys can't like pink" fear that really needs to go away already) that causes the game franchise to trail behind the other two, massively. Mario and Zelda are system sellers. Kirby is not. But hey, neither is the market for LoZ plushies bursting a the seams! (...bad pun.)

I'd say, as far as love from their fans go, all three series are pretty even...? Mario might lag a little because it has less of a story than LoZ or Kirby, so there's less to get really, truly, passionate about. Or discussion online, as you point out!

(As for Mario there are games like Luigi's Mansion or the other spinoffs that dig a little deeper. And I think there was more speculation for LoZ before the timeline got consolidated. Now people know to wait for more information. Kirby the series is as malleable as Kirby themselves, so there's more to discuss/speculate on.

Plus, people are trying really hard to get more recognition for Kirby, this year especially, thanks to the success of Forgotten Land, so Kirby is breaching into more general spaces, and more niche ones too, like talk of how FL should be a nomination for game of the year at the game awards!)

As for love from their creators... I'd generally agree with you that it's Kirby for sure! Then again, divisions within Nintendo and their tendency to work on individual projects aside, Kirby has its own dedicated company in HAL Labs.

Imagine applying to Nintendo as a developer/programmer/designer. Maybe you want to work on Mario! Maybe you want to work on Zelda? Or maybe you want to work on Splatoon?!

But if you apply to HAL? Kirby is what drew you there. It's rare to have a studio that's gone on for so many years that is also (almost - we haven't forgotten about you, Box Boy!) entirely focused on a single character!

Because HAL loves Kirby, Kirby gets a lot of love from HAL. And that's important, because that outpouring of love from Kirby's developer "family" is part of what makes Kirby and their world such a continually charming property!

Kirby shines through with that love and care from so many people on the developer side, and that's the reason we want Kirby storybooks, and Kirby perfume, and Kirby pajamas, Kirby lunchboxes, and huggable Kirbys to sleep with at night!

-

P.S. A bitter internet would tell you this is a lie and happily point you to places where you can point and laugh at others, but there really is no such thing as a stupid question. If you're asking questions, it's because you're seeking knowledge or opinions and are (hopefully) open-minded enough to consider them and their value to yourself. And that's something to be proud of! Not something to diminish with words like “stupid”!

...As for biased, well, we’re probably all a little biased here! ^_^

[shihalyfie]

Some fun talking about and analyzing the tri. stage play, and its relationship to Kizuna

The tri. stage play (full title: "Super Evolution Stage! Digimon Adventure tri. August 1st Adventure") is honestly quite an unusual entry in this franchise, even within Adventure standards. Nearly everything about its production is unusual -- the entire genre it's in is unexpected, the choice of time period to release something like this is unusual, and moreover, now that Kizuna’s out, a lot of people have noticed a lot of suspiciously similar themes and even language, most notably the key “we’ll always be together” line (phrased even exactly the same way in Japanese). In fact, despite ostensibly being a tri.-branded product, other than a few vague token nods to the anime series in the play itself, said stage play has very little to do with the actual anime sharing its name, so the similarity to Kizuna is even more striking in retrospect.

Perhaps another interesting thing about this play is that it’s a very good example of a standout work in the Adventure universe that didn’t have any original creator involvement (other than some minor tips from Seki). I think there’s often a tendency for people to think that in order for a sequel or spinoff to be true to the original, it has to have some member of original staff on there, especially since the Adventure (and 02) characters tend to be a bit overly complex and it helps to have the reassurance that someone who knows them is behind the wheel -- Kizuna used the presence of Seki and Yamatoya as an outright advertising point -- but this stage play’s director and writer had no experience with the franchise beforehand, not even as a fan, yet still made a very respectful product that has generally been received well by Adventure (and 02) fans and even got the original director’s approval, too. If anything, that makes it all the more impressive!

(Note that the below text spoils the story content of the play, but not Kizuna’s to any substantial degree.)

Some production background

Anime and video game stage tie-ins are fairly common -- much like this one, they tend to have very short runs and are targeted at a limited audience -- but they’re usually stereotyped as being for the otome crowd (i.e. predominantly female otaku audience), so works like this are generally associated with it. As a result, when this play was announced and released between tri. Parts 4 and 5, quite a few people were surprised, because this franchise originally came from products associated with shounen anime. In practice, this was a period where it was becoming increasingly clear that there was, in fact, a huge female audience for Digimon (especially Adventure universe), on top of the fact that (as noted by the performers in the final show) the audience for this show ended up being unusually mixed-gender, because Digimon really is universal -- but it did lead to the announcement of the play being initially received with heavy skepticism, partially because of the usual misogyny (stigma around things associated with female audiences, etc.), and partially because this was during a time where...well, saying that a very huge percentage of the fanbase, especially the Japanese side, was really pissed off at anything tri.-branded at the time is kind of an understatement. Ultimately, the play ended up very well-received with a small but dedicated following, and it’s currently referred to as “dejisute” (short for “Digimon Stage”) in Japanese fan shorthand. Bringing it up generally elicits positive critical feedback, even among those who were initially skeptical.

Some interesting things also surround the circumstances of its production as well. As some might know already, the tri. anime series and Kizuna share only one key member of staff: Kinoshita Yousuke, who was involved in tri. Parts 5 and 6, and eventually went on to become the producer for Kizuna and the upcoming 02-based movie. tri. was a work that (for some reason) had a huge number of producers on it, of which Kinoshita was only one; he seemed to have been replacing Arai Shuuhei, who left the project after Part 4. However, while Arai was formerly one of the most visible of tri.’s producers (he was the only one regularly brought up in interviews), how much degree of influence Kinoshita had with tri. is unknown, other than the fact he had no involvement in its story. Given that the decision to make Kizuna also seemed to have been made around Part 5, it seems that Kinoshita may have been brought on specifically for the purpose of observing and prepping for Kizuna, because his role on tri. seems to have been so minimal that the moment he was put in charge of Kizuna, the production philosophy ended up becoming completely different under his management. (When you think about it, tri. and Kizuna have very little in common, other than the rough premises of involving the older Adventure cast.)

The thing is, though, Part 5 isn’t actually the first tri. work Kinoshita is credited for, but this stage play is -- which is interesting to consider when taking into account the heavy amount of thematic parallels between this and Kizuna three years later, and in general the very unusual creative decision to make a stage play that suddenly popped up at exactly this time, making heavier tributes to Adventure (and even 02) than the actual anime it was branded with. Making things even more interesting was that the stage play���s director and writer, Tani Kenichi, was allegedly recruited by an unnamed producer impressed with his work (by the way, did I mention Kinoshita used to work in live-action before joining Toei?). Given all that, perhaps this stage play coming off unnervingly like a sort of Kizuna prototype isn’t all that surprising...

Unfortunately, right now we’re still kind of in a time period where official will get barraged with violently angry comments for even so much as putting the series on streaming services, so it’ll probably be a few more years (if ever) before official will be willing to be more open about what went on behind tri. production, and it’s probably a bit much to get too speculative about things like this when real people are involved. Nevertheless, one thing is apparent: the director and writer, Tani, was a newcomer to Digimon -- not even someone who’d been a fan beforehand -- but watched all of Adventure and 02 in preparation for it and stated openly that he was very, very emotionally touched by it. The work itself is obviously made with a lot of love and respect for the series, and one really cool thing about it is that you can also tell that it came from the perspective of an adult with no preconceived notions about it, therefore meaning it comes from someone analyzing the series without necessarily caving to fanbase mantras, and making some very cogent observations about the characters. It’s also just a fabulous work production-wise in general -- the puppet work and making the Digimon look convincing on stage is very well-done, especially when you consider that this play had only ten showings -- and you really gotta appreciate the fact that, even before Seki gave him a few pointers, he was so passionate about the importance of Digimon partners that he pushed for all eight to be represented despite the expenses.

Taking a look at the play itself

Despite ostensibly tying into the tri. anime series it's branded with, the play only really seems to loosely refer to some of its key elements as taking place at approximately the same time, such as Koushirou’s server, infected Digimon, setpieces like KNIFE OF DAY, and an eventual “reveal” that this seems to take place ostensibly around the rough time period of tri.’s Part 4. Look closely, however, and you’ll notice that a lot of things in the characterization and plot arena actually don’t track much with tri. at all -- for instance, in a very non-comprehensive list of things:

It’s implied that Yamato himself is embarrassed about the KNIFE OF DAY band name and is desperately trying to get through it with passion, which doesn’t quite line up with his attitude about it in the anime.

The timeline just really doesn’t line up; Mochizuki Meiko, Meicoomon, and the infections obviously exist, but you can’t have a time period in Part 4 where the kids recognize Meicoomon as being related to the distortions or infections while also being separated from Meiko. Moreover, the “reboot” just doesn’t seem to have happened at all (and to be fair, if you’re planning on making a two-hour tribute to Adventure, not having the Digimon with memories of said adventure would seriously limit the scope of your plot, so this kind of “leeway” was probably downright necessary).

The tri. anime series portrayed Takeru as having a very sharp shift in language, presumably under the implication he’s putting up a front as a flirtatious, aggressive playboy, and so his first-person pronoun was turned into the aggressive ore and his way of referring to Yamato aniki. In Adventure and 02, Takeru had used the polite boku and childish/cutesy onii-chan, and the boku was prominently used as a plot point to hint at Takeru’s identity as the series narrator. (Yes, these kinds of things are actually kind of a big deal in fiction.) Since even longtime fans generally agree that at some point Takeru would be likely to stop using onii-chan once he became old enough, the stage play likewise also prefers aniki over onii-chan, but, notably, it doesn’t even bother with ore in the slightest nor any of the implications that surround it, and Takeru comfortably uses boku for the entirety of the play. Considering that the use of aniki is still a bit unusual (both Diablomon Strikes Back and Kizuna prominently favor the slightly more polite nii-san instead), it seems that the play was made with an awareness that both aspects of Takeru’s language had changed, but a conscious decision to hold over only one from the anime.

And so on and so forth.

In general, the way you could describe this play’s handling of Adventure universe lore and characterization elements is that it’s a bit selective about which tri.-related elements it makes use of, particularly in regards to ones that might be too difficult to reconcile with the original Adventure (and 02). (This is basically the same attitude Kizuna roughly takes in regards to handling of tri. elements, although it’s less noticeable there partially because of the five-year gap between tri. and Kizuna.) Obviously, being completely incongruous with the tri. anime would be a pretty crude thing to do for a play that’s actually branded with it (and especially when said anime was still ongoing at the time, regardless of public opinion), but, regardless, the end result is that its actual relationship with the tri. anime’s version of canon is a bit tenuous.

The main reason for this is probably that, on the flip side, the stage play's references to Adventure -- as in, the specific series that aired in 1999-2000 and took place in the in-universe August 1 and 3, 1999 -- are incredibly aggressive. In fact, it’s actually far more aggressive in this respect than Kizuna is. For all Kizuna is branded as an Adventure movie and puts the original Adventure cast first and foremost in all of the advertising, if you watch the actual movie, in practice, it’s more of something that lies in the gap between Adventure and 02 and the two series together as a whole. Adventure was a series that practically revolved around a "trapped in another world" story and the specific impact its events had on the kids involved, but Kizuna focuses more on the “larger world”, including real world society (very much 02 things), with a lot of themes with suspicious pertinence to 02 and references to its epilogue looming over the plot; the specific Adventure references and even the Digital World don’t come into play until the climax. (And that’s before we get into the fact that the 02 quartet gets more screentime than a good chunk of their seniors.) Really, you can see it just by the fact that a majority of the primary key visuals line the 02 quartet up with everyone else; it’s a movie about both, not just Adventure.

So in other words, Kizuna is really about mixing Adventure and 02 elements, serving as a sort of stopgap work, and recasting the Adventure group in a lot of 02′s context. (And that’s by no means a bad thing; since Adventure wasn’t about that, the differing juxtaposition is a fresh perspective in its own way.) But in terms of revisiting what the actual series called Digimon Adventure was and how those events might have an influence on its relevant cast years later, this play (which actually has longer runtime than Kizuna, being around two hours) is a good place to go to if that’s what you’re looking for. The entire premise of the play revolves around copiously referencing that specific adventure back in 1999, and, more importantly, what impact it’s still continuing to have in this particular group’s memories, to the point where they’re starting to romanticize it and wish they could return to it forever...

Ah, right, that’s what this play has in common with Kizuna: the overall theme of unhealthy fixation on rose-colored nostalgia, and the need to move forward from it. (And, driving it home, “unhealthy fixation on the events of Adventure” as a symbol of that rose-colored nostalgia, to boot.)

The premise of the play itself is that the kids decide to hold a camping trip as tribute to the adventure in 1999, as part of a desire to "go back to those times" (and, as is eventually revealed, it’s actually part of a pocket universe their subconscious wishes had dreamed up as a desire to recreate the past, thanks to the power of the Digital World). So all of the references to Adventure are concrete and fleshed out in specific detail, ranging from everyone referencing specific events and how they impacted them (Jou very explicitly refers to his experiences in Adventure episodes 46-47 in terms of why it fuels his current desire to become a doctor) to even the most minor of references (direct reference to bananas on File Island, from Adventure episode 3).

As a brief aside, a positive side effect of centering the plot on this specific adventure is that it justifies the reason for why these eight are working together (at least prior to the endgame reveal that they’re still involved in tri.’s events); the eight of them weren’t portrayed as liable to do so without good reason, and while certain aspects and events from 02 are alluded to when they’re relevant, the absence of the actual quartet passing without note is completely justifiable because they simply were not on that adventure anyway. (They weren’t initially planned to be at the event in 02 episode 17, and knowing them, it’s likely they wouldn’t want to be at this kind of outright commemorative camping event, because they’d feel like they’d be intrusive in something they had nothing to do with.) So within the scope of the play in two hours, the narrative can be very neatly condensed to be mostly about Adventure itself.

Although this play and Kizuna both share the common theme of the existential crisis that comes with getting older and the tendency to romanticize one’s childhood, the underlying reasons are a bit different; Kizuna’s is very close to 02 in that it’s largely to do with societal pressures and expectations, especially since the question of "what you want to do with your career" is a driving motivation in it. In other words, the existential crisis comes from living up to other people’s expectations, or trying to fit into an arbitrary societal mold of an “adult” without necessarily knowing if that’s what you really want. In the case of this stage play, being set in everyone’s high school years where everyone’s relationship to “the world at large” is a bit more tenuous, the reason for the existential crisis is somewhat closer to Adventure’s: everyone’s started to think they might have been better people back then. More confident, less hesitant, more honest with their feelings. Adventure was a series about self-improvement and one’s relationship with oneself, so it’s understandable that a work meant to look back on that specific adventure will ask the question “well, did they become better people after all?” as a result.

But there’s two problems with this line of thinking: one, this is a very rose-colored evaluation of their former selves, because just because they might have been “more confident” back then doesn’t mean they didn’t have other problems going on (Hikari calls her past self out for being arguably “more honest”, but also somewhat of a dependent child), and two, being more hesitant doesn’t make one a weaker person, just one who’s dealing with a lot more problems and awareness and things to worry about because of how much the scope of their lives has increased. As Agumon says at the end, the old Taichi and the current Taichi are still the same person; it’s just that he’s dealing with more, so he’ll naturally worry about more, and taking on those extra burdens is actually his own way of “evolving”.

Particularly interesting is the position of Jou, the not-so-unsung hero of this story, who is explicitly identified as the person most clearly aware of his future dreams and proceeding without hesitation towards them, to the point of being somewhat immune to the effects of the dream world. (Somewhat, mainly because the ending establishes that he wasn’t entirely.) It's consistent in line with the fact that we actually saw, directly, the train of thought that led to his decision to become a doctor back in Adventure, and he even states it directly in this play himself: he doesn’t consider himself someone who wants to solve things through fighting, but rather someone who can prevent casualties and heal the injured if he pursues this line of study, and thus is determined to make it happen. Even from the very early points of the play, there are several hints at him being able to see a metaphorical “future” that the others cannot, and while he remains unfailingly loyal to his friends (there’s a long sequence of him constantly claiming he’ll leave them as per Koushirou’s request but constantly coming back because he just can’t bring himself to abandon them), he also is the first one to depart the camping trip to attend to a test -- that is to say, he treasures his past, but he has a strong enough dream for his future that he’s willing to move on better than the others can.

Jou’s also the one to personally advise Yamato about the difference in nuance between doing things because you feel you must, versus doing it because you yourself truly want to, a difference in nuance that also becomes very pertinent in Kizuna. Also pertinent to both works in common is the discussion of nuances between “staying trapped in one’s memories” and “violently cutting them all away” (the consequences of the latter being more extensively discussed in Kizuna), versus the ideal situation of reflecting on those memories and experiences from the past in order to productively move forward.

And in the end, rose-colored nostalgia is, indeed, rose-colored nostalgia. Because, sure, that adventure back in the day was great, and they grew a lot, but they also grew a lot because they were overcoming some very harsh, difficult troubles; omitting those parts is losing the substance. The re-invocation of the fun “camping trip” also means re-invoking all of the other things that came along with it, including all of the dangerous threats they’d faced back then. It’s a package deal, and you can’t just filter those out, because it misses the point of what you gained out of it in the first place.

In general, the character writing for this play is also very good; there are some differences between the characters here and them back in 02, but they’re all within the believable scope of positive progression within three years and general adherence to core tenets of their character (Koushirou is certainly more assertive, but emphasis continues to be placed on his deference to others, penchant for spotting details, and capability for being an organizational leader in his own sense). Also notably, this play manages to verbalize a lot of the subtleties in Adventure and 02 that the mainstream tends to gloss over (and don’t tend to get put in official profiles) but are well-known to those deeply familiar with the series. This is the kind of attention to detail usually associated with those who have been studying the series for years, so it’s refreshing to see these come out in words -- for instance, Koushirou stating outright that he was one of the closest people to Taichi for a long time (very true!), Hikari and Takeru actually commenting on each other from back in Adventure (something we never really got in 02, despite “them having known each other for a while” being part of their character arcs), and Sora explicitly admitting that she goes out of her way for others because it’s easier to work for others than it is to even think about herself.

Actually, the attention to detail in general is fantastic; other than a minor slip-up (Sora refers to having met Koushirou during the summer camp at the beginning of the play when she’d actually known him prior from the soccer club, a detail that’s very easy to miss because it’s only mentioned once in Adventure episode 16 and clarified further in the novels), a lot of things from Adventure and 02 are made use of and framed in very clever context; the choice of Etemon as the enemy for this play is well-placed for both his entertainment value and the fact that, as an enemy personally defeated by MetalGreymon in Adventure episode 20, it makes perfect sense that he would have a grudge against Taichi in particular. (It’s also explicitly mentioned that Hikari and Tailmon never met Etemon in person even once, and that Taichi never actually got to see MetalEtemon, so there’s a lot of attention paid to logistics like that.)

Also, while 02 is not really brought up within the scope of the story (and really shouldn’t be, not when this story so heavily centers around Adventure and its themes), its place in canon and its contributions to the worldbuilding are fully respected; a lot of the offhand references to family situations and background are elements that were originally introduced in 02, and many aspects of its Digital World lore are used to assist the plot premise (in particular, the idea of the Digital World being connected to something that can conjure up unconscious dreams wasn’t explicitly invoked until 02). Rather amusingly, at one point, Hikari uses the events of 02 episode 13 to tell a “scary story” to troll Mimi, and it’s interesting and rather refreshing to see the implication that Hikari’s been able to move past the incident enough to use it to troll someone else. There are also some latent epilogue references as well, with Hikari directly bringing up her goal of becoming a kindergarten teacher, Takeru making some really subtle references to wanting to be a novelist and chronicle their adventures (in true Takeru fashion, he never states it outright, but anyone familiar with the epilogue can figure it out), and Taichi alluding to an ultimate goal of humans coexisting alongside Digimon.

Finally, attention should be called to the play’s relationship writing in general. As stated before, the play does call attention to relationships between characters that often don’t get brought up by the mainstream but are somewhat more well-known to fans -- Koushirou and Taichi, Sora and Mimi, Jou and Yamato -- but even the well-known ones are treated with nuance endemic to that from Adventure and especially 02, given that Taichi and Yamato don’t actually have the stereotypical “cold rivals” atmosphere that shounen anime would usually suggest, and the two of them have an extended heart-to-heart in which Yamato actively tries to figure out what’s wrong with Taichi and treat him kindly. (Like in Adventure, the only time they break out in a fight is when Yamato gets emotionally compromised and starts worrying that Taichi isn’t doing enough for others’ welfare.) It’s also very consistent with how the two treat each other in Kizuna as well (the izakaya scene comes to mind, and has a lot of similarities to the awkward-but-ultimately-close conversation they have at night in this play).

And, of course, the centerpiece of the narrative overall: the human-partner relationship. Of course, a lot of this was probably helped by Seki lecturing Tani to not mess this part up, but it really is impressive to consider in light of the fact we’re working with a lot of puppets that have handlers clearly in plain view, so you have to have some massive suspension of disbelief to make this work. But not only are the movements well-done to make it convincing that you really are seeing these actors physically interacting with their partners on stage, the narrative also puts huge spotlights on them, making the Digimon outright be the ones to snap their partners out of their worst patterns of thinking (especially with Agumon and Taichi), and dedicating a long period of silence where literal stage spotlights are dedicated to each kid having some alone time with their partner. The intimacy is very convincing, and, truly, Tani’s insistence on making sure every single one of the main Digimon was represented in spite of the prohibitive budget paid off very well. The point is made: a Digimon partner has to be someone who knows you well and intimately and can call you out at your worst moments, and Taichi even spells it out: Agumon’s capable of seeing right through him.

Putting it next to Kizuna -- a movie dedicated entirely to examining the meaning of a partner relationship, what happens when it deteriorates, what that means for oneself, and what it takes to recover it again -- it’s perhaps unsurprising that this play ends on the same line that was used in all of Kizuna’s advertising and was central to its own plot: “We’ll always be together.”

[gingermintpepper]

After thinking it over for a bit, I've decided that I might as well do a proper underrated 3DS game rec list. I'm a bit of an ATLUS junkie and that's gonna be pretty disgustingly apparent in this list, but it's not my fault that they released hit after hit and all of them were duly ignored.

Due to tumblr's 10 image limit (and my struggle to keep motivated to do one thing for more than three hours) I'm definitely gonna have to break this up into parts and I'm fairly certain one of these lists is just gonna be MegaTen games lmao but I'd like to let people know about these excellent titles and see if I can't at least get people interested in them so they can get more traction.

So, without further ado:

Some 3DS Games that were criminally slept on (part 1)

Monster Hunter Stories

God, where do I begin with this game. Well, the basics: It's a JRPG spinoff title of the now widely successful and popular Monster Hunter series featuring a different take on interacting with the varied and intricate monsters populating the world: Riders.

Yep, instead of hunting the beasties, you play as a young rider who's completed their intiation ritual and can now bond with 'Monsties' as they've cutely labelled the usually ferocious monsters of the wilds. The great thing is that you still fight Monsters--tons of them in fact but this isn't a paid review and in my humble opinion, the most impressive thing about this game is the visual style. The landscapes, the armour, the way they redesigned and 3DS-ified the classically hyper realistic and monstrous beasts to not only be absolutely adorable but still capable of being intimidating when the time calls for it, the stellar animation of special moves and combination attacks--it's delicious, nutritious, stupendous, I can and will consume it like it's part of my recommended caloric intake.

It's very akin to Pokemon in the way its basic gameplay premise is set up, however, instead of catching--or even indeed befriending--the Monsties in the game, you rummage through their nests and steal their eggs, later hatching them and getting yourself a brand new lightly kidnapped monster pal!

Other general things about the game:

Pros:

The armour and weapon sets for both male and female characters slap along with the general character customisation options. They're incredibly diverse (though limited in body type) and you can switch around traits and features whenever you want from your house.

The POGS--these porkers are everywhere and they serve as tiny little achievements for exploring every odd and end of the world. Also they have little outfits. They're so cute. 🥺🥺

You can actually ride the Monsties. All of em. Or, at least the ones that you have available to be your buddies. They all have exploration skills and traits that not only make exploring much more interesting but encourage you to swap out your active Monstie and play around with your options a bit.

Y'all breeding Monsties is complicated and I live for just how intense and ridiculous you can get with optimal builds for these things.

The story is really competently put together! The characters, character designs and even the internal conflict with your starting trio of characters is really compelling along with the mystery of the blight that's infecting Monsters across the world. It's not anything worth awards but it's compelling and it makes you care about the characters if that's what you're in the market for.

Amazing sound design, expansive world, everything about the presentation of this game oozes that Monster Hunter charm even if the art is cutesier than usual. You'll never get bored of its stellar visual presentation!

Available for around twenty quid on the Google Play store, so if you want, you could actually get the full game on your smartphone or tablet. Note though that it would be a battery nuker.

Cons:

If you're on a regular 3DS, frame rate drops are a given. This game kinda pushes the visual capabilities of the 3DS to its absolute limit--a lot like Okamiden did back on the DS.

One save file :( It's pretty much for the same reason as above but still.

If you're playing as the girl, you can't get male armour and vice versa. Since there's only one save file, you'll never be able to have all of the armour sets in a single playthrough and that's criminal because both of the sets for the genders are absolutely breath-taking, thank you.

I 👏can't 👏make👏my👏 own 👏Palico👏

Multi-player for this game is pretty dead seeing as it's almost five years old by now and never got much press or traction. Usually this wouldn't be an issue - this game is 99% singleplayer and you don't really need to fuss about with multi-player to have fun, but if you want to collect all the Monsties, you'll need it since the only way to get Glavenus is through pvp achievements. :/

Final thoughts: Play it if you find yourself getting tired or disappointed with 3DS Pokemon games but still want something that feels as fantastical as Pokemon. It outshines the 3DS Pokemon games at every turn and I will never be over just how thoughtfully put together and fully realised these games are. Of course, if you've ever played Monster Hunter, then you know just how intensive these games are with the lore, biology, cultures and world of their Monsters but seeing that translated into JRPG format was just very sobering and it's a game that, to this day, continues to awe me with just how much love and attention went into it.

Last note: If you're still unsure about it, there's a demo available on the e-shop of the 3DS that allows you to play through the entire initial area of the game. Your data does carry through to the full release and to give you an idea of how much I've been able to squeeze out of it - my playtime for that demo is currently sitting at 22 hours. Make sure to get a hold of that Cyan-Kut-Ku!

7th Dragon III Code: VFD

The title may sound intimidating but the premise is not! A mysterious disease called Dragon Sickness spread by the Dragonsbane flowers that have cropped up all around the world. You and your team are recruited by the Nodens game company after you display extraordinary prowess in their hit virtual reality game 7th Encount. As you go through the adventure, you are tasked with finding out the truth behind the Dragon Sickness and asked to stop both it and the Dragons that are destroying the world.

This game is fun. It's another turn-based JRPG however, in this game you create all of your characters yourself from the myriad of classes available to you from the jump. Different classes of course have very different specialisations - Samurai focus on high powered cutting damage with their swords, Duelists are summoners who can influence the element of the battlefield as well as summon monsters from each element, Agents can hack into your enemies and inflict a barrage of nasty ailments, just to name a few - and you are given three teams of three characters each to experiment with different team comps and find the balance that works for you. There's also a wide variety of Dragons to hunt and kill in the game, which directly affects how infected your world is with the Dragon Sickness causing Dragonsbane. Along the way you will also come into contact with many interesting characters, concepts and confrontations that will make the task of saving the world all the more imperative.

Pros

1. The character creator and differing classes give way for tons of experimenting and playing around with your own unique approach to combat and carrying out your missions. Granted, 'character creation' is generous, it's little more than palatte swaps but the classes are really where VFD shines. Eight main classes may not sound like a lot, but the expaniveness of the character skills, their synergy with their fellow classes and the uniqueness of some of the classes in and of itself allows for so much flexibility and creativity in approaches to even tougher bosses. It also encourages the switching about of your party members to really finagle with the options available to you.

2. God this game is pretty. The locations, the character art, the creature design - all of it is gorgeous and this game capitalises on every bit of the 3DS's presentation limitations as it can.

3. You can romance anything and everyone - yes, you can even be gay/lesbian/poly in this game. In fact, one of the main characters - Julietta - is gnc and he's a constant source of joy as well one of my personal favourite characters, right behind Yuma.

4. Exploration is very very forgiving as the game has healing spots and teleport nodes all over the world to allow for quick, seamless travel between quest points without feeling like anything is too much of a hassle. There are also special enemies that allow for quick grinding as well as quick farming of money. In general, the game does a really good job of making sure that the grind is never unbearable or inconsiderate of your time.

Cons:

1. This is the fourth game in a series the West has never seen any other title for, and from the looks of it, will probably never see any other titles for. Because of that, there are some elements that may seem confusing or revelations in the plot that may seem to come out of nowhere.

2. While the visuals are great, the OST of this one is pretty short making for a lot of reused soundtracks that can get really annoying if you're like me and need your audio to be interesting or consistent so it doesn't distract you too much.

3. This one isn't really a con but it is divisive: This game gets pretty difficult at times. A few of the main dragon enemies including and especially the final boss can give you a serious run for your money in the annoy-o-meter in terms of the kind of absolute JRPG fuckery they can pull out of their magic bag of bullshit movesets and while I generally enjoy that kind of thing, I know it's not for everyone. Most regular combat shouldn't be too tricky once you have a team comp that works well together but you also need to pay attention since the same team that carries you to victory one time might be worth beans against another dragon.

Final thoughts: This is... a really good game. Interesting story, really interesting characters, pretty world and a battle system that really makes you sit down and think. There's also a demo for this available in the e-shop and while your data doesn't carry over - you do receive multiple perks for carrying over your demo data including some exclusive items that, while not game breaking, do help a ton in the early stages of the game.

This isn't a final list by any stretch of the word; I only have the energy to do these two right now, but the next games up for coverage are Ever Oasis and Stella Glow! If you're interested in my full plan of games I want to cover here then my current lineup includes: Theatrhythm: Curtain Call, Project Mirai: Deluxe, Culdecept Revolt, Alliance Alive, Radiant Historia: Perfect Chronology, Etrian Odyssey V, Devil Survivor 2: Record Breaker and Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse.

Finally, if anyone has played any of the games I mention, cover or plan to cover PLEASE REACH OUT TO ME, I AM SO LONELY IN MY FORTRESS OF SAND. On a serious note, I'd love to hear what other people who've played these games think!

Thanks for reading,

-Ginger

PS: @feralpeacock Because a million years ago, on my first underrated games post, you asked that I remember you. :D

[sillyfudgemonkeys]

i havent been here in a hot second is there a reason for the makoto hate specifically? like the rants go back to p5's writing issues but the spite for makoto seems very specific did she kill someones dog in one of the spinoffs or what?

You're all good. So here's the thing, she did kill my dog-I'm joking.

When I say “I’m the residential #1 Makoto Hater” it’s a joke, partially cause it probs looks that way (and probs cause it might be true, who knows if you could quantify hate then maybe I’m at the top of the leaderboards 8U but you can’t so we’ll never know). But I’m saying it at as a joke, to own myself and everyone here that knows what I think of her, rather than wear it as a badge of honor or some silliness. It’s just a “oh haha yeah there goes Silly, dunking on Makoto again! She’s basically Makoto’s #1 hater haha oh she’s so silly.” (so please don’t look too deep into it, I just want to have fun).

Anyway, me hating Makoto isn’t new, but I do hold a similar ire towards Futaba, Goro (tho I have camaraderie with his fans, I relate to their struggle in terms of my own brown hair and red eye fav and Atlus screwing them over u_u I may hate your fave but I respect you and will be in your corner), and Yukari (as well as Chloe from LiS if you want a non-Persona example). Makoto might be talked about more because 1) She hits my buttons that much faster (Futaba/Goro are more like a festering wound, and when I talk about them it’s hard to pick a starting point), 2) Her fans tendency (early on in the fandom) bringing her up frequently.....was a bad combo with #1 (overexposure+pushing all my buttons really fast=disaster). Obvie not blaming her fans, but it was hard to curate how I was able to curate my content online (esp with gaming news websites calling her “best girl” when showing off a figure announcement or some BS when I just want to know what new games have been announced >.> I can do without you trying to start a waifu war in the comments Siliconera -_-)

Anyway, I think I’ve made my reasons for hating her very clear (you just have to search her name on my blog and you’ll get a ton of essays I’m sure, too many to count). And a lot of it is the failure of P5′s writing. “So it’s just the writing you hate, not the character.” No. Because that doesn’t make sense. Except under certain circumstances (which I’ll provide examples of below with Luke Skywalker), you can’t separate the writing from the character. The character IS the writing, the writing IS the character. If you can’t hate/dislike the char because “of the writing” then you also can’t love/like them either. The character and the writing/writing choices for that character are connected. The writing embodies that character. They are the same.

Now I said there was an exception, and that’s....”different writer/director,” tho it’s not ALWAYS the case (sometimes the new writer really gets the original writing, like Saito for MM.....they are very good at emulating the clusterfuck of P5′s writing). P5′s writing is the original basis for Makoto’s character, that’s her. You can’t separate it from her. Same thing with say....Luke Skywalker from the OG trilogy, that’s him. But then we get to the sequel/Disney trilogy, new writer/director....and yeah that’s a mess (from what I understand OG trilogy=Hopeful and tries to see the best in people, 2nd Disney=Cynic and tried to kill a child, 3rd Disney=Hopeful again for some reason). There’s character development, then there’s just straight up changing the character just cause you need them to be this now. 

*writes how this can apply to Persona spinoffs but deletes because I was getting too off track* Look at me exercising control. It’s probs best I save that for a meta after I’ve replayed all the spinoffs again.

But....if you want me to boil down my issues with Makoto, I hate the message we get from her. I hate the lesson we learn from her. What is supposed to happen vs what happens.  It’s supposed to be about a girl who is blindly following authority and becomes disillusioned with it after being burned by it, on top of “immense pressure” she has as well, and then comes to our side (we know this because Atlus told us). We don’t get that (we know this because we saw the execution). We get two adults, yes TWO ADULTS, one of which is her sister and wants her to do well in school (but isn’t like.....a tiger mom about it, because Sae can’t be TOO horrible because we need to like her later), who in retrospect seems very busy with her job (which gives Makoto freedom), but also feels burdened by her younger sister (in which she has one shitty slip with her and then NEVER again). And the other is a dumbass principal who asks a really strange and stupid task for Makoto that snowballs into bullshit. That’s IT! THAT’S IT! That’s all we get from Makoto and “authority.” Strawmen. We don’t really get much of her personality either (I’m not saying that cause “she’s cardboard” I legit just.....don’t get her? Like I don’t get enough of her to get a solid foundation, you get me?) Like as the player, what we see of her is she’s just studying in the library (Kamo arc), then the principal calls her in, she mentions the rumors about Kamo, he asks her to look into the PT in exchange for a recommendation (to which she’s surprised and says thanks, not no, she looks like she’ll accept JUST BASED ON THAT) but before she can even say Yes (OR NO) he threatens Makoto with her sister, to which Makoto hardens and then agrees. Then she acts like an asshole and yadda yadda stuff happens.

But if she’s supposed to blindly follow authority, she’d say yes, but then they don’t let the character breathe so she can make the “wrong” choice because the Principal goes STRAIGHT to threatening her.......so now the message is muddled, or really it’s non existent. The whole Sae thing is a nothing bag too, it’s just family drama. Her sister is, no HAS to be absent a lot for her work, just so Makoto can have the freedom to be a PT....which means....it hurts her lack of freedom and other stuff associated with Sae being a big pressure on Makoto’s life. You know, I’ve said before they’ve squandered Sae, and that Makoto’s presence really harmed Sae (iirc it was this post). But at the same time, how they handled Sae really screws up Makoto’s character. Neither are allowed to breathe. Neither are allowed to make a true, horrible choice...and then learn from it. They aren’t allowed to have an actual arc. Altus played it safe, took choice away from them, didn’t want to take risks with either character and have meaning. Instead we just have this nothing contradiction thing dicking around until they join our team. 

What really sucks about that....is we got that with the Kamo arc. With Anne, Ryuji, even Yuki and Shiho. Kamo was manipulative, and his manipulation caused people to make....not the best choices, all out of a means to survive. Ryuji physically acted against Kamo, and he got his leg broken, team disbanded, and outcasted. Anne was trying to protect Shiho’s position on the team, which lead to her almost getting harmed by Kamo, Shiho getting harmed, her not seeing the truth about what was going on around her, and she didn’t tell Shiho (because she didn’t want Shiho to think she didn’t get on the team for her own merits), and so on. Shiho didn’t tell Anne what was going on because she wanted to protect Anne from Kamo (and was afraid Anne would, very much blame herself), and her and Yuki and the rest of the teams helped keep quiet about Kamo so they wouldn’t be next on the physical chopping block. This isn’t me blaming them, this is me showing their choices, their attempts to fix their (hopeless) situation, to help themselves or others, and the dramatic irony being it just made everything worse. BUT, even tho Kamo was the real one to blame, each character is aware of the actions that were made, and the consequences of each action (esp Anne/Ryuji/Shiho). And in their CoOps, they identify this, and take strides to learn from it so it doesn’t happen again. That’s an arc. That’s character development. They were allowed to make errors, mistakes, decisions that negatively impacted themselves/other’s. We see a solid foundation of their character from the get go, and how it changes over that small time. We don’t get that with Makoto. The group is like solid concrete to Makoto who is like shifting sand. 

Sorry got a bit off topic, anyway, I hate her message of boasting about her fighting ability but she only harms her friends (outside of shadows, but that’s not special) WHILE ALSO being a damsel that needs someone else to rescue her! I hate how when she gets called out, she wants to drop it, and gives gaslighty apologies, even tho she really ROYALLY screwed lot of people very badly. I hate how she demands us to help, only to literally be a detriment to our investigation. I hate how she gets to fly off the handle without repercussions (despite needing to be cool calm and collected for her job, especially since she miraculously can do that when needed so what the hell????). I hate how the text has her be shitty, say shitty things, be bad at her job, but will turn around and reward her time and time again. 

Sure she doesn’t break the lore like Futaba, or unravel P5′s plot like Goro. But as a character with a message attached to her, even ones that the creators surely overlooked (I’m sure they didn’t intend for her to only hit her friends), it’s simple but very annoying. Fast and easy to see, doesn’t require me to think of P5′s lore as well as the grander Persona lore. Doesn’t require me to dig through text for Goro bread crumbs and then unravel the entire basis of the P5 plot thanks to him. Makoto is easier to get into, it’s smaller scale and more personal I guess. 

[bulgariansumo]

The Messy Relationship Between Sonic and Localization

Ask any Sonic fan and they’ll tell you that the fandom is one of the most fractured things to ever exist. It’s a miracle whenever we can all agree, and that usually comes from us collectively hating something (Sonic Movie’s original design, Ken Penders, etc.)--and even then, there’s a dedicated few who disagree. Many of us have such differing opinions on what the series “should” be, that satisfying all--or even a majority--of Sonic fans is next to impossible. How did it get this way? I think it has a lot to do with localization.

Classic Era

The 1990’s wasn’t the best decade when it came to localizing anything, especially not video games. Often, some creative liberties would be taken when adapting a source from Japanese to English.  The Sonic franchise was no exception to this. The first split comes from the game manuals. Me and @rontufox��� already made a post discussing this, but the Japanese manuals gave a little background info on the series’ lore and worldbuilding. The English versions gave a bare-bones description of the premise of each game, but that’s about it. There were no mentions of an apocalypse caused by people misusing the Chaos Emeralds, of Sonic finding the ring that would foreshadow Knuckles Chaotix, or of Knuckles thinking the Death Egg was a ‘Dragon’s Egg’ described in ancient legends. Sonic went to a bunch of colorful zones, beat up Dr. Robotnik, collected some magic stones, and maybe a new character or two would tag along, but there was nothing else to it. There was no dialogue and few cutscenes in the games at this time, so the English localizers could get away with this.

Since there wasn’t much to go on games-wise, English fans at the time got their perception of Sonic and his world from various comic and cartoon adaptations. The American-produced ones portrayed Sonic as an in-your-face smart aleck who was almost completely full of himself. The UK-produced Sonic the Comic starred Sonic as a self-described “cool guy” who cared little about the people around him, including friends. Whatever worldbuilding these adaptations had either didn’t exist or diverged completely from the games, because the writers, even if they did care, didn’t have much to go on. There also weren’t a lot of Japanese Sonic adaptations at the time, and the only one that got localized was Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie (aka Sonic OVA). To English-speaking fans, Sonic was an arrogant but funny hedgehog who despite everything, got the job done. Aside from Dr. Robotnik, other characters were an afterthought and could be replaced as needed.  

Adventure Era

Sonic Adventure released in 1998 with fully voice-acted cutscenes, and localization differences started catching up. Some things were easy to fix, such as Dr. Eggman (Robotnik’s name in Japanese) being a nickname for Dr. Robotnik. Other things weren’t that simple. For instance, some of those little things mentioned in the Japanese manuals started showing up again, specifically the apocalypse caused by people misusing the Chaos Emeralds. Sonic Adventure was a soft-reboot, where most previous characters and worldbuilding are still there, but some details are left behind so that newcomers have an easier time entering the series. There also might be changes in the series’ tone. For example, Sonic Adventure was somewhat more serious than previous games could be, but still overall lighthearted. This was also the first of many mainline games during this time to have an ensemble cast. Instead of just playing as Sonic, or maybe Tails and Knuckles, you were required to play all three of them plus other characters, with different stories and gameplay styles. This was a tall task, but these games pulled it off well enough to be very popular at the time. Themes of friendship became very prominent in the games around this time, and to further cement it, Sonic X, a Japanese-produced anime came out and got localized in the United States. Sonic was still a little cocky in English dubs of the games and anime, but he was also free-spirited and very supportive of his friends instead of being preoccupied with being the coolest person in the group. For the most part, his English and Japanese portrayals were nearly indistinguishable. Other characters also got more screentime and focus on their personalities, and popular new characters like Shadow and Rouge were introduced to the cast. All was going great.

Then 2006 came around. Shadow the Hedgehog and Sonic the Hedgehog (aka Sonic 06) came out, ushering in a period of very poorly received Sonic games, the latter being seen as a contender for the worst game of all time. Shadow the Hedgehog was an attempt at explaining why the titular character was alive after apparently being killed off Sonic Adventure 2, but the gritty and somewhat melodramatic tone was seen as ill-fitting for the Sonic franchise. The gameplay was also lacking, in part due to other characters tagging along with Shadow and repeatedly telling him hints and mission objectives. The problem of characters talking a lot mid-gameplay was present in Sonic Heroes, but the gameplay itself was passable enough that the game didn’t completely suffer for it. Shadow the Hedgehog tied up the last plot threads the Sonic Adventure series left behind, so the series had to go somewhere different. Sonic 06 was another soft-reboot, so that newcomers wouldn’t have to study up on the games from Sonic Adventure to Shadow the Hedgehog. Because the game was rushed for the holiday season, it was glitchy, didn’t feel good to play, and the writing was… very flawed. The game’s tone was slightly lighter than Shadow the Hedgehog, but still a little too melodramatic for most fans.

With all of these changes in mind, further splits in the English-speaking fandom occurred. Many vocal Classic fans were thrown off by the series being heavier on plot, worldbuilding, and Sonic’s friends. They wanted to go back to a time when none of that existed, and when Sonic was just an arrogant jokester--a time that only existed in 90’s US and UK. Newer, Adventure-era fans grew up with these new changes and loved them, though many of them were also not happy with Shadow the Hedgehog and subsequent games’s handling of these things. Because of Shadow the Hedgehog and Sonic 06’s spectacular failure in handling different characters’ gameplay, one sentiment was repeatedly echoed--that only Sonic should be playable. Since then, with very few exceptions, only Sonic has been playable in mainline Sonic games. This still wasn’t enough to save the games. Games after Sonic 06 often had a core gimmick to them, many of which weren’t received well, and the ones that were got replaced by the next game. The writing had the same feeling to it, though. It shied away from the melodrama of the most hated entries, but still retained the sincerity of entries like Sonic Adventure.

Modern Era

That changed in 2011 with Sonic Colors. Instead of Sonic Team writing the games, they hired Ken Pontac and Warren Graff, two American writers known for working on Happy Tree Friends. Neither had much knowledge of the previous games’ characters, worldbuilding, or stories, but this was intentional. Sonic games sell less in Japan, so Sega probably wanted to put more focus into pleasing audiences in America and Europe. The two went off some basics about the characters and setting, and what little they knew previously. There is some supervision by Takeshi Iizuka, a longtime Sonic Team member who is currently the head of the series after creator Yuji Naka left in the mid-2000’s, but he is interested in the series going in a new direction. Sonic Colors was another soft reboot of the series, but because of the writer’s lack of knowledge about the series a lot more details were lost and changes made than in any of the previous ones. The writing is lighthearted, but most of the sincerity has been traded for attempts at comedy, which tend to be hit and miss. Sonic as a character retains his free spirit and some kindness towards his friends, but some of the self-importance of his English interpretation is making a comeback. Many of the characters from previous games make returns, but they’re written oddly (“Y’got this, Sssonic!” - Shadow, Sonic Generations (2011)) and the writers don’t quite know how to integrate them. Sonic Colors was well-received for its gameplay, and even the writing was praised at the time, but most subsequent games have middling reception. None are considered outright bad (except Sonic Boom, but that was a spinoff that Sega contracted a different company to do) or outright good (except Sonic Mania, which Sega contracted a team of fans to do.)

Conclusion

As it stands now, the Sonic franchise is a strange hybrid of the Japanese and English interpretations of Sonic. A lot of the Adventure Era fans are old enough to start noticing the changes in the writing in the Modern Era, and some aren’t big fans. Some are, though. Some of the Classic fans are satisfied with these changes, others aren’t impressed either preferring the Classic or even Adventure Era. Some people like the Classic Era, but not the English interpretations of the series. There are likely Modern fans who grew up with this version of the Sonic franchise and love it, but there may be ones that have seen previous iterations and prefer those better. There are many differing opinions and few can agree on what would be good for Sonic. Would things have been different if localization had been handled differently in the 90’s? Who can say? All we have to go by are ripples from the errors of the past.

[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

Psycho Analysis: The Moonchild

(WARNING! This analysis contains SPOILERS!)

I feel like this one was inevitable. As soon as I decided to bust open the doors on literary mediums like books and comics, this guy was always going to loom over me. Well, let’s just bite the bullet and talk about him. 

In the final portion of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Centuries, we are introduced to Oliver Haddo’s ultimate creation… a creation he is incredibly disappointed in. You see, the Antichrist or Moonchild is a whiny, miserable young adult strung out on prescription drugs because he went mad after realizing what he was being manipulated into. He is the subject of derision by all who know him, and is treated like a punching bag by most of the narrative, up to and including God literally telling him he’s a bitch. Our villain here is just a miserable, whiny, kind of misogynistic brat who doesn’t even want to be a villain, and in general is just unpleasant and ineffective save for a school massacre he pulls off.

Oh yeah, and his real name is Harry Potter. Kind of an important detail, that.

Motivation/Goals: So as the antichrist, you’d think Mr. Potter might, you know, maybe want to bring about the end of days and all that. But no! He actually pops pills and isolates himself in Grimmauld Place so that he doesn’t do that! He doesn’t want to be the Antichrist and, really, who would? Most of his screentime is thus spent whining, until he ultimately decides to embrace being the Antichrist because he feels  he has no other choice. We’ll get into all of that in a bit, but honestly, his motivation is extremely weak despite the incredibly graphic setup we’re given to his downward spiral: when he first discovered he was being manipulated by Satanists, he went on a magical school shooting, shown to us in a first-person perspective to emulate the games that were often blamed for real school shootings. We get to see Harry slaughter Ron, Hermione, Snape, Dumbledore, and so on, we get to see what he did to Hogsmeade and the Hogwarts Express, and absolutely none of it is pleasant. 

With setup like that you’d expect maybe a little more intrigue and indecision, maybe some sort of conflict between fate and choice or something beyond Harry sitting around half-naked, high off of antidepressants, being a whiny little bitch, but you might be giving the dude who wrote a porno where the kids from Peter Pan engage in underage incest a bit too much credit. 

Final Fate: So Harry has gone absolutely bonkers and it seems that nothing can possibly stop him; our heroes seem to be written into a corner. So what does Moore do? He has God - who in this universe is Mary Poppins - descend from the heavens and have her say how she protects the imaginations of children and how she just straight up hates Harry. Never mind that Harry is quite literally an abused child who was twisted by the cruel machinations of a body surfing wizard, apparently he’s a child not worth protecting or caring about and is unworthy of sympathy. Anyway, Mary Poppins just turns him into a chalk drawing and that’s the end of that. 

Great writing, Alan Moore, critically acclaimed creator of Watchmen!

Best Scene: Saying Harry here had a ‘best scene’ is seriously pushing it, because literally every moment he’s on the page the comic just beats you over the head with Moore’s biases. I wish I could put the school shooting sequence, because the idea behind it is legitimately intriguing, but the whole sequence is just interwoven with Moore whacking off his hateboner for the series. But on the subject of boners… well, I think there’s only one panel that can truly and adequately sum up this entire character and how much of a miserable failure he is. Those who have followed me for a long time knew this was coming, but for the rest of you, behold - Harry Potter Dick Lightning:

Final Thoughts & Score: Quite frankly, this is the worst thing Alan Moore has ever done.

I’m not even mad as a fan of Harry Potter; Moore was honestly ahead of his time in hating the franchise to this level. The issue I have is that he doesn’t really deconstruct or criticize in any meaningful way, he just is doing edgy “take that” stuff that you’d expect from a chump like Garth Ennis. Like, the concept here is incredibly solid and intriguing - this version of Harry has been groomed from birth by Satanists to become the Antichrist, with all of his adventures fabricated and all of his relationships manufactured to keep him under the illusion he is a hero to mankind. Upon discovering the truth, he snaps, massacres everyone at his school for their role in his manipulations, and went into exile to stave off the apocalypse, although he ultimately and bitterly accepts his role because he feels he was never given a choice… and he wasn’t! He’s an incredibly depressing and miserable deconstruction of the concept of “The Chosen One,” and yet the whole thing falls apart on multiple levels.

The first is that the Harry Potter franchise already deconstructs the concept of “The Chosen One;” the text goes out of its way to point out that Voldemort’s own actions are what is creating a self-fulfilling prophecy by targeting someone with the will and drive to fight back against him. Harry’s not so much chosen by fate so much as forcibly chosen by an evil manipulator… and that’s basically what we have here, but with less substance. Moore doesn’t really comment on anything, instead leading into the second big issue - Harry’s whole role is to be a strawman punching bag villain so that Moore can complain about modern fantasy franchises. Moore seems to view Harry as the epitome of the lazy regurgitation of the same story over and over that modern blockbuster culture so often falls into… except that Harry Potter was an original product developed by one person and had no artificial longevity slapped onto the franchise in the form of unneeded sequels or spinoffs to extend the lifespan of the franchise at the time Moore wrote this. Throw in the fact Moore just in general seems extremely contemptuous of any post-70s pop culture in Centuries and how Harry is ultimately taken down by crusty old characters from older literature really just leads to Moore coming across as a grumpy old man who hates anything new, not helped by his tired criticisms of millennials and their perceived lack of culture. Maybe Moore would have had more of a point if he created this storyline today, but he didn’t. Thus, he has no point and he just looks like a miserable old fart.

Sure, you can argue that maybe Moore’s basic parody of the character by exaggerating his tendencies to their logical extreme and attacking elements of the plot that had been criticized to death by fans to begin with has its place, and perhaps you could even say that the take in the comic is just an extreme take on how Harry acted in the fifth book, what with the lashing out at his friends and his general feeling of a lack of control, and there is some merit to that, or there would be if Moore’s own unrepentant bias didn’t undermine everything. Look, you can hate Harry Potter, but then why slap it into your work? It’s supremely cringey when people insert characters they hate into fanfiction and just completely derail their characters so that they can treat them like garbage with the narrative, and is that not what Moore did here? Is League not just public domain fanfiction? There’s a reason why I coined “Harry Potter Dick Lightning” as a phrase used to showcase a moment where a fanwork’s contempt for a character becomes so extreme that it not only jumps the shark, it rockets over it into the upper atmosphere. Any criticisms or messages Moore is trying to convey is tarnished by his blatant, seething contempt for the character, and that gets in the way of good writing and good storytelling. Having two characters express pity at having to murder an abused child who was warped by Satanists into being a tool of the apocalypse does not make up for how the narrative constantly mocks, belittles, and treats him like garbage to the point he really can’t function as an effective villain that can be taken seriously.

All of this adds up to what I’d argue is the absolute worst villain in all of fiction, bar none. There is just not a single redeeming quality about the Antichrist as a character. None. Nothing. I cannot think of another villain that so completely fails on every single level as this one does. He doesn’t work as an antagonist because most of the bad things he does are offscreen and he doesn’t come into conflict with the heroes until the very end, and most of his screentime features him doing nothing of note. He doesn’t work as a critique, because he is acting as a criticism for things his character never really represented in the first place. He only really functions as the sort of garbage you’d see in My Immortal, where the characters you know and love are turned into evil jerks because the writer hates them - but he even fails at being that, because at least My Immortal is funny about it! 

I am going out on a limb and saying that there cannot possibly be a villain that so utterly fails at everything it sets out to be as hard as Harry does. I don’t even want to try and believe it. And so, without hesitation, I am giving Moore’s shallow Potter parody a 0/10. And I pray to Mary Poppins that this is the only one of those I ever dish out, because I really don’t want to imagine what could possibly be worse than Harry Potter Dick Lightning.

[ranger-report]

OPINION: Stop Making Batman Games

With the weekend came the DC FanDome event, in which Warner Brothers and DC Comics held an online event specifically for their fans in order to generate hype about certain franchises and media they produce. While most of what was shown received positive responses -- the first trailer for The Batman is the clear highlight -- there’s been a little bit of apprehension surrounding two of the video games receiving mega hype treatment: Gotham Knights, and Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League. Gotham Knights opens up by telling us Batman has died, and he’s left a message for his former sidekicks: protect Gotham City at all costs. Meanwhile, the Suicide Squad is seen in a battered Metropolis, tasked with assassinating what looks like Superman Turned Evil as an alien invasion rages around them. Both trailers offer massive, open-world co-op action featuring some of DC Comic’s finest B-grade heroes. Sure, Harley Quinn is on the rise and is arguably an A-list hitter now, but when it comes to bankable characters, Batgirl, Robin, Nightwing, Red Hood, Deadshot, King Shark, Captain Boomerang, they’re not big stringers. But they do have something in common:

Batman.

While Gotham Knights is clearly the more obvious game between the two to draw from the Dark Knight’s influence, Suicide Squad has heavily featured Batman as a character and influence over recent years. Harley Quinn is a Batman character, the Caped Crusader appeared in the Suicide Squad film played by Ben Affleck, and developer Rocksteady -- who is making the SS game -- reached infamy for developing the Arkham Trilogy. Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League has even been confirmed to be set in the Arkham universe (surprisingly, Gotham Knights is not, despite the premise based on a dead Batman, something which happened at the end of Arkham Knight). Kill the Justice League even goes one step further by setting the game in Metropolis, battling Batman’s usual heroic foil. This looks to be for all intents and purposes like a treasure trove for dedicated DC gamers, but it’s my opinion that they simply look -- and feel -- incredibly tired.

Once upon a time, Rocksteady was rumored to be developing an open-world Superman game. We haven’t gotten one of those since 2006 with Superman Returns, whose XBOX version was regarded with decent praise. But instead they’ve turned their sights to the Suicide Squad. Granted, Warner Brothers is doing their best to make the Squad A Thing, considering the first film and now the upcoming I’m-Not-A-Sequel-I’m-A-Reboot-But-Also-A-Sequel The Suicide Squad which is being directed by James Gunn, who made the Guardians of the Galaxy A Thing. Desperation plays poorly in hindsight, which all of WB’s mandated edits to both Batman v Superman and Justice League have wrought. Hell, even the first Suicide Squad film had its guts wrangled about, prompting many to request an “Ayer Cut” from director David Ayer the same way they’ve been hounding for the Justice League Snyder Cut (which looks amazing, btw). But regardless of intent, what’s clear is that WB Games isn’t ready to let go of the Batman Influence, and instead of taking risks like making a goddamn Superman game, they’re going with what feels like the next evolution in Batman gaming: Sidekicks and Spinoffs.

I hear you, I hear you. Maybe I’m a little bitter. Maybe. But since 1986 there have be 41 Batman-starring video games, not counting those released in which Bats had either a supporting role or a cameo. Since 1979, Superman has starred in a mere 17. Batman also features heavily in the recent Injustice fighting games from Netherrealm (creators of Mortal Kombat) which features, strangely enough, an evil Superman. So now we have two new WB Games which either rely on Batman’s influence or feature an evil Superman which needs to be stopped.

Guys. Come on. Just. Just fucking stop.

Where’s the open world Superman game which promises the experience of playing the Man of Steel, protecting the city -- nay, the world -- from an incoming alien invasion. One which could not only spell the destruction of the human race, but also cause significant damage to the Man of Steel himself. Juggling protecting the Earth and keeping himself alive, Superman is tasked with handling this invasion, featuring a number of notable cosmic villains in DC Comics. The player has to manage a health bar for Metropolis, ensuring the city receives as little damage as possible, or aids in rescue work around the city helping citizens and saving lives. Between this, Superman handles incoming warships and invaders, who can zap him with powerful beams. Yes, he can take a lot of damage, but they’re dealing a lot as well. Superman will not go down easily. But being Superman has never been about protecting himself; it’s about protecting others.

Think about it! Skip the RPG leveling system where you upgrade powers and abilities! You’re already Superman, you already have the powers! Now you just need to use them, balance them, combine them to weaken enemies or strengthen the city. The opening chunk of the game introduces you to Metropolis and how it works. Imagine flying through the city at high speed, listening, searching, helping, just being the Big Blue Boy Scout, and then without warning there it is: lights in the sky. You fly up out of the atmosphere to tackle the problem, but the problem is so big, it’s everywhere. Now the game opens up: it’s not just Metropolis, but the whole world at stake. Zoom between major cities as hubs, with large maps for each one. Metropolis is the stand in for New York, but also London, Moscow, Egypt. Imagine zooming over the Great Pyramids battling alien invaders as the Man of Steel defending not just America, but the entire fucking world from the greatest threat ever since to humanity. Throw in a few Justice League cameos! It writes itself!

But we get two new Batman-related games instead.

Fucking hooray.

[kathyprior4200]

BML Livestream Reaction 6/9/2020

To my lovely H.H. viewers, listeners, readers:

Wow! The livestream today on Ashley's channel was incredible. The fandom raised more than 60,000 dollars for the Black Lives Matter charity. (I was one of the unnoticed ones who donated). I'm just as amazed as the show staff at the sheer generosity and talent of this fandom. There were a lot of hilarious moments and very good improvs as well. (ex. Bosco saying in Alastor's voice: "I'm an unstoppable death machine!" And all the "Oh Ashley," running gags.

Onto theories and clip reveals:

There appear to be at least five episodes for Helluva Boss (maybe) and perhaps for Hazbin Hotel as well. When would episode 12 + come out? 2027? I'll happily wait if I can live and last that long.

The first clip revealed showed Blitzo taking to Loona, him saying "have a treat" and then eating the biscuit. Millie appears to be there with Moxxie, drawing a pentagram symbol on a wall. Perhaps a gateway to the human world?

Blitzo (yells at a shy imp): "You set fire to my fucking office in front of a goddamn client you dipshit, now someone please tell me that hocus pocus book is still intact?"

Loona (holding the Satanic book): "Our only ticket to the living world? Grabbed it."

Blitzo: "That's why you're my favorite, Loony! You get a treat."

Loona: "Ew. Stop."

Blitzo eats a treat with a happy look on his face. An imp in a dress stands in the background. Millie draws a pentagram on the wall.

Blitzo (to Loona) "Oh stop it, I get enough of that from my therapist. Now lets get to it, gang!"

They prepare to enter Earth.

Second clip: We are introduced to Loo-Loo Land, an apple-themed circus/amusement park. Loo-Loo is another term for sh*t or bathrooms, so a fitting name for one in Hell. Loo-Loo is a large creepy apple mascot who appears overly cheerful toward the imps and presumably Octavia, who's not impressed. Stolas then takes Blitzo to the rides. He can be seen in a themed outfit, with an apple on his shirt, sorts, and a balloon in his hand. Lucifer has a bar/land called Loo-Loo Land that the theme park is a bad spinoff of it.

Millie (both wear glasses): (Moxxie) "Come on, it's fun! You've never been here?" Moxxie: "No. Theme parks always disturb me. Especially (shakes) the mascots."

A creepy mascot dressed as a red apple appears behind them. He's a red apple with a missing tooth in a wide grin of teeth and one of the eyes hanging from string.

Loo-Loo (in a southern accent) "Well, hey there!"

Millie and Moxxie scream.

Loo-Loo: "I'm Loo-Loo! Welcome to Loo-Loo land!"

Stolas talks to his daughter Octavia by a dinosaur carousel.

Stolas: "Look, Via, it's Loo-Loo!"

Octavia is not impressed with the childish theme park and the lack of more modern rides and features.

Octavia (British accent): "I have a question."

Loo-Loo: Well ask away, little girlie! (Goofy laugh)"

Octavia: "Is it true that this theme park is really a shameless spin-off of Lucifer's more popular Loo-Loo World?" (Disneyland vs Disneyworld)

Loo-Loo: No."

Octavia: "This place reeks of insecure corporate shame."

Stolas: "Why don't we go check out the rides."

Third clip showed what appears to be a rival company to Immediate Murder Professionals. It's called CHERUB, consisting of flying singing sheep with halos and angel wings. It can be assumed that they come from Heaven. Do they save lives (like the alternate E.L.F. in Heavenuva Boss) or do they grant miracles while scamming people? One things for sure, they are super cute. Hmm...maybe they are part of brainwashed sheep who want to spread Heaven's culture so others can mindlessly follow it? Or maybe just as a way to bring down I.M.P. to prove that they can be the best demon killers around? Blitzo blows up a TV in frustration. Now I.M.P. has to find a way to save their company and stop their rivals.

Based on the song, they save people's lives on Earth! (Guess what Hazbins: I thought of the AU E.L.F. characters before this was cool!)

If there is a rival company in Heaven to I.M.P. in Hell, it can only mean one thing: a (Haven) hotel in Heaven may also exist. (Except it would be used to give angels freedom to cause trouble and sin/to be themselves in defiance to the strict rules.)

The sheep angels save people from a car accident, and lift up a rock from a crushed person. They do the work for free, as one of them denies money. With I.M.P. killing humans and C.H.E.R.U.B. saving people, it brings the world in balance. (Though poor sheep: too many people are dying from Covid 19.) Both of them do their part to influence the living world (strangely enough, the Hazbin Earth humans seem accepting of the random creatures who arrive and then leave.

C.H.E.R.U.B. saves people so they have a chance to go to Heaven. I.M.P. kills people for money so the humans wind up in Hell.

Christ's Heavenly Efficient Revivers Under Bless

Christ's Healing Employees Revive Unlimited Bodies

Creators Host Efficient Revival Under Belief

Creating Happy Earth Routines U Believe

Sheep/faun one female: "Luckily for you..."

Sheep two male: "There is something we can do..."

Both: "We can help you feel alive, so you can save some time!(waste and drive?)" (two sheep stand beside a baby angel and all smile)

"Cause here at C.H.E.R.U.B., we can save your honey butt from dying violently. " C.H.E.R.U.B. (R mark) "We never even ask a fee." "Because good people spread the love, "And we're here for all above. "We do the paperwork for you "And the heavy lifting too." (Female sheep is shown exhausted in a pile of paperwork and later shown lifting a boulder from a man.) Both sheep witness a dying man from a car accident and wipe the scene away. "So sit back and let us bless a soul... for you." (all three sing). "Oh we, are the C.H..."

Blitzo blows up the TV in anger.

Random names: The cherub is Blitzo's opposite, Millie and the female sheep and Moxxie and the male sheep.

Blitzo's name is German for lightning. Moxxie means aggressive energy. Millie means mild strength/industrious

Donner= German for thunder Jalen= peace Ardel = industrious

Theories based on the song: 1. Heaven has animal-like Zoophobia characters like Hell 2. C.H.E.R.U.B. saves lives while I.M.P. kills them, thus keeping the world in balance. 3. The cherub leader would be Blitzo's rival. Male sheep vs Moxxie, female sheep vs Millie 4. If I.M.P. had their way, everyone would be dead. If C.H.E.R.U.B. had their way, the earth would be overpopulated. 5. C.H.E.R.U.B. have access to Heaven and Earth. They probably use the Bible to access the living world. 6. C.H.E.R.U.B. would save anyone, even criminals. 7. C.H.E.R.U.B. might have another Loona counterpart. 8. Could I.M.P. and C.H.E.R.U.B. have access to all three realms?

Clip number four: Blitzo and Stolas talk in bed. Stolas goes under the covers and stares seductively at him. He gets the idea to take Blitzo to a Harvest Festival with him as a bodyguard. Blitzo gets suspicious, claiming he won't go if Stolas uses him for sex and his purposes. Soon, Blitzo decides to come along. Stolas then says "sorry about you leaving behind your clients," while Blitzo retorts "Oh fuck my clients!" Best line. Stolas' wife will not be happy when she hears of Stolas and Blitzo's relationship.

Stolas (smokes a cigarette): " It's shocking to it to be seen, Blitzy. My grimoire is incredibly vital. And it isn't supposed to be let out by little imps like yourself." He puts out his cigarette on Blitzo's horns and pinched his cheek. Blitzo sighs and shoves him off. Both appear to be topless.

Stolas: "The Harvest Moon is a very special occasion. It's been my annual duty to celebrate it in the Ring of Wrath. It's a charming little festival with games and music..."

Blitzo: "A wrath ring, huh? My employees are from there. Haven't really been, but it sounds like a place of imprints."

Stolas: "Oh! Why don't you all accompany me to the festival as our special guests?! I'll give you all... (goes under the covers and lies near Blitzo's privates. "...special access." (chuckles)

Blitzo: "Look I told you, we're not bodyguards, alright? It was a one time thing we did and guess what? We did it badly!"

Stolas stands up with the cover over his head.

Stolas: "I'm simply offering a fun work-free day of fun! I feel quite safe at the Harvest Festival. I go every year. Nothing has changed."

Blitzo: "Okay, look if you promise this is not some fuck-fest invite... it does sound like it could be fun. Alright, I'll run it by the others. It sounds like we can work without the book anyway."

Stolas: "I do hope to see you there. I'm sorry your clients will have to wait."

Blitzo: (waves his hand) "Oh fuck my clients!"

We are introduced to new characters: Loo-Loo the creepy apple mascot, the shy imp, owl princess Octavia, "Melodia" the queen, the CHERUB sheep and Robo-Fizz, a robotic jester demon colored black, yellow, white, and light pink-red. It can be assumed that he is red and black and dangerous in his true form. Could Hell's circus be one big conspiracy? Anything is possible in the inferno.

Thank you to all who supported Vivzie's charity and those who continue to show their love for the show and concern for what's going on in the world. Protests, Police, Pandemic, Personal Rights. I donated earlier and I do all I can to keep the fandom together, trying to tapper down the "shipping wars." I don't feel like a hero at all, but I feel good that I'm showing support.

My work is unknown in comparison to all the marvelous Charlastor fanfictions out there:

MuseValentine's "Smiling Man" Angelus19's "Taxidermist"

and many more.

Please don't forget to show support to Hazbin Madness and Radio Hazbin on YouTube. Some people may disagree with me on this, but I think those two voice actors and comic dubbers have better potential than Markapiler and JackdaSepticeye. Yes, the latter two may be famous and well-known, but in my opinion, only HalusaTwin and InSaiyans capture the uncasted Lucifer and Lilith so well. A king and queen of the fandom.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVkr2V_Y-sIzBH01AbPcufw

But don't fret. This fandom has given me ideas that keep skyrocketing through my head and into the world. I've made fanfictions since 2014 and have only made more after being exposed to DBZ and H.H. My long projects seem to take months to update but as long as I'm alive, inspired and have free time, I won't cease doing what I love. Indeed, Viv's words inspired me toward the end of the stream. She said to a person who donated a lot and the viewers to share their creativity with the world, as it can inspire others. Vivziepop is a role model for me, as are so many of my friends/content creators (artist Ady Laine, theorist BlueRaven666, musician Ashboyo, my close friend Sumera Paleema (DBZ artist) and many others.

Very soon, I'll be expanding upon my rewrites/remixes of Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss. Indeed, the future episodes may be closer than we think!

Stay safe out there and treat each other well.

-Kathy Prior 42

[aion-rsa]

Garbage Pail Kids At 35: The Kids Are Alright

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Presented by:

This story appears in the Den of Geek x eBay special edition trading card magazine.

Garbage Pail Kids gave birth to my anti-authority streak. I was in fifth grade waiting for art class to start and showing off my prized Ashcan Andy to enraptured classmates when my teacher walked in the classroom, sighed, confiscated the card and proceeded to rip it up. “This junk has no place in an art room,” she stoically declared as Andy was transformed into sad confetti before my eyes. Years later, I came to realize that this demonstration was all about jealousy – these cards had instantly engaged students in art in a way that her years of teaching never could.

And let me be clear here: Garbage Pail Kids are most definitely art. Often grotesque and always eye-catching, the unfortunate children showcased on these cards fostered an interest in painting, illustration, and design for generations of kids since Topps first introduced them back in 1985 (their pun-heavy names also were a gateway for subversive humor). After 35 years, Garbage Pail Kids have become a cultural institution—not to mention schoolyard contraband for nearly four decades, an unexpected bonus that would make the creators of these cards—veterans of the counterculture themselves—beam with pride.

To trace the origins of Garbage Pail Kids, a brief history lesson is in order. Although they were best known for their baseball cards, the Topps Company also had huge success with bubblegum cards based on popular films and TV shows. Further expanding their creative pallet, Topps released numerous humor card lines, the most popular of which was Wacky Packages. Like Mad Magazine before them, these stickers showcased parodies of contemporary products with bitingly accurate focus. 

In the early 1980s there was no bigger consumer frenzy than the Cabbage Patch Kids. These dolls from Xavier Roberts and Coleco featured an elaborate backstory and cloyingly adorable looks that became the stuff of toy legend (news reports featuring near riots as parents tried to get their hands on the damn things were commonplace in the early 1980s). 

Naturally, then, Cabbage Patch Kids were an ideal target to get the Wacky Packages treatment. But the decision was wisely made by Topps execs that Garbage Pail Kids could be a card line of their own. Spearheading the project was underground comics legend Art Spiegelman (who would go on to win a Pulitzer Prize in 1992 for his groundbreaking holocaust graphic novel Maus), Raw comics anthology contributor Mark Newgarden, and artist John Pound. 

Pound, a veteran of painting fantasy and science fiction book covers, was brought by Spiegelman to illustrate the original Wacky Packages “Garbage Pail Kid” card (featuring one of the dolls pushed into a trash can and touting orders to send the unfortunate soul to the Department of Sanitation). Though this Wacky Pack was shelved, Pound single-handedly painted all the characters featured in the first Garbage Pail Kids set. “They liked the idea sketches I sent in,” he says, “and asked me to do all 40 paintings in two months, which was faster than I was used to, but I got organized and made the deadline.” 

Working with Spiegelman, Newgarden, and Topps creative favorite Jay Lynch to craft ideas, Pound’s early characters included the now iconic Adam Bomb, and remain some of the most beloved in the line (for the record, Pound names Adam Bomb, Up Chuck, Jolly Roger, and Mona Loser as some of his favorite creations). 

Looking back over three decades later, Pound sees several reasons why Garbage Pail Kids have endured:

“The original concept had strengths: doing a parody of the famous Cabbage Patch Kids, and a name that was both clear and familiar sounding,” he says. “The concept’s rebellious attitude and shock value gave it initial attention. Also, in the ‘80s, Topps products were widely distributed, like in drug stores, variety stores, convenience stores.”

Although he freely admits that “I wasn’t expecting it, but Garbage Pail Kids became a huge hit,” Pound says aesthetic concerns were foremost on his mind when painting these garish figures. “On my end, despite the abundant gross humor and shock value, I simply wanted the art to feel good to look at. And I tried to put love into the paintings.” 

The care with which these outlandish cards were created was appreciated by consumers. Fifteen different series of Garbage Pail Kids were produced between 1985 and 1988. There was spinoff GPK merchandise too, ranging from folders emblazoned with images of popular characters to the on-brand/subversively named Cheap Toys. The Garbage Pail Kids Movie was released in 1987 with The Facts of Life co-star Mackenzie Astin in the lead. On that topic, The Toys That Made Us and A Toy Store Near You creator Brian Volk-Weiss sums up the flick perfectly: “That movie is so bonkers even seeing it is not believing it. It reminds me in a weird way of a low budget Batman and Robin in that it was like a ton of people were involved with the green light and execution and seemingly had no oversight on any matter.” 

But as far as Volk-Weiss is concerned, a new motion picture has plenty of potential. “I would love to see them do a ‘serious’ reboot that would be similar to the first Guardians of the Galaxy film in that they take the characters and the world seriously,” he states, “but the fun and humor and oddness stays intact too.” While there may be a future on screen for New Wave Dave and company, whatever it turns out to be must avoid the mistakes of the infamous 1987 cartoon series – which was produced for CBS but never aired due to the then-ongoing controversy surrounding the franchise (it eventually landed on DVD, and the less said about it the better.)

Despite a lull in any new products that lasted from the late 1980s until 2003, Garbage Pail Kids never really left the public consciousness. If anything, they were inspiring new talent. Enter Buff Monster. The Hawaii native and prolific street artist known for his upbeat, ice cream-inspired work was so inspired by Garbage Pail Kids that he created his own line of sticker art cards, The Melty Misfits. With names like Mind-Blowin’ Owen (featuring a cameo by a very Adam Bomb-esque character) and Bam Bam Sam, these intricately designed stickers—created on the type of antiquated machinery that Garbage Pail Kids were made on—come complete with a retro-styled wax pack and showcase Buff Monster’s own unique aesthetic as they pay homage to the Topps line.

Talking about why he personally connected with Garbage Pail Kids, Buff Monster makes a salient point on why these things were so memorable in the first place. 

“If you look at most trading cards, they are less than what they’re about. Having a baseball card is a ‘less than’ experience than watching the game. If you’re watching a baseball game in person, that’s great, but watching a baseball game on TV is actually better because you’ve got commentary, and you’ve got playback, and all this sort of stuff,” he tells us.

“But Garbage Pail Kids stand out because the art was made for the cards, so the card was the thing. The card wasn’t some sub-version of something else. It was the point of making the art in the first place. And so that has always stuck with me. And that is really kind of what it comes down to for me.”

Buff Monster’s The Melty Misfits stickers are a burgeoning phenomenon for the 2020s, just as Garbage Pail Kids were for the 1980s. It’s understandable that he is partnering with eBay for a special pack of The Melty Misfits, some of which will come packaged with a random “Golden Ticket” card that will entitle the recipient to have Buff Monster create a character of their choice. 

“This pack that we’re going to do is a nice little introduction to me and eBay working together,” he says. “This is a very easy thing for the completist to get. And that’s good.” 

It’s clear when talking to Buff Monster that Garbage Pail Kids continue to inspire. And the cards themselves feel more vibrant than ever, way more relevant today than the doll that inspired them in the first place. Case in point? Recent political and horror-themed Garbage Pail Kids sets (which are really one and the same when you think about it) have brought old fans back into the fold. 

Another example of booming Garbage Pail Kids interest is the 2017 documentary 30 Years of Garbage: The Garbage Pail Kids Story. The film’s writer and (with Jeff Zapata) co-director is Joe Simko, himself an accomplished artist and graphic designer who has worked on the card line and IDW’s spinoff Garbage Pail Kids comic, as well as his own series of The Sweet Rot graphic novels and his Cereal Killer trading cards. Simko vividly remembers when Garbage Pail Kids entered his life.

“I first discovered Garbage Pail Kids when I was 10 years old while riding the school bus. A couple of kids were sharing them,” Simko says. “It was the second series, and I just remember that artwork jumping out at me. Never had I seen such appetizing visuals on a trading card before. I knew instantly they were an attack on the highly successful Cabbage Patch Kids dolls, which dominated the kid’s market landscape at the time. Garbage Pail Kids were such a great middle-school kids protest to that cutesy Cabbage Patch world.”

Simko has been a part of Garbage Pail Kids lore since 2009, and during that time has given the Garbage Pail Kids treatment to everything from Stranger Things to Universal Monsters. “I think my favorite Garbage Pail Kids projects are the licensed product paintings I get to do,” he says. “For instance, the Garbage Pail Kids cereal for FYE was just so great to work on. Doing cereal box signings at the FYE pop-up shop during San Diego Comic-Con was an overwhelming experience. Greeting Garbage Pail Kids fans, when I too am a fan, is amazing.”

When I mention the brand’s longevity to Simko, he is quick to sum up their continued popularity. “Garbage Pail Kids have lasted this long due in part to the dedicated group of collectors who grew up on the series in the ’80s. Yes, there are younger kids buying them today, but the nostalgia it brings to those grown-up kids keeps the spirit and revenue of the Garbage Pail alive.”

Bringing things full circle, he also vindicated myself and everyone else who was ever frowned upon for appreciating the cards’ artistic merits.

“They are a true form of art. To pass judgement on them and reject these cards as ‘art’ because of the subject matter, is to have a narrow perspective of what art is,” Simko says. “Credit goes to the original creators of the Garbage Pail Kids cards during the 1980s, Art Spiegelman and Mark Newgarden. Art and Mark knew the ingredients to make GPK work. And of course the artists, John Pound, Tom Bunk, James Warhola, and Jay Lynch, were the ‘cooks.’ They made it taste and look perfectly gross. Without any of these creative minds, I believe Garbage Pail Kids would not be the success it became at the time.”

Despite being anchored to a fad from the 1980s, Garbage Pail Kids are ultimately timeless. Children of all ages will always take to the goofy grossness that is embedded in the line’s DNA. Nostalgia is a potent thing too, but as recent years have illustrated, Topps is always looking to evolve the IP, be it through virtual Garbage Pail Kids, high-end collectible figures, or just by continuing to bring in great artists to keep the bread and butter of the franchise—the card line—going strong. These Kids may be pushing 40, but in the heart of fans, they’ll never age.

Garbage Pail Kids eBay x Topps Exclusive 

The 10-card set created by Joe Simko is the first exclusive from eBay and Topps. Each card is representative of buying and selling on eBay. The set will be available for $19.99 on eBay for one week starting on August 10. 

The post Garbage Pail Kids At 35: The Kids Are Alright appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[kylermalloy]

My Official Unofficial Ranking of The Originals Seasons That Literally No One Asked For

So, these rankings turned out hilariously chronological. It’s not that I think each season just got progressively worse—it’s just that when I laid out the good things about each season, and the bad things that outweighed them... this is the order I ended up with.

MAJOR SPOILERS for The Originals ahead! Also, as a disclaimer: this is all opinion-based, and I reserve the right to change my mind at any time.

5 - Season 5

So...I kind of hate the last season. Part of it is my bitterness about how the writers messed up the character dynamics, and part of it is amazement that the (mostly) same team of writers wrote the masterpiece that was season 1.

So, the overarching story for this season is...? “We’re making a spinoff with Hope next year so we have to get rid of all the characters who are close to her who don’t want to be in yet another dumb vampire show”? That’s my impression of the writers’ goals when they planned this season. Although there are a few pertinent themes about hatred and prejudice (the irony of the Nazi-esque bad guys opposing Klaus when Klaus himself had a Nazi-esque crusade back when he first showed up on TVD is not lost on me) none of the themes have a lasting impact. They’re not developed in a memorable way. We get these purist losers to serve as villains for the first half of the season, then they’re unceremoniously taken out after they’ve killed a sufficient amount of main characters.

Then the rest of the season is just...wheel-spinning. A game of hot potato as we speculate who’s going to die at the end.

Don’t get me wrong, there was some powerfully good stuff in this season. I fully support the ending, even though the majority of fans didn’t like it. I loved it. I thought it incredibly fitting for the show to end as it began—with Klaus and Elijah side by side. Facing death together as they faced life. Dying for Hope. Their family’s legacy.

HOWEVER. A few good moments at the end of the season doesn’t make up for all the crap the writers pulled throughout the season. They had NO RIGHT to kill Hayley. They had NO REASON to separate Elijah from the family—the entire show, basically—for over half the season, or to make him complicit in killing Hayley. And that darn time jump from season 4 to season 5 is just...I have no words. Klaus and Hope were jipped out of so much time together, just because the writers wanted a teenage Hope. So many sloppy decisions were made in this season, both storywise and character-wise. It really calls into question the writers’ understanding of the characters they’re writing. So much of this season undercut what the last four seasons of the show were working toward. And the regressions we see in this season have no lasting impact—like Klaus’s murder relapse, or his estrangement from Hope. They’re nothing more than cheap excuses to make the plot happen.

(Clearly I have feelings.)

What this boils down to is that the narrative in season 5 has no structure. It’s a patchwork of lazy storytelling and fanservice—a few good moments between characters we already know and love doesn’t excuse that. Although the series ended with a bang, it’s clear that this final season was nothing more than the scattered, picked-clean bones of the show I fell in love with.

4 - Season 4

So this season is much better in terms of plot—the story is tightly paced and clearly planned out.

The problem is that it’s boring.

The narrative that the writers presented this season required lots of moving around and doing things and characters talking to other characters, and hardly any of it was interesting. Klaus and Elijah spend most of the season separated in one way or another. Freya is separated from her family for a large part of the season, and I’ve only just recently rewatched the entire show—so I can definitively say that Hope and Elijah don’t have a single conversation in this whole season. Elijah, the one who first believed in and fought for Hope—before Klaus, before Hayley even, really—Elijah isn’t important enough to talk to Hope. Elijah gets shunted off to his dark arc mostly with Vincent—all to facilitate a completely unnecessary breakup with Hayley.

The one thing I have zero complaints about is Klope. Klaus and Hope were flawless in this season. They were everything I wanted. Klaus’s unsure parenting, his determination to make this change-for-his-daughter thing last, his SOFTNESS around her...that part of the season was stellar.

Klaus’s arc of healing his relationship with Marcel was also good. I don’t think it got enough screentime, and by the end of the season it wasn’t fully resolved, but I liked how it was actually addressed. (This show has a tendency to brush off Marcel sometimes)

The other thing I really appreciate about this season is that Klaus, the main character, wasn’t given a love interest this season. After his major love interest died the previous season, the writers did not try to give him a new one, or even try to pair him up with his baby mama. His relationship with his daughter was his main focus for the season, and it was beautiful.

So, season 4. Not as insulting as season 5 in terms of plot, but this plot...and this’ll surprise everyone...took too much focus. We spend more time learning about the Hollow this season than developing Mikaelson family relationships, and that’s honestly a crime. Any story that doesn’t develop the Mikaelson family dynamics is dead in the water.

3 - Season 3

At a glance, this season is awesome. I know a lot of hardcore fans liked it. I also know a lot of fans hated it. Me, I both hate it and love it. I think the idea they were trying to accomplish was a good one, but the cost? Very high, too high. The story, though it has great stakes, is actually quite shaky in places.

Personally, I never liked the Trinity storyline. The idea of the Originals facing their first sired was not interesting to me, especially when Tristan was boring, Lucien overstayed his welcome and became annoying, and Aurora turned out to be nothing beyond a silly soap opera plot device.

I did like the ending, though. Marcel finally reaching his last straw. Rising above his creator and finally showing us what would happen if the power dynamics were reversed. It’s sick and scary and exactly what I want from a monster soap opera.

But there’s a lot of things I don’t like. I don’t like that Cami was killed. Double-killed, actually. Davina’s arc was in complete shambles the entire season. Hope was out of focus for most of the season. And the werewolf drama that had caused Hayley so much grief last season wasn’t even background noise—it straight-up didn’t exist.

Like I said, I liked what the show was trying to do, but I think the writers chose an ending and forced it to happen instead of letting the pieces fall organically. There were probably some outside factors involved too, like the fear of not being renewed, actors wanting to leave, etc. My personal theory is that, out of worry that season 3 would be the final season, the writers killed Cami in an attempt to push Klaus to glorious redemption mode (don’t even get me started on how dirty they did Cami’s arc) thus giving us the conflicting death/vampirism/permadeath Cami arc in the back half. Which makes sense—but it’s still messy from a storytelling perspective.

But despite all that complaining, there were some things I truly loved about this season. The Klelijah rebuild was solid, organic, and completely earned. They began in a fractured place, seemingly beyond repair, then forced to band together in the face of threats, and ended the season possibly closer than they’ve ever been. (their hug in the finale still messes me up, y’all. I’m weak!)

Elijah got some truly interesting stories this year. While Tristan and the Strix were both duds, I actually really enjoyed Elijah’s relationship with Aya. And his relationship with Freya! Let’s be real, season 3 was really the season of Freylijah. As weird and incestuous as the Mikaelsons come off sometimes, Freya and Elijah are the most married. In fact, I’ll just go ahead and give a shoutout to Freya altogether. A hitherto unexplored Mikaelson with a sketchy-at-best history with her brothers moves into their house full-time? This could have been an epic disaster, or at the very least could have turned Freya into Rebekah 2.0—but somehow neither happened. Freya held her own, and her addition worked very nicely.

*deep breath* I have so much to say.

2 - Season 2

(Yes this list is shaping up exactly how you think it is!) Okay. I’ve got so much love for this season, even though parts of it drive me up the wall.

I’ll start with the positives: the family feels. Almost every part of the family drama hit home. The resurrections of Finn, Kol, Mikael, Esther, and the surprise introduction of Ansel were all superb ideas, storywise. The recasts of Kol, Finn, and Esther (and eventually Rebekah too!) all worked VERY well—a special shoutout to DSharman for making me truly care about Kol for the first time! And having an old family member as the main villain works SO well for this show. Dahlia was really awesome—and in the end, almost underutilized. But Freya! The addition of Freya to the family brought forth a whole new tidal wave of emotions.

And do I even need to say it? Klope, y’all. They just give me all the feels. The midseason finale will always have a special place in my heart.

That’s not to say I don’t have my problems with this season. The narrative structure comes from a very bold place—in typical TVD fashion, the terrible threats we started out fearing are soon rendered obsolete by this much huger looming threat. Alliances are formed, backs are stabbed, hearts are broken, and the end of the season leaves us and the characters picking up pieces of our hearts off the floor.

I very much like the idea that Klaus, obsessively paranoid and fearful, would turn on everyone he loves to protect his child. However, I don’t think the necessary steps were taken in the narrative for us to actually reach that point. There was too much werewolf drama—for Hayley to care about them so much, shouldn’t we know more than three of them by name? And speaking of Hayley, I kind of hated the back half of her arc. As she ascends to werewolf queen, she loses all the braincells that got her this far and decides to trust Jackson and her new family over the Mikaelsons, the oldest, most ruthless and feared supernatural beings in the world. Huh?

Altogether, I just don’t think Elijah, Rebekah, and Hayley all turning on Klaus was well-deserved in the writing—especially considering how well they all worked together in the beginning of the season. I think it was another case of the writers establishing an endpoint far ahead of time, then pushing all the characters and events to fit their plan. Still, I liked this season a lot. Not as sloppy as season 3, but still not as masterful as season 1. And without further ado...

1 - Season 1

Here it is! The masterpiece. My baby. The year of television I can rewatch at any time and enjoy so thoroughly I forget the other million times I’ve seen it. And I can wax poetic about it for days, much to the dismay of my followers.

I’ve heard some people—fans, even—call season 1 unfocused or disorganized, cluttered, still figuring itself out...but I disagree very strongly. Since TO is a spinoff, and the three main characters were already well-established by the writers (well, as consistent as the writing on TVD ever was) I never saw TO as a show that had to figure itself out. It knew who its characters were, it knew exactly what it was trying to do, and it did exactly that. It just was never what the audience expected, and it took a storytelling route that we as viewers aren’t quite used to.

This show took on the monumental task of trying to redeem one of the biggest, baddest fantasy villains on television. A thousand year old mass murderer who had long since lost any drops of humanity. A tortured soul, sure, who’d made a few cursory steps toward semi-goodness, but still damaged beyond repair...or so we think.

Klaus’s redemption comes through this child that he fathers. But it doesn’t come for free. I often say that Klaus is both the protagonist and the antagonist of season 1, because no one is working harder against his betterment than he is. We as viewers have to learn quickly that Klaus accomplishing his goals is not necessarily a good thing. We expect his struggle with Marcel to end in triumph at the season finale, because that’s what generally happens with pilot plotlines. But instead, Klaus wins the Quarter in less than eight episodes, and his rule falls apart multiple times before the season ends. (I’m especially grateful for Marcel’s character not falling into the trope of “Klaus created a monster who ended up being worse than he is!” because that’s stupid— and why Lucien, who does fall into that category, fell so flat for me. It just doesn’t work with a character like Klaus. Nobody out-monsters him.) We expect him to get everything he wanted—because he’s the main character and things work out in the end, right? No. The entire season is a slap-in-the-face wake up call for Klaus. He can’t be worthy of this child that he can’t deny he wants unless he changes who he fundamentally is. He expects to rule the Quarter through his sleazy condescension and his larger-than-life threats, but he finds himself challenged and even overpowered at every corner. He expects to mistreat his sister, walk over her and rage at her like he always does, and ultimately win her inevitable forgiveness—but she can’t take it anymore, and she leaves him.

He expects to be able to control everyone around him, placing himself at the center of everyone’s universe, and that ought to create a suitable environment for his child to grow up in. But when she’s born, he can’t even keep her safe on her first day of life. And that’s when he realizes he can’t do this anymore. Despite being a master strategizer, this can’t be how Klaus lives and acts as a father. The season finale is a beautiful culmination of this realization, as he does what he’s never quite been able to do, and trusts the people around him—release control.

Of course, this realization isn’t the one-and-done redemption story. The walk back is long and arduous and full of setbacks, as the subsequent seasons prove. Klaus’s old temperaments get the better of him over and over and over again. He learns and unlearns and learns again. And I could just go on and on about how much I love this season.

Now, after all that gushing, I still don’t know how much of the season was planned, or if outside forces (actor contracts, availability, etc.) had a hand in shaping the story, but either by tight plotting or happy coincidence, the stars aligned and this season is darn near perfect.

There are definitely flaws and shortcomings, but the overall story is just so good that I can easily overlook them. Catapulting off TVD, which relied so heavily on shallow drama, TO did what most spinoffs can never do, and surpassed their parent show. This first season? It’s to die for.

(I realize this was far too long, and I don’t really care. I’m aware of my inability to move on from shows that have ended, and I also do not care.) I’d love to hear thoughts, discussions, opinions, anything!

[3w-writer-with-wings]

3 and 19 for the salty ask?

3) Have you ever unfollowed someone over a fandom opinion?

Not really. I think I like unfollowed 2, maybe 3 people in the last 4 years that I’ve been on Tumblr due to completely different reasons (I think one person kept spamming me, one would post a shitton of random stuff every day and it was too overwhelming for my dashboard and I don’t really remember the third one). Honestly, if someone has an opinion I don’t agree with, I rather listen to their reasoning since it is interesting to see something from a different perspective. I would only unfollow if they would pester me with it.

19)  What is the one thing you hate most about your fandom?

FIRST GEN WAS THE BEST! aka. people who can’t shut up how great the first generation of the first series like Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh! and bash any other spin-off. I’ll admit it, when I was done with Duel Monsters, I hardly watched GX due to missing the old gang but eventually I grew to love the characters and story, especially Judai, Johan, Yubel and Jim. Same went for 5Ds. I thought Yusei was going to be this edgy, cool and always glaring protagonist, but he turned out to be the sweetest and smartest guy who deeply cares about his friends. I needed a while to get used to Yuma and Yuya, but once I really got into ARC V, I realized just how much development each spinoff got. VRAINS is still going strong and now that I’m rewatching the first series, I can see that it wasn’t as perfect and that there were things missing. I wouldn’t say it was the worst, but it is quite obvious that Duel Monsters were doing a lot of things for the first time. Spin-offs so got the basis and added more elements to new ones. VRAINS literally took everything that made the previous series great and put it together in a very well-written show. I have no doubt the next spin-off will incorporate the old elements that we know and love and add something brand new to make it unique. But no, people refuse to watch anything new and claim the first generation is the one and only without any other constructive argument. When I was cosplaying Yuya, I got several responses like “Why are you cosplaying that guy when you could be cosplaying someone from gen one? That way people could recognize you.” “Oh look, it is that Yugi-wannabe.” “I never watched anything past one gen. It is the best.” I cosplayed Yuya because he is a yugioh protagonist I relate to the most. I love ARC V and being Yuya was one way to show it. Still, that one other guy had a nerve to tell me off how bad ARC V was compared to first-generation EVEN THOUGH HE NEVER ACTUALLY WATCHED IT! Like dude chill, some people actually decided to go past their childhood nostalgia and gave new series a chance. I completely understand that people have preferences, but bashing new spinoffs just because you decided the first one is the best without an actual argument is utterly rude and unnecessary. A lot of people wish for a first-generation reboot like Sailor Moon, but what is really a point of that? Yugi and Atem got their conclusive end in Dark Side of Dimensions - Atem got his well-deserved rest and Yugi can now peacefully work on his new game without saving the world. With a new reboot, this ending will no longer be conclusive and will obviously be just a cash grab. That’s the charm of the new spin-offs. They continue to tell new stories with new elements and characters and to be honest, it is going really well. 

Same goes for Pokemon. My favourite generations are Diamon&Pearl and XYZ, and I absolutely prefer Eureka/Bonnie, Citron/Clement and Hikari/Dawn to all other companions. I’m sorry, but Misty wasn’t as great as others praise her to be and Brock has been with Ash for three generations. Ash will likely always be the main protagonist, so it is nice if at least his companions get switched. I remember watching the 20th Pokemon movie, I Choose You and I really liked the idea of Ash having two new companions in an alternative timeline. But noooo, a whole lot of people weren’t having it. They claimed it felt like Misty and Brock were erased. Like duh, they weren’t supposed to be in it, how else are you supposed to represent the alternative timeline? Personally, I think Sorrel and Verity were really unique and would fit well as Ash’s companion. Verity was probably the first female pokemon trainer that ever travelled with Ash (other girls were either gym leaders, coordinators, performers and whatever Iris and Alola girls are) and her energetic and ongoing persona was really enjoyable, she kinda felt like female Ash. And Sorrel? I loved every single aspect of him. From his fear of losing pokemon and recovering with the help of Lucario to his dream of becoming a professor. And somehow the two of them got so much hate, simply because they weren’t Misty and Brock. This was likely the reason why that was their only appearance. The new characters in Power of Us make sense because they were all from that main city and the main story revolved around their insecurities and them learning how to make a step forward. Still Verity and Sorrel could still fit in there in some way. And the next movie? 3D reboot of the first movie! The first time I watched the trailer I was like “What even is this?” With so many Disney live-action reboots, it was just a matter of time before Pokemon would pick up the same idea. With over twenty movies, they are slowly losing ideas and with so many fans who demand nostalgia they went along with it. I’m yet to see that movie but from what I’ve seen, I fear it will end up like Lion King remake - a complete copy without a heart (kinda ironic since it is literally about clones). I miss the creativity and passion put in other movies, I mean, the staff members travelled the world to get inspiration and used real-life monuments, towns and cultures as a basis. Are they slowly giving up in those outrageous demands from loud fans?

To sum up, yes I dislike fans who insist something that came first was the best and don’t give the following the chance. I agree the spinoffs aren’t always the best (looking at you TMNT, Digimon and Beyblade), but I don’t in any way bash them. I will express my dislikes, but I will always provide a reason why and listen to people who indeed like it. Creators are pressured enough as it is and we should appreciate their work in any way we can.