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earlycuntsets · 1 month ago

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A healthy and reasonable criticism of the mcr archive that i’m 0% scared to share. I didn’t sign and NDA and i’m a free woman.

I will express my criticisms with both their practice and their pr.

this is my opinion and how I received them. if you want to turn this around on me, may you remember that I'm not the one responsible for the mcr archive. i'm a fan and they're a professional organization not god or jesus or anything like that.

practice:

how can I view and appreciate the mcr archives work?

We have their mission statement

“My Chemical Romance community project whose goal is to collect & catalog MCR content for future posterity.”

linktree where you can see what they're sharing rn.

and what does the mcr archive so actively do? they share

2. sometimes a time sensitive drop box of files (from their link tree. files you dare not share, even if you credit them.)

3. barely (and sometimes just not) sourced social media posts that are kind of.. no different than what anyone else might share in terms of sourcing. the photos however seem to be really high quality versions of photos we’ve seen before and definitely some ones relatively no one has seen. They told me that’s because they pitch in to buy from photo agencies. and what the mcr archive posts is always excellent but it’s not everyone else’s problem you can’t find the info. I’ve dug up sources for ya’lls posts before when it takes two seconds to do. the places where you can add info, should have info. You should message other smart people in a group chat or something “hey can you look into this show for me, I can’t find the dang photographer” wheres the evidence of practice.

so It was an event/show. At the show there was a photographer. Look at their stupid haircuts, find out what 3 months in 2005 it was, check setlist fm etc

when I asked who took the pictures they told me “that infos actually not out there, we got it from a photo agency” who better than a f'n photo agency to know who took the picture I do not understand... you should have more info as a result

3. a mostly dead link list that credits back to themselves sometimes. seriously check it out you can’t do anything except the youtubes.

4. when they post a video, they haven't credited the yt a lot of the time. because they don't credit properly what ends up happening is they post and we're to believe the source is the mcr archive. which yeah no (credit where credit is due to them but sometimes you see it in funny places)

5. They informed me that they don’t check tumblr to see if the photos have been posted they just queue it when the time comes. It would save them a lot of time to reblog from someone.

maybe one of the amazing accounts that catalogue (thats what we’ll say to avoid eternal damnation) mcr extensively. Maybe all those blogs could be friends of the archive and we could all look forward to being reblogged by the great mcr archive

honestly they should reblog everything callmeblakes ever posted bc that shit is mcr history and archiving to me. just an opinion. in fact if you wanna know what I expect from the mcr archive, go to blakes blog.

6. It’s easy to have new mcr when everyone's falling all over themselves ready to give you their new mcr pics/video. But when there’s not it’s just this half effort mcr account It doesn’t do justice to those bits and pieces in between. The things that need to be saved still.

7. side note: I would like to credit the mcr archive as a bit of the inspiration for my website. I wanted to hoard everything and be excited about mcr. I needed the old important stuff I used to bleach my eyes with. So when I saw “the mcr archive” I was so excited to see well��

the archive????

I thought surely I wasn’t going to the right site. I thought for sure there was a “mcr archive” url, not a link tree, that would have all of this referenced content right? So fans can see the whole thing? no. Its always a limited time dropbox. That's why all the links are dead now. You can only get to what they have posted on instagram or tumblr.

The idea and concept and general execution of the mcr archive is good. it just seems they have fallen asleep on their laurels. And for the band I love, it should be better kept. Their content is excellent of course. photo agency quality scans.

For it being the “definitive mcr archive” I guess I just wanted more structure, more transparency and info and links where they apply. everything could be more accessible. it just seems to be run by not many people and they'd benefit from a larger team.

this is my personal critique that is 100% allowed to exist.

I was recently messaged by an mcr archive member. their identity is protected but I will associate "mcr archive" to them because that's who they represent when they message fans about archival business.

(I’ve recently had some discourse with them that i'm sharing. they are the owner of an archive within the mcr archive (oo lala) -- from which I took and credited 20 of their files)

below my defense to their claims. I don't like being misunderstood.

they say in the first sentence it was on my site uncredited. bull. the files that belonged to them were labelled. I had their contributors doc in every folder that even had their files.

but that's not enough for them to be civil? that's not enough to simply ask for your 20 files to be removed from a my chemical romance fan site.. huh

they then give themselves away as anon (which they denied) by using the same vocab. I "lifted" their files. who even says that. in their og anon ask, they say the same thing followed by a lot of hot air about how i'm apparently doing a shit job and only they understand hard work. i'm a lot but i'm not stupid.

then here we go with I "copied their whole archive into mine". that didn't happen. I had 20 files and she assumed I took her wayback screenshots. bc how could I possibly have the capacity to take my own. they described taking these screenshots as an obscene amount of work btw. so much COMPLAINING. you should be grateful to do it. they also say the screenshots they took might not be on wayback machine anymore. sure bud.

it was brought to my attention that them saying they want the convo private is telling as well. they should be salespeople for mcr of the utmost transparency i'm sorry. you are public figures that don't treat mcr fans with respect and to try to make them feel small.

then they call me unprofessional.

Interesting that they message me calling me “unprofessional” when I am just a regular mcr blog/site owner. I never claimed to be perfect, or the end all be all mcr curator. I’m not the one affiliated with the mcr archive. If the mcr archive has a problem with my site they can make their own and do it their way. I’m not burger king. next.

then they talk about feeling undermined. the irony.

then they say I lack “community awareness” when they want all the credit for everything. that's the message you send when you don’t credit the photographers or youtube accounts. (no link ever) Its like “idk doesn’t matter look I posted it” which is fine when you’re a regular mcr fan but when you claim to be the most official mcr archive account, you are held to a higher standard in this fanbase.

and this is all before I even responded. they don't know me and they're literally scolding me. ok hotshot.

then I got defensive and tried to express to them that i'm not as dumb as they seem to think I am. I didn't do the things I was being accused of. I was honest about how I felt. it was hard to respond to all that because it was these weird different attacks on my intelligence from a person i've never spoken to before.

then them and their mcr achive friend sending fucked up anon asks calling me a piece of shit among other things. those mcr archive accounts could not figure out how to get a life that night. some random mcr archive fan is so mad to call me a piece of shit bc I got mad at mcr archive is what i'm to believe. it was them. they try to gatekeep this fandom that way ig. what does it for me is the complaining and acting like they built the pyramids.

it's not my fault it was hard work for you to do your awesome job request to remove and be business about it. it was like .04% of my website I don't care.

I took their stuff off, I put their site at the top of my sources on ec. I wanted this to be over. so I was professional and did as they asked. I was not half as rude as they were in their initial message. and then they say "why are you continuing to undermine me?"

like i'm sorry are you beyonce??

so they say i'm "duplicating work" and I need to slow down my process to avoid future errors. I am so clear about errors and fixing them and having no problem listening to people that are right. I am reasonable but how they came at me was bonkers. duplicating? I steal everything on there I own 0. cept the dvds ig. if me posting old show pics on a flicker from 2011 is duplicating work. sure idgaf. this history needs exposure.

I’m just a blog like everyone else that posts things that mean something to them. My website isn’t worth much more than a reference. It is a place that points to other places. This blog is the same. I’ve never pretended to own anything. ever.

then they say just because their whole archive is literally drag and drop easy to download doesn't mean my site is worth more than their archive.

why are you comparing my site to an official mcr archive period?

They don't want to be brief as indicated in their essay of a first message. they want to argue with me about a few things. because I didn't bend over backwards and kiss their ass seven different ways to sunday, after they came at me wrong, they think I am undermining their work.

according their messages, my archive is illegitimate because I don’t ask permission when my content is 2002-2012 old sites. I have never asked permission and never did anything to hide that. anyone of the 9287432 people who have their material on my site can ask to have it removed. I just link to the original source and credit. Just interesting because: how do they have permission to use the photos if they can’t even tell us who took them.

I have tried to talk to them during the founding of my website. I sent them messages and asked questions and they don't speak to the public. community this community that. I did @ a member in march when I used and credited her whole of 20 files. I removed it because they didn't respond to it for 3 months and stopped thinking about it. I figured she would talk to me like a grown up one day request to remove sometime if she wanted it down. guess that was too much to ask.

what this message tells me is that I can’t possibly understand the work they do, it’s too specialized and complicated. Apparently lmao I misunderstand them and only they know the true meaning of putting together info and data entry.

And i’m sorry I said taking a picture or scanning something isn’t hard work. I just got tired of all their hot air. I’m sorry but It’s all about them and their precious stuff and taking pictures/scans of it. it’s like mcr influencers that post paid for pictures and they dress really cool but I can't help but think about how I would be in their shoes, how lucky so many people would feel to be a part of the mcr archive. and their lack of gratitude stinks to high hell.

And for the record, It’s the attitude for me

All they had to do was request to remove like any other human would.

I really needed to say my piece and now i’m letting this go. :) reactions be damned.

#my chemical romance #but I really needed to get this out #kinda like a yelp #this is my critique that no one is required to like #and i'll prob delete soon but this needs to sit in the air for a while #if you think I should “TAKE THIS DOWN >:[[[” just block me I don't have time for you

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tamamatango · 6 months ago

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“Keroro Gunsgo To The Polls”: The Possible Behind-the-Scenes of the Ad-nime Short Nobody Expected

A much less existentially depressing display of political campaign buffoonery.

Here’s yet another unplanned post from me. The other long-form ones I was talking about before I keep putting off because of work and also another pretty ambitious project I’m putting together taking my attention—I don’t know how or when to talk about it here juuuuust yet, but it exists in public and some of you already know what it is/have seen it, so stay tuned perhaps.

As you can see from the video link/photo, this post is a writeup about a surprise video apparently commissioned by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government that uses the Keroro characters to encourage young people to go out and vote in the upcoming elections for the Governor of Tokyo. It came out about a week ago, but I initially glossed over it because…well, I thought it wasn’t new. After all, the copyright DOES attribute the copyright to 2014 and it looks very similar to the Flash anime at first glance, so…this must be a reupload from the 2014 Tokyo gubernatorial election or something, right?

Upon looking more deeply into it, no. There’s no record of this ever existing before this week, and it was later confirmed to be new via social media channels. Which means this is technically a brand new piece of animated Keroro content, which I pledged I would report on. So here I am. Whoopee.

This post is going to be about the short from a production standpoint, primarily. I’m not going to spend time on the plot (if you want to call it that lol), as it was already pretty succinctly summarized by this post here by @unfo11owmelol , and I can say it’s more or less accurate, so thank you! I will make a comment in that the Dororo ranting about plastic thing seems to just be a running gag he has now—he was always an environmentalist of course, but his hatred of plastic specifically is kind of new; it was even a major punchline in this month’s manga chapter. In fact, this short has the manga’s quirks written all over it. It’s almost as if Yoshizaki himself was heavily involved in it. Oh wait, he was. But we’ll get to that.

The Context

As previously mentioned, this short was commissioned by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and posted exclusively to their YouTube channel. This is where I was going to have a few sentences about how it was literally exclusively on the YouTube channel because none of the official social media accounts posted about it, but as I was writing the last 40% of the post, Keroro PR and one of the Tokyo government accounts finally mentioned it. So give a pat on the back to ol’ Kirb’s amazing procrastination abilities. Anyways, for the whole week before they finally decided to acknowledge its existence, it literally just dropped on YouTube with no warning and the only reason anybody on social media knew about it is because people whose YT feeds it popped up on were like hey what the fuck is this.

“What the fuck is this” is a pretty good question. While the fact that it’s about the gubernatorial election specifically isn’t directly mentioned in the video, it was pretty obvious given the timing, as it’s set to occur on July 7. I am not the most knowledgeable about Japanese politics as a whole, but this year’s race for governor is apparently particularly competitive, with over 50 candidates running. Here’s a short article giving a rundown of the race so far. The top issue is unsurprisingly the low birthrate, which has been causing panic over the fate of Japan’s economy for a considerably long time now. That’s why the government is very concerned that the voter disparity is incredibly polarizing, with young people voting much less than the elderly.

Well, what better way to fix low youth vote turnout than with anime? After all, the Zillenials want nothing more than to obsess over fictional characters while the world crumbles around them into inevitable disrepair I’m not projecting at all. The irony here is that, when the anime was originally in its prime at least, Keroro’s target audience was elementary schoolers. Indeed, the short definitely has the aura of a PSA they’d show to children, but obviously children are not voting. There’s even a point in the video where Tamama says going to the polling place is an opportunity to visit your childhood school, which is a statement more relatable to young adults. I guess at this point the main audience for Keroro really is considered to be the people who grew up with it in their child/teen years—unless the actual new anime gets a primetime kids’ TV slot, but I’m getting ahead of myself.

Considering this is the most viewed PSA about the election on their YouTube channel by far, I guess it worked to an extent? It’s currently hovering just under 20k views, which isn’t really too much in the grand scheme. But now that it’s been officially shared on social media, perhaps that’ll give it a boost. Will most of these viewers actually go out to vote is the question…

Production staff peculiarities

As with any animated Keroro content following the end of the Flash anime—which until the new show airs has basically just been this, the new project announcement trailer, and some anti-piracy ad they were doing in movie theaters that they ironically scrubbed from the internet—BN Pictures is credited as the animation studio (though the studio Sugarless Factory assisted; they pretty much exclusively do production assistance for various projects). This is interesting because it looks completely unlike anything they’ve ever done. Unless I’m missing something, none of the anime they’ve produced before have been done in a similar Flash-like style.

Now, as we Internet addicts all know, Flash has been officially dead for a few years now. However, it might still be used very rarely in lowkey web animations like this, although a friend who knows more about anime production than I do told me even those are more commonly made using Live2D now. The credits for this short are very…short, but the director and a couple of other animators worked on a particular Flash-animated series called Oshiri Kajiri Mushi (“Bottom Biting Bug”) that first aired on the TV channel NHK in 2012. I’m guessing these staff are freelance, as that show was produced by the studio Kinema Citrus (a team founded by ex-members of Production I.G and Bones), and were possibly brought on to this short because they had experience with the software. If it is animated using something like Live2D, the experience still applies, as it’s apparently more similar to Flash than something more commonly used in anime like Clip Studio Paint. The director also has 3D CG credits and there is a credit here for “motion” that includes his name, so maybe a little of that was used as well. (Wouldn’t be able to tell myself—most experience I have with 3D animation is a one semester Maya course I took in high school lol).

Curiously, despite the potentially similar animation software and very similar artstyle + color palette, none of the animation staff, as far as I can tell, worked on the 2014 Flash anime. That is, except for…Mine Yoshizaki.

On all animated Keroro media, Yoshizaki’s primary official credit is “original creator,” of course. As the series creator, he would of course participate to a degree in most things related to the 2004 series, doing stuff like sitting in on some writing and recording sessions, contributing ideas/concept art here and there, and so on. There’s actually a Newtype article from around the announcement of the first movie I dug up that was officially translated into English, in which Yoshizaki talks about the pressure of being in that role. Most mangaka interviews I’ve seen about their involvement in their works’ anime adaptations are pretty overwhelmingly positive, but he was definitely more mixed. This might be a post for another day, since I have some speculations about his relationship to the anime as a whole. Damn, I need to stop coming up with essay ideas that are probably too big for my pea brain.

Anyway, Yoshizaki was quite a bit more involved in the 2014 series. He served as one of two people responsible for series composition (scriptwriting), though that could be because the Flash anime was a much more direct adaptation of the manga than the original anime, which might as well have been an entirely different series. IIRC, some episodes of Flash were literally 1:1 with the manga’s script…so I guess that counts as writing the anime too lol. He also storyboarded a few episodes and wrote the opening theme song’s lyrics. The next Keroro animation after that was the anti-piracy theater ad in 2021, which he storyboarded for. But you’ll notice with all the credits we’ve discussed so far that he was never involved with the animation proper past the storyboarding stage…until now!

Not only was Yoshizaki credited as original creator as usual, he also did directorial supervision, storyboarding, and was a key animator—the only key animator, in fact! I know it’s just a five-minute short, but the Flash series’s episodes were even shorter than that and had multiple key animators per episode, so this is kind of a big deal. It also might explain why the character designs look just a little bit more on-model to the manga designs than Flash’s did, even though they look almost identical at a cursory glance. It’s easiest to tell by looking at the less-rounded head shapes, plus a few minor details like Tamama’s eye highlights and the bridge of Kururu’s glasses. I am very normal, how could you tell?

So yeah, this makes this short the most Yoshizaki has ever been involved with the actual animation process. I can’t say it gives him the most additional credits, as it’s tied with the Flash series for three extra, but it’s something!

Closing out the staff section, some notes about the cast. As you might expect, the usual actors reprise their roles. Most notably, Mamiko Noto is back to play Mois for what I believe (unless I’m missing a random collab or something) is her first time in the role in ten years, and she pretty much didn’t miss a beat! In addition to Fuyuki and Natsumi’s VAs playing them recently at the Keroro expo, that’s three additional voices besides the Keroro Platoon’s that presumably are still going to be able to return for the new anime.

Otherwise, the platoon sounds pretty much like they did in the anniversary trailer and various other small projects like the anti-piracy ad and Tales of the Rays collab from last year (they each had multiple spoken lines there). Keroro sounds a tad deeper; Tamama has some of the Jibanyan nasal now; Giroro didn’t really talk much but sounds mostly the same; Dororo is also a bit deeper and sounds kinda awkward but I think that’s less the voice direction and more Yoshizaki possibly wrote the dialogue and he speaks more assertively in the manga lol; Kururu sounds literally the exact same because Koyasu is a magic man.

Made in [Insert Year]?? (Ft. A lesson in trademarking)

I mentioned this at the beginning of this post, but for a solid few days, I really thought this video was just an ancient (2014 feels ancient now anyway) reupload. After all, the copyright string says 2014, and only media produced during the Flash series era has that copyright year, so I brushed it off. Here, let me show you all the anime copyright strings per the current anime portal:

There’s no 2004 date on the TV series’s copyright, probably because it covers the entire series from 2004–2011, plus now 2024 onward (and possibly the anti-piracy ad from 2021 as well), and also most anime-branded merch and things. But when the show was airing proper, it was attributed to 2004 (you can see this in the opening credits of any season). The 2006–2010 dates are for each individual movie. And there’s the 2014 copyright that’s the exact same as the video’s, though here it is for the Flash anime, as there’s pictures of it on the anime portal site. As an aside, before 2015, Sunrise was listed instead of BNP. At some point all anime rights got retroactively transferred from Sunrise Inc. to BNP—not sure how or when exactly that occurred. For the movies, there were slight shakeups in the production committee as well (you can see my new project trailer analysis for more on that kind of stuff).

As you can see, copyright strings for the series are attributed to the year each individual “product” came out in, for the most part. But now we know that this ad is brand new. So…does this mean this political ad is counted as part of the Flash anime? They obviously didn’t plan to include this specific video ten years ago (unless Kadokawa bought out an oracle or something, wouldn’t surprise me). Maybe they left the door open to more episodes of the Flash anime proper, but that isn’t what this was advertised as.

Well, I have a theory. A theory that might be totally wrong, but a theory nonetheless. Let’s go on a massive tangent about the Japanese trademark system! (Disclaimer: I have no formal training in the legal field. I just have really weird research hobbies.)

I’m going to focus on two basic principles here. First, once trademarks in Japan are officially registered, they are active for ten years before the copyright applicant must reapply to renew ownership of the trademark for another ten years. Second, trademarks have to be filed under certain classifications that basically tell the JPO (Japan Patent Office) what goods and/or services the applicant plans to use the trademark for. This means that sometimes the same trademark will be filed multiple times for different use classes. The classifications are each given a two digit class number, which is further subdivided into five-character group code(s).

You can actually search through all public patents yourself on J-PlatPat, and the site is machine translated into English (though you still have to type the copyright you’re looking for in Japanese). Let’s take a look at the three different filings for ケロロ軍曹 (just the name of the series itself, not the logo).

I’m on my phone so I couldn’t fit the entire window, but the important information is here. Kadokawa Corporation is the filer for all of these, though Yoshizaki’s name is probably also on whatever application documents they sent, which aren’t viewable. The three versions of the trademark were filed on different dates about a year apart. You’ll see that class 16 is there twice. For the first filing, it was class 16 and multiple group codes designating different kinds of goods (class 28 also contains goods-related things); the second filing covers a single group code protecting “printed matter” (presumably this was to cover any physical distributions of the manga).

I’m going to take a closer look at the third filing, which was officially registered in 2004. Class 09 covers a shitload of different goods and services, like way too many to list. What I’m thinking is that the first set of goods trademarks filed in 2001 was just to cover the kind of stuff they’d attach to issues of Shonen Ace and volume releases as giveaways—paper goods, board game-type items, and toys/dolls are all covered under it. Then in 2003, in preparation for the inevitable merchandise and collaboration dump the anime would lead to, they opened the floodgates to literally any Material Thing they could think to cover. Like, I’m pretty sure we never got any Keroro-branded egg candlers, fire alarms, or “cigar lighters for automobiles”, but might as well cover all your bases. Wouldn’t want the local fire department handing out emergency gear with your cartoon frog on it without permission, you know.

Included among these materials are some items that might be a bit more relevant to our case here. There’s a number of clauses related to physical and digital film, photography, and other media: “CD-ROM and DVD and other recording media, electronic publications, downloadable music, downloadable image[s]”. Now, while this doesn’t cover “animation” specifically, it can possibly be stretched to fit that definition. This is especially because, in Japanese, the term the MTL output as “images” is actually eizou, which can refer to both images and video.

So, the version of the trademark registered for the brand in 2004 likely covers certain media-related things. There are other classes that include the word “animation” specifically, but it’s possible that those classes weren’t classified the same way back then as they are now, and maybe anything film-related could’ve been interpreted by the law to include animation. Nowadays, though there are specific classifications for animation, specifically “animation available for download.” This subgroup actually happens to fall under class 09, though other classes contain similar items as well, such as class 41. You can search classes by number or keyword if you’re curious about this.

As I pointed out before I presented this data, all of these particular filings are for specifically ケロロ軍曹, not ケロロ. If ケロロ is to be used in isolation, it would have to be specified as such in the registration data, because what’s actually stopping someone else from coming along and trademarking just ケロロ? Now, remember the name of the Flash anime? That’s right—ケロロ. Just “Keroro”, not “Keroro Gunso.” Incidentally, this video is actually not formally titled under ケロロ軍曹 (despite what the thumbnail says). The only name in the title of the actual video is ケロロ.

So here is my theory. Maybe it’s a hypothetical, but I’m going to treat it like it’s concrete for argument’s sake. In 2014, to prepare for the Flash anime and related branding, Kadokawa filed for the trademark ケロロ—individually, without 軍曹. Because it was the 2010s at that point, it’s possible that downloadable animation was more specifically defined in the group codes filed for, even though the Flash anime did air on TV (again, the strategy to this is about covering as many potential use cases as possible for maximum copyright protection). Maybe it was under class 09, maybe it was another class, or even more than one. For whatever reason, the trademark is not publicly available. But because of what kind of animation/video/whatever that specific trademark covers, this little election video is covered under that 2014 trademark.

You might recall how I said trademarks have to be renewed every ten years. Incidentally, it just so happens that 2014 was ten years ago. Most likely, the (secret?) trademark was recently renewed so that stuff like this would be allowed to be made and can continue to be made in the future, independently from “Keroro Gunso” as defined by the 2004-verse and the manga proper. And because 2014 is the original filing year of that trademark, that is the year that is displayed with this project, even if the trademark was renewed in 2024, or some other recent year. By the way, all the ケロロ軍曹 trademarks I covered were also renewed this decade, so Kadokawa can keep on doing whatever exactly they were doing with those. There’s probably even more hidden-from-public-view trademarks, who knows, there’s a thousand potential asterisks here but you get the picture.

Fascinating, isn’t it? As I said, it’s possible that I’m just talking out of my ass and all of this is either way more simple or way more complicated than I’m making it out to be, in which case I just wasted multiple paragraphs of your time. But hey, at least it was a fun lesson, right? I’m not the only one interested in this, right? RIGHT?!?!?!

Okay, I’m just about done here, but I’m going to tell you something plot twisty. Do you know what actually first clued me in to the fact that this was not made in 2014 before it was confirmed to be the case? Not the upload date. Not the fact that nobody ever talked about it prior to a week ago. Not even all the probably useless copyright shit I just spent a whole other post’s worth of words on.

It was this part of the video:

See, in this screenshot, if you look really closely, you’ll notice that Kururu is using an iPhone parody with three cameras. The first iPhones with three cameras were released in 2019. Therefore, this could not have been made in 2014. This stupid detail is what it took to get me to think about this video for more than thirty seconds.

Thank you, Kururu’s crippling iPhone addiction.

So yeah, go out and vote or whatever, wherever you guys are. Otherwise you’ll have to look Mois in the eyes and tell her no, and that will make her very sad, and she might blow up the planet as consequence. Not that the planet isn’t already being destroyed. Any of my fellow Americans want to join me for a screaming session following the last few days of federal fuckery? I’ll bring chocolate-covered pretzels to snack on and we’ll write the names of corporate lobbyists on them, it’ll be fun.

#keroro gunso #sgt frog #sgt keroro #video #infodump #why did I write this #I’m not okay

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kustas · 6 months ago

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Do you have reccs for "ugly" art (manga, comics, movie, etc.)? Thanks for the Tekkon recs btw I really liked it

That really depends on your own personal media landscape and what your definition of "ugly" is! As a random example, I've seen many people call ONE's art ugly because of the wobbly linework when I think it's lovely. Ugly could also mean something a bit shocking/crass in its themes. Etc, etc... I'm going to go with the definition of "something that's a bit jarring to look at or go through" here :)

Disclaimer: a lot of these tackle sensitive topics, sometimes for fun and not always tastefully. If there's themes you really can't handle in media, do your research before looking into them.

Manga

I keep recommending yes because it rules but Dorohedoro and its scratchy messy art and gore galore. talking about the manga exclusively here the anime is too polished for my taste

God's Child (Kami no Kodomo): tbh this one is for the art only I hated the writing. very gruesome & unique looking short story

I hesitate to recommend this one because it's edgy as hell but I shan't lie I had a lot of fun with Hellsing. it's "bad" in the same areas as something like berserk but unlike that one it does not take itself seriously

if you liked Tekkon i strongly suggest trying out more stuff by its author (saying this with immense biais). the most ugly/messy thing i've read of his, which isn't a lot because i find his work very delicate, is No. 5 which i would less describe as "good" than "very compelling to me". i also recommend this wonderful essay tearing it down

Comics (non JP)

FLEEP: a short story about a man who wakes up in a phone cabin seemingly encased in concrete. one of the comics i always recommend for its length and storytelling. (link leads to the artist's website where you can read it for free!)

The Astonishing Exploits Of Lucien Brindavoine: a young artist gets drafted in the first world war and goes through a series of almost supernatural adventures. beyond the adventure book aspect, a harsh criticism of nationalism/patriotism that's still awfully relevant

Animation

Ruben Brandt: Collector: a psychiatrist suffers from strange art related nightmares ruining his life. his clients, a bunch of high profile criminals, decide to help him fight off his demons by organizing one long vacation where they steal every painting involved. extremely unique visually, a fun heist movie with thriller elements.

Junk Head: goofy post apocalyptic movie about a man on a quest to save, who keeps losing sight his goal because cartoony violence episodes have his head tumble into new lows, literally. this is, perhaps, one of my favorite animated films ever, it's earnest and fun and lovingly crafted. very unique of a watch

The Apostle: freshly escaped from prison, a thief is on a mission to find treasure hidden by his old cellmate, and finds himself stuck in an ancient village who's strange looking elderly inhabitants are way too insistent on his stay. classic spooky folktale with its millennial curses and foreboding warnings, it's also a nice peek into the culture of Galicia and old world medieval weirdass catholicism. you can buy a DVD on their website

MKFZ: dumb as hell high adrenaline animated B movie with excellent animation. there's a plot about alien living undercover in fantasy california but you don't watch this kind of film for the plot. fair warning this is adapted from a french comic so of course, it's crass and racist

Blow to the Head - Lightning bolt: awesome music video (YT link)(warning for flashing/strobing lights if you're sensitive to that!)

Canon Fodder: from the Memories omnibus film. little slice of the life of a fantasy war obsessed industrial nation

with its new movie on the horizon, it's a great time to get into Mononoke, despite traditionally pretty visuals its got a unique style and gets pretty offputting

Live action cinema

7:35 in the morning: short film about the fear in improvised musical numbers where you don't expect any. it's on youtube in bad quality

The Draughtsman's Contract: an artist is hired by a Lady to draw several vistas of her house, in exchange for money, good drawing condition, and the Lady. follows a good hour of cunts in powdery wigs being awful to each other for their own gain. if you're into dark humor it's a good test, otherwise it has a really satisfying murder mystery to follow too.

Three Kings: during the gulf war, a group of US soldiers decide to steal Hussein's gold for themselves under the mighty standard of kuwait's loot repatriation. extremely caustic take on good ol murican international politics. i was shocked at how far it goes and it's express, low budget treatment which i did not expect from a hollywood film. the movie tires itself fast and becomes less good in its second half but the it's opening acts are interesting

Delicatessen: a sliver of humanity survives in an old timey stone building in the middle of nothingness on top of a functional butcher's shop. gossip follows the arrival of a new roommate. how does one even maintain a butchery in a no man's land? weird film with a unique(ly goofy) take on the post apocalyptic genre

Other

For traditional artists, I like the works of Beksinski (<3), Schiele, Giger. For modern artists Oleg Vdovenko (heavy gore warning for that one), Jeff Simpson

I'm less a fan of the MV and live performances they got infamous for than their music proper but I really like the band Cardiacs, who's judged by many of my friends to be extremely hard to get into lol.

#ask

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t4tails · 10 months ago

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Sorry if you’ve already answered this but wheres the best place to watch rvb?

tubi has it, but censored (bleeped out fucks and cut bits) and weirdly ordered. its kind of really hard to pirate through traditional streaming means because for the longest time it was completely free on youtube, and the episode lengths mean websites dont know how to show it.

i recently reblogged a link to a google drive containing the first 15 seasons, but if you dont want to use that, my recommended way to watch would probably be s1 on rooster teeths official youtube, but then the rest of its paywalled there, and s2 is the only one i cant find reuploaded by others on yt, so go watch s2 on their official site, then go back to youtube and just search "red vs blue season (3,4,5, etc)" to find the rest.

also, if youre watching for the first time, there are 3 miniseries you should watch, also all on youtube. Out of Mind between seasons 4 and 5; Recovery One between seasons 5 and 6; and Relocated between seasons 6 and 7. theres some other stuff in that playlist but these are the plot important ones - the others are silly stuff you should leave til youre finished.

and if youre wondering why seasons are typically just seen as one video, its because rvb was originally uploaded in 5-10 minute long episodes, so its easier to just watch seasons as movies. i hope this helped! it was definitely much easier to watch when it was on netflix lol

#og post #ask #anon

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phlurrii · 2 years ago

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Okay we’re 2 day late, buT-

I am SO. Happy to announce 2 things! The first is that Meau and Noe will both be getting New reference sheets with a lil change to them after the next update which is so close to being done I could scream. The second is the reveal that Meau and Missingno. are now…

REAL.

Okay wooptydo so are mostly every other Mew/Two nerd’s cats on here. What’s so special about these bozo’s?

WELL. LEMME TELL YA.

They are both, including shiny Noe there, from Pokémon Red virtual console. What does that mean? It means I ripped them straight out of the first ported Pokémon Games ever made! They are both from the classic Mew glitch that ravaged playgrounds from 1996 and beyond. As seen below, we got some neato pictures of them in their pixelated glory. The process to catch them is easy, get to cerulean city, dip before a trainer can see you, beat up a slowpoke/shelder and then hit nugget bridge. Boom, notorious cat, just don’t talk to TC while catching it they WILL doom your catching luck.

The hard part is AFTER. Since you summon these lil buggers using glitches, shocker! Poke transporter doesn’t see them as legal and banishes them to being stuck in the VC. So the process of yanking them out is a very long and tedious maiden, filled with accidentally erasing my save file twice and murdering my mews along with it. First time wasn’t my fault, second time definitely on me XD but I digress! You basically break into the games inaccessible bag through item overflow and rip out things you really shouldn’t have, AKA, 8F. Then through having select Pokémon, items, all in a specific order, you use 8F and BOOM.

They are now legal and get be dragged through to home! Do a lil extra leg work to force one to be shiny through stat manipulation + 8F and you’ll have yourself a normal and shiny gameboy marked mew! But the shitty part is once you finally take them OUT of the game…

They lose their nicknames.

So you just did all that work for two custom gameboy mews and you don’t even get to name them? Abosolute BS and Lowkey broke my heart, cuz I didn’t just spend 3 play throughs, 37 hours total, to get these guys and NOT have them named. So 8 forums, 3 poke editor tools, a dump of my moon save file onto my computer, an action replay, super sweet redditor, and a modded DS later…

They got their names back and we’re still legal lil bastards that I’m currently getting some ribbons on before they make the last leg of the journey to Pokémon Home, for SWSH and eventually Scarlet and Violet. Officially making all 7 of my individual mews I’ve collected from events, gifts, and questionably legal glitches, safely in one place.

The actual ancient mews were definitely the HARDEST to get out of all of them, but if your interested, I did the majority of this process right before Austin John Plays YT dropped a whole video on it. So if you also wanna do this, I’d recommend it only if you have the time and energy to suffer. As well as DONT go in and name them, you will lose it, I am simply a mad man and was determined to they their names back.

#mew #ancient mew #the ancient mew #pokemon #mew pokemon #pokémon mew #shiny mew #Pokémon red #mew glitch

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fanface · 21 days ago

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tw for talking about children in non-child-friendly communities

It is so disturbing to watch all these 6-10 year olds making helluva boss fan content (song covers, fanart, fanfiction, edits, etc.) and being active and present in helluva boss fan communities. like girly pop, you aren't even going to understand half the jokes in the show why are you here go watch paw patrol

and its even more disturbing to see people being called predators for saying NSFW things in helluva boss communities because they didn't expect there to be children. I've had to leave all of the helluva boss/hazbin hotel servers i was in because there were ACTUAL CHILDREN who didn't disclose their age anywhere OR lied about their age, getting upset at me and others for saying NSFW things, and also because i just don't wanna talk about these shows around children

i kinda just needed to vent about this bc its so annoying that communities need to be censored so heavily because children are present in places they shouldnt be.

somewhat recently, i saw someone on a helluva boss fan discord server, which I will not name, get called a groomer because they quoted a helluva boss character saying something sexual, and an underage server member saw it and responded to it. when i saw that i just left the server (EDIT just wanted to point out that this isnt even grooming, or even CLOSE to it)

i also recently saw what looked to be a 6-7 year old on YT shorts posting a clip of her cover of When i See Him and it was just so disturbing and weird and gross to hear a small child say the phrase "we're gonna bone".

its so sad seeing so many CHILDREN watching helluva boss. im genuinly curious why they enjoy it. if i had seen the show when i was seven, i would have been scared shitless and not be able to understand the plot.

i kinda took a few directions with this post but idk i just needed to vent

if you are a parent reading this, KEEP YOUR CHILD OFF THE INTERNET, or at LEAST prevent them from having unrestricted internet access. a netflix kids profile and a few video games are like, the only computer access a child aged 4-8 needs. check your child's internet history, and keep them out of these communities

if you are a CHILD reading this, GO PLAY ROBLOX bc watching these shows WILL MESS UP YOUR BRAIN

#helluva boss #gen alpha #vent #tw sex mention

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butterkofiinthemorning · 9 months ago

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I was trying to find Mangas that have similar vibes to Dungeon Meshi because it's really the best media I ever consume for awhile and it checks all the boxes on what I'm looking for in a story.

But then, maybe I'm just trying to find something that is plot consistent or ever growing, character driven and at least have some system within the story. No ass pull whatsoever. Probably why I dislike most of the Isekais so much and the lazy writing of some OP characters (Mob Psycho 100 and One Punch Man might be my only exception for this, because they did handle OP characters very well).

The reason I liked Hunter x Hunter more than any other shonen out there is because of the nen abilities well explained (and it's the basis for Jujutsu Kaiden CTs) and it can potentially grow.

Railgun on the other hand got my curiosity with how abilities could be applied. I don't have the same sentiments with Index as I'm more pulled in by the science sides of things and I kinda dislike some harem sub elements on it, both the mother and the spin off story.

--------

So, from what I gathered these will probably be my to read list;

1. Witch Hat Atelier - I've seen some artworks, and it's one of the best panelling I've ever seen. Plus it's the fantasy closest to Dungeon Meshi. And the author's a fan of Good Omens! I think.

2. Blue Period - The talent vs. hardwork discussion made me wanna read it.

3. Fool Night - Apparently Sui Ishida liked this, and I watched some video regarding this and it pique my interest delving back to this type of genre.

4. The Summer Hikaru Died - Hmm.. I've seen this quite a few times last year when I was scrolling through a raw manga, and honestly the blue background and some ominous looking boy got my attention.

5. March Comes in Like a Lion - I've been dismissive of this for quite a year/s because I thought it was too heavy for me back then. But now that I'm in the mood of ever growing characters, I would like to read it. Though what really made me read about it is because the artist is the same with Oberon's design which I really liked in FGO.

6. Chainsaw Man - I already know what happened. I watched a summary video in YT that explained Part 1 and Part 2. BUT I wanted to give it a proper read. Denji and Asa is something special and yet relatable to me in a sense. Plus I like how clean his panelling is for this.

7. Kaze Hikaru - Man, I looove Shinsengumi. Okita has been my favourite character in FGO and my first 5 star saber. But this Manga, it fleshes out his character more and also the Shinsengumi as a whole up until it's downfall. I already read some of it but I think I just can't find the continuation.

-----

Maybe this post is just a reminder for myself on what I'll be reading because I'm too forgetful in everything. I doubt anybody is reading this though.

#Dungeon Mesh #hunter x hunter #a certain scientific railgun #witch hat atelier #Blue Period #march comes in like a lion #Fool night #the summer hikaru died #chainsaw man #Kaze Hikaru #Oberon Vortigern #Okita Souji #Manga I wanna read #one punch man #mob psycho 100 #fgo

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smoshsfavoritepizzaplace · 2 months ago

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I'm curious what it is like for you when it comes to Shourtney/Shartney?

I didn't start watching Smosh when they first joined nor around the time they allegedly started dating. Let me tell you though when I heard about their ship, I was HOOKED.

Which is rather strange given I knew nothing about them or Smosh for the most part, but I felt like I did, ya know? Even with what little I had to go on, I could sense something brewing behind the scenes.

On top of that I never honestly cared about youtuber relationships or anything like that, so why them?

I would probably say its their genuineness. They always seemed to be connected no matter if the other was around or not. They always managed to bring each other up one way or the other. Quite The Invisible String, if you ask me.

Thank u Department Of Weird Sounds for supporting my brainrot🤘

So when people want to say it is unhealthy to be so infatuated with stranger's I don't know, I can understand in part. Clearly we shouldn't be too prosocial, at times people told me it was because I was envious and I couldn't disagree more.

Without question I think anyone would want what they have, just listen to Court on Perfect Person @ 1:10:28. Of course I would be crazy to not want what they have, but it would never come from a negative space.

Their story just has that intangible factor to it and I can't help but root for them in every way possible! I'm talking in life, Smosh videos, fan compilations, and my personal favorite fan fics!

P.S. If anybody wants to write more Shartney fan fics that would be amazing! I love oneshots to death, but I'd kill for a long story like Milkshake Hearts again.

I'd also like to thank all the talented writers out there for what they contributed over the years. You'll are incredible!

I can’t really give you a straight answer bc my memory is so wonky but I’m gonna try my best! So based on what I can remember, I can almost confidently say I’ve been watching smosh since 2015. 2012-2014 is very possible, especially the latter, but 2015 I know for sure I’ve been watching at least once every year since then. I don’t exactly remember at what point I started shipping the two of them, but I don’t ever think I was opposed to it. Even if you only watch a couple smosh videos you would still know how shipped they were/are, so I’m sure I was aware of it. I went through my yt history and it says I watched a couple shourtney comps sometime in 2020, so I assume it’s been at least 4 years of me liking them. BUT I don’t remember taking it seriously until the first half of last year. I think I watched their silent library and that’s when it clicked. I seen the video when it came out but I don’t recall my first impressions, but watching it sometime in April last year made me SO SUS of the two of them. Then it made me spiral into watching some compilations and I downloaded tumblr in early May and it confirmed everything for me. Then, the family guy reunion dropped and I was like OH MY GOD! So yeah, since last year is when I really knew about everything bc I’ve been a casual viewer and possibly casual shipper for 7 years so I wasn’t too wrapped up with everything. But watching everything over made me realize how sweet their love story really is. I’ve said this before, but they can really have a rom com made about them.

And here’s a little funny anecdote, as you can tell, I knew they were together for a while prior to their hard launch, but I was SO in denial of them being engaged. I seen so many people bring up a ring on here and I just did not believe they could be fiancés but I believed they were dating lol. So when they dropped the pictures, I was just as surprised as someone who didn’t know they were even together. Even though they had my heart for (at least) over a year, ever since they’ve officially announced it, I’ve been head over heels since. ☺️

#smosh #smoshblr #shayne topp #courtney miller #shourtney #shartney #anon ask

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melonteee · 11 months ago

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Story time: When I was little and first start wachting anime (not counting Pokemon and Digimon because I didnt know what anime even was when first seeing them on tv) I learned about the big three, and wanted to watch all of them. One at a time thou.

So I watched few videos like amv or top 10 lists on yt to decide which one to start with. Bleach I found pretty boring, still do, just dont think its an anime for me. Im sure its good as it has a lot of fans. But not for me. And One Piece I thought was too childish, not sure if I saw 4kidz dub or it might be before any one of the big emotional scenes (before water 7, as in genocide wasnt a plot point yet) but I thought it was a 'friendship is magic' type of show. Naruto I saw there was blood (why I think I might have seen one piece 4kidz videos) and the nine tail fox, which I thought was the cooled thing ever. So I ended up with watching Naruto first. Spoiler: Nine tails barely have any scenes so that was a huge let down.

I didnt like Naruto because he kept trying to sneak in the womens bath and transforming into a naked girl to give people nosebleeds. Little ace me, who didnt know what asexual was, didnt approve. Sasuke I thougth was an idiot, I normally like the overly emo characters but I just thought hes reasoning and actions were stupid. (Like in the end he came back like "Im going to be the new hokage". like bitch! You are a war criminal that sided with the enemy that tried to destroy the village at one point! Why the fuck would the village want you as their leader??!!) And Sakura just seemed really pointless. There was a thing that she was supposed to be the more giften one in channeling chakra but Naruto and Sasuke quickly cought or was atleast good enough that Sakura wasnt needed that often. There was some good scenes but they were few and far between.

Not liking the main characters is a bad start when watching a show.

I dont remember that much what happend in the anime because I got so mad about how long time it took for things to happen that I ended up suppressing the memories. I didnt know what filler episodes was untill after I was almost at the end of the serie. So I watched all and every filler episodes thinking they were nessesary.

Did you know 41% of the anime was filler? 91 of 220 episodes of the original anime where filler. And 203 of 500 episodes of shippuden where filler. And one point there was even 76 episode in a row that was filler. From 13 july 2005 to 1 february 2007 where just filler episodes.

I refused to watch Bleach and One Piece after thinking they had as much filler episodes as Naruto. Untill I got recommended one piece videos on yt and decided to give it a try. But looking up which episodes where filler so I could skip it. But One piece only had 10 %. I know there were someone that had counted how many minutes where filler scenes in each episode which made that procentage a lot higher.

I know its annoying that One Piece has a lot of scene filler where things are dragged out little too long. But if I had to choose I do rather have filler scenes than filler episodes. Even thou filler episodes can be fun from time to time. But not 76 in a row.

End of story time.

Love your videos~ Keep it up!

LMAO I can't speak on the Naruto stuff, but One Piece's LACK of filler surprised me too? And I say lack of filler because, shocker! Having like, 3-5 fillers per 100 EPISODES?? SOMETIMES NOT EVEN THAT?? People truly don't realise how insane that is, and how lucky we are for that?

I've said it before and I'll say it again, people really need to watch One Piece SECOND to something else - especially second to other anime. You truly see how good you have it and how good of a show One Piece is when it's the SECOND thing you watch LMAO

#ask #melonask

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saturniandragon · 7 months ago

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Adra's Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown In-Depth Review (contains spoilers)

(Caution: Extremely long read, please ask for snacks from Long Caster)

Let's start with a little background of me as a player. Before 7, my Ace Combat games were:

Ace Combat 2

Ace Combat 3: Electrosphere (EU and JP versions)

Ace Combat 04: Shattered Skies

Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War

Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War

Ace Combat X: Skies of Deception

Ace Combat: Joint Assault

Ace Combat: Assault Horizon

With the exception of Assault Horizon and the EU version of AC3, I played all of them on emulators. Because I was too poor to afford anything. I haven't played AC6 because I haven't seen the reason to buy an X360 just to play 1 game, so I'm waiting for a fully developed X360 emulator that can run 6 flawlessly.

Yes I used to play AH. Quite a lot. Yes it was a decent enough game. Yes it's strayed ungodly far from the true Ace Combat that we know of. But the soundtracks absolutely make up for it. And frankly, without AH, there won't be Ace Combat Infinity, because it used the same game engine as AH. Also AC7 reuses several sounds from AH.

I'm not saying we should accept AH as a true Ace Combat game, because it's not. But over time, it became a necessary stepping stone towards Ace Combat Infinity and Ace Combat 7 we know today.

Just a note that I have never played Infinity. I was still in mid school when Infinity was up and running. I never even owned a PS3. Any mention of AC Infinity in my following review is based on watching YT videos because the game is dead now (thanks Namco, I guess).

I spent 5 years aggressively avoiding spoilers for Ace Combat 7 because it's more fun that way. As such I had no idea what the story is like, what Strangereal country the protag is affiliated with, or which country we're fighting. About the only thing I know is that the protag goes by the nickname Trigger.

Anyway, Ace Combat 7 now. So my first impression was. Wow. I absolutely loved the menu UI. Minimalistic, yes, but very straightforward. And the splash screen before the main menu. The overall dark blue theme of course is a nod towards the blue skies that every pilot knows, whether real or virtual. And apparently also a reference for the theme of the game plot, "Dark Blue."

(Tumblr voice: do you love the color of the sky-- *forcibly removed from stage*)

The controls again are also familiar, although I have to change the scheme in settings first, because I'm used to using the Select button instead of Square to change SP weapons. Again it's configurable, so a nice feature.

The mission briefing scene was... to put it simply, a little convoluted. Maybe that's just me, seeing Ace Combat 5 and Zero also had similar briefing screens with a buttload of flavor text that mostly doesn't matter to the actual gameplay. I let it slide because it's "the Ace Combat DNA", if you will. And I also love the animations, so good job devs.

First mission, you're a peacekeeping pilot. So I guess like the precursor of Ace Combat 3's UPEO. You get F-16C with 4AAMs. And thank God for that because I'm kinda fed up with starter planes being something ancient like F-4s or F-5s. And I quite like Vipers. Not as much as I like Flank-- sorry, moving on.

Oh shit, we're fighting Erusea now. I think we fought Erusea as well in 04, right? So I was interested if maybe there would be a mention of Yellow 13 (spoiler: there isn't).

The graphics were stunning. I played the game on max graphics. Lighting, shadows, glow/bloom effects, clouds, skies, a couple of shadow staircasing every now and then, but it's not super noticeable. And the game was very well optimized as well because I was getting 120+ fps at all times.

Although to be fair Ace Combat 7 is my first proper "next gen" game. After years and years of playing games on 720p Low, playing something on 1080p Ultra with smooth 60fps+ is mind blowing.

I think the only times I switch to first person/HUD view is during dogfights in thick clouds, just so I can see where my aircraft is pointing and avoid a premature nose-first landing.

Then the soundtracks. My god, this game delivers and goes beyond. Several times I get the chills when the music ramps up during the right moment. And the way the BGM gets muffled when you're in the clouds and becomes clear again when you're out? Such a genius idea. Replayability value increased.

The flight model/physics is... well, quite different from what I'm used to, which is AC5 and AC0's flight model. Your left thumbstick input isn't instantaneous, there's a bit of inertia and momentum in plane's roll, pitch and yaw, but I quickly got used to it. In contrast to PS2 titles, AC7 planes are so easy to accelerate and very hard to decelerate, and I learned that the hard way from overshooting enemy planes and crashing to the ground a couple of times trying to do dive bomb attacks.

And then the flight model for landing on runways or carriers is another level of different. Somehow your air speed doesn't decrease when you fully press the decel button and the air brakes are extended. Even increasing sometimes, during approach. Your plane only actually starts losing speed when you're directly above the runway. And I hear you, Ace Combat isn't known for realistic flight physics. Never was, and never will be. I have fully accepted that since Ace Combat 2. But you can actually decrease your speed during landing, as you should be able to, in all the previous titles, so why not in 7? That means most of the time I was landing my plane in AC7 with nose gear first. Doesn't damage my plane in the game or anything, but still, I loved doing realistic landings in previous games.

During takeoffs your plane also pitches up automatically after surpassing V1 and V2 speeds, like in Assault Horizon. I prefer previous titles where you have to manually pull the stick back to takeoff from the runway/carrier.

I'm slightly disappointed that there isn't any vapor cloud forming on your plane when you breach Mach 1. AC5 and Zero had that small touch of realism (I think 04 also did but I don't remember), so seeing it absent in 7 is a bit sad. But not game breaking.

Harling rescue mission. He's no longer president of Osea but he's still alive, and apparently built the space elevator near Selatapura. Flew my Super Tomcat with 8AAM through the radar network. Reminding me of the Mother Goose One escort mission from 5. Even the rescue chopper is Sea Goblin, the same one from 5. I love it.

My hype was shattered at the end of the mission where apparently one of my missiles hit Harling and killed him??? Oh well, solitary now I guess.

Oh great, first mission apparently with other pilot convicts. Take off and make Erusean bombers think they're attacking a real AFB. While Count and other Spare squadron members keep calling me Harling's murderer.

My true complain so far in my first time playing is that the characters talk SO much during actual gameplay. Way too much. Half the time I don't hear or get the chance to read subtitles because I'm too focused on dogfighting or blowing stuff up with HVAAs and GPBs. So I'm missing quite a lot of what the characters say during flight.

About the only thing I catch in the entire game is just Long Caster talking about food (affectionate). He probably has an entire buffet line for himself in his E-767. Hey I don't blame him, you're not yourself when you're hungry.

Although, Long Caster, did you really just say you were gonna order food from "Italian" bistro near LRSSG base? That's a bit of an oversight from PA.

My only source of the game's storyline is through cutscenes, which, may I add, are rendered extremely nicely. Like, I couldn't tell if the cutscenes were pre-rendered MP4 clips or real-time 3D render. We've gone from AC04's manga slideshow, AC5's 3D anime, AC0's green screen mocaps, to realistic and high fidelity CGI cutscenes in 7. With the exception of the static JPEG dog that appears beside the Princess of Erusea and Mihaly's granddaughters.

Speaking of which. Mihaly. What the hell is with that full name, old man? Even the noble Altmer families in Elder Scrolls Online are jealous of your monarchy name. I don't want to be your commanding officer who will probably have to write your full name everytime I make an official report.

The cutscenes show an interesting story from Avril's point of view. How she went from apparently spending years building an F-104 from scraps to fulfill her dream as a sky drag racer, shot down by an Osean fighter for breaching airspace regulation, held as a prisoner for god knows how long, and finally becoming the Scrap Queen for the OADF/OMDF and making tweaks for Trigger's aircrafts.

(You! Solitary, now!)

Let's move to weapons. SP weapons especially, and my god there's a lot of them now. LAAM, HVAA, HPAA, HCAA, 8AAM, GRKT, SASM, IEWS, PLSL, so many to choose from. I still remember when 4AGMs and 4AAMs were just called XAGMs and XMAAs. And now there's even a goddamn 8AGM for when you really hate tank columns. If the next Ace Combat game were to feature the new F-15EX, they should make 10AAM or 12AAM SP weapon for it.

For area of effect (AOE) weapons like UGBs, GPBs and SFFSs, they now use predicted impact point and blast radius as your aiming guide, previously also seen in AH and Infinity. It's a very good way to aim AOE weapons and decide where you should aim for maximum effect. In AC3 and PS2 titles, they just displayed a hovering on-screen reticle that tells you roughly where your bombs will go, no information about how large the lethal radius is.

You have access to countermeasures now like in ACAH! Gone are the days you have to perform pugachev kulbit 60G shit yourself maneuver to avoid incoming QAAMs. You can still do that, of course, but now at least they give you a second option, for when you're in a pinch, which is nice.

Let's talk about the aircraft tree. And my thoughts? I really like it. Intuitive and easy to understand. All SP weapons for each aircraft are also available to view before you buy. A little weird how the F-16C tree branches out to F-2A, but also the F-14D Super Tomcat. I mean I was expecting the F-16C to branch out to Falcon derivatives like F-16XL and F-16 Block 60, and the F-14D would be unlocked by purchasing F-14A first, like in Ace Combat 5. I mean I get to play with F-14D's 8AAM early in the game. Still, a little weird.

(After writing this I just remembered that F-16XL is a DLC, so disregard that)

I also love the way it incorporates aircraft parts previously seen in Ace Combat X, Infinity and AH (yes that game actually had aircraft parts, although a little different, and only seen in Free Mission and multiplayer). And once you unlock one aircraft upgrade part, you can apply it to any aircraft! 10/10.

From my earlier point of "planes too easy to accel and too hard to decel", maybe there are parts that can make decel easier, but I haven't unlocked it by the time I'm writing this review. I will, however, attempt to unlock everything in the aircraft tree because this game is fun.

My aircraft tree path in my first playthrough was F-16C, F-14D, A-10C, MiG-29, Su-33, Su-30M2, Su-34, Su-30SM, and finally for the last mission I saved up enough MRPs for Su-57 with PLSL. Which is quite effective for boss fights I must say. I haven't used pulse laser since AC3's pulse laser (that was usable on R-103 Delphinus 3 and R-311 Remora). Different in how it works because in AC3 the pulse laser occupies your machine gun slot, and in AC7 it's an SPW, but considering AC3 takes place in 2040 Strangereal, it's fine.

Did you know I clapped Mihaly's X-02S with an Su-34, first try, with standard missiles alone? I played on Normal diff, but I was dogfighting him with 90% damage, so I'm quite proud of that.

In the wise words of Lt. Bradley Bradshaw, "It's not the plane, it's the pilot."

Next the flight controls. God it feels so satisfying and immersive. The way your controller vibrates, the FOV shakes when an explosion happens near you, or when going through a turbulence or wind shear in the clouds, I love it. Although not gonna lie I've crashed my MiG-29 once into a cliffside from extreme wind shear in one of that canyon mission, and I nearly pissed myself when my Fullback was struck by lightning and my HUD was gone.

I do miss the oil splatter effect on your screen when you fly through an explosion, that was last seen in AH and Infinity.

The clouds aren't just decors of the sky now, they can alter the gameplay! From masking radar pings, forming ice layers on your plane which hampers its performance, to disrupting missile tracking ability. And in cockpit view, your glass canopy actually gets wet from the water vapors, and icy when your plane's icing up, so that's an awesome level of detail. A great way to make gameplay less boring and make players rethink their strats. Which I'm guessing will be even more important in multiplayer PvP matches.

(Actually now I want to try if SAAM's guidance is affected by clouds at all. I haven't used SAAM in my first playthrough)

The story is good. I mean I didn't get 30% of it because the characters talk so damn much during missions, but I love Trigger's progression from an IUN-PKF pilot (with a suspiciously furry emblem, but hey, I'm part of furry fandom myself), a convict with three white stripes on his tail, and finally the three stripes turn into three claws like the claws of a predator that hunts down every bird in the sky.

Does that kinda resemble the story of Razgriz? Probably. Probably not. I'm overthinking.

They make a several references from previous games. At some points there were mentions of ISAF (AC04), Razgriz squadron (AC5) although indirectly, and Belka's seven nukes (AC0). I think I saw the name Albert Genette once in one of the cutscenes, the reporter/photographer guy from 5! He's still alive by the time 7 takes place! And a mention of the original Kestrel as well as Captain Andersen. Maybe there was a reference from 6 that I didn't catch because I haven't played it. But still, good stuff.

I'm still bummed that Harling dies in this game. In AC5's ending screen it was mentioned that in 2020 Harling would declassify military records about the Osea-Yuktobania war (was it called Circum Pacific war? The war in AC5) to the public. But AC7 takes place in 2019, so I guess the truth of Razgriz squadron's identity, 8492nd and the Grey Men will likely remain in secrecy in Strangereal universe.

There was one mission that took place near Basset Space Center, the place where the mass driver (the railway space ramp launcher thing) is located, that was used to send stuff up to the Arkbird. And my god that mission gave me bad memories of that one mission in AC5 that also took place there. At least this time I don't have to defend the place from falling tanks or a swarm of cruise missiles.

One of my favorite missions was using targeting pods (TGTP) to guide ordnance from bombers above you in order to destroy missile silos. It's almost like a ground target version of SAAM, and reminds me of the bombing run mission in Top Gun: Maverick. Nice gameplay mechanic. Although the final part of the mission where you have to shoot down IRBMs launched from secret locations has to be inspired by the ICBM chase in Assault Horizon. But thankfully in 7 it's not as annoying as it is in AH. My god you do not want to know how annoying it is in AH.

I do appreciate that mission checkpoints are a thing now. In previous titles, if you die at any point before the mission ends, that's it. You start from the beginning again regardless of progress. Checkpoint system was first implemented in AH (because AH is just Call of Duty with planes). Checkpoints in 7 are not common, but that's a good thing. Don't want to resemble AH too much, while also giving casual (and new) players some cushion for failure.

Now let's talk bosses. Arsenal Bird. Or Birds, because apparently there were 2 of them. Fighting them is fucking annoying because of the massive swarm of MQ-101 drones all around it. One standard missile hit does kill the drones, but there's a lot of them. And hundreds of them flying criss cross applesauce all over my screen just gives me sensory overload. Maybe that's the intent.

The design of the Arsenal Bird is... intriguing. Not because it's a flying wing design, we've seen that with the X-49 Night Raven and XR-900 Geopelia (AC3), Arkbird (AC5) and XB-0 Hresvelgr (AC0), but the fact that's it's propeller driven (turboprop, presumably), with counter-rotating blades, and it's in pusher configuration??

By the way, pusher config just means that for a prop driven aircraft, the propeller(s) is behind the engine. Some examples include Airco DH2, a British WW1 biplane fighter, and Kyushu J7W Shinden, a Japanese WW2-era prototype interceptor (don't ask me where or how I know about those two obscure planes). Literally the propellers push the plane forward, like the massive fan on a hovercraft, instead of the more common pulling action in other prop planes like Mitsubishi A6M Zero and Messerschmitt BF 109.

I don't remember the reason why, but they're rare and ultimately didn't catch on in our real world, probably due to complexity issues and no real performance benefit. So seeing an Ace Combat boss plane/mothership that flies on pusher prop engines, in the game's modern timeline where jet/turbofan propulsion is everywhere and tactical laser weapons are a thing, is... something else. There's probably an in-universe explanation for it. Maybe Project Aces just ran out of ideas.

Although, whoever designed the Arsenal Bird (both in the dev team and canonically in the game's universe) must've taken some reference from the Arkbird, judging by the location of laser pod in the middle section, drone pods underneath, and AAM pods on top. Maybe they even salvaged Arkbird parts from the sea after Razgriz shot it down?

You guys remember that the Arkbird had drones, right? The Vogels, that Belka attached to the Arkbird in AC5? Whatever. Someone else reading this remembers.

Let's talk Mihaly. My god, old man, I want to complain about your obnoxiously long full name again, but I'm not going to. At least it's only mentioned exactly one time in the cutscene. But fighting him is actually fun and challenging, both against his Su-30SM and X-02S Strike Wyvern. Especially in Farbanti when the fight brings you near the sunken parts of the city, dodging ruined buildings left and right.

Although I can't help but notice that the layout of his Erusean black and orange livery is reminiscent of Cipher's F-15C livery just in different colors.

(Mihaly: There are pilots like you in every generation, and I felled every last one of them. | Trigger: Ok boomer.)

At the time of writing this review I don't fully remember why he was the enemy boss in 7. Something along the lines of seeing his former country crumble? But then he exhibits certain traits. His body is failing, he loves the skies like it's his one and only home, and his flight data is used to train drones.

Who else shares those traits? Rena Hirose from AC3.

(At one cutscene he was heard talking about borders being an imaginary line that separates countries, which made me think of Pixy and AWWNB, but I felt that's too minor to point out the similarity, so I will gloss over it)

In this paragraph you don't have to listen to me, because I'm not an Ace Combat lore expert. But the similarity of Mihaly and Rena Hirose makes me suspect that Ace Combat 7 is the start of a bridge, one that heads towards Ace Combat 3 timeline. A bridge where we see the next Ace Combat game showing the turnover of the world of Strangereal into the one seen in AC3. We will probably see, in Ace Combat 8, the events that transpire before the continent of Usea (and possibly the entire Strangereal Earth) is ruled by megacorporations instead of countries.

(I just love that some missions in AC7 take place in locations like Waiapolo mountains and Chopinburg, the same locations in some AC3 missons. It's a nice nostalgia)

We've also already seen what looks like an early attempt of thought-controlled combat aircraft, with the ADF fighter series. And in Ace Combat 3, reportedly all playable aircrafts are controlled by thoughts, through the use of COFFIN technology.

Actually now that I talk about it, I'm still damn surprised that old designs like Typhoon, Fulcrum, Raptor, Falcon, Eagle and Hornet all exist by the time AC3 takes place, retrofitted with COFFINs to make them look futuristic. EF-2000E Typhoon II, MiG-33 Fulcrum SS, F-22C Raptor II, F-16XF Gyrfalcon, F-15SMT Eagle+, F/A-18I Hornet ADV, I mean I get that the game was developed in the 90s and there was no way Namco could've predicted what the real world would use in the future.

(Yes I did just recite the full names of those AC3 planes from memory because I'm that much of a nerd)

Regardless, I personally can't wait to see what actually happens before 2040 Strangereal in the next Ace Combat game.

Another mission I really liked. The night mission after the comm satellites in space are gone and every target appears as unknowns. You have to fly close to ID them (with your plane's IRST cam probably) so you don't mistakenly shoot a friendly.

Finally let's talk the ending of the game. Assault on Erusean rogue forces near the space elevator. A coalition of OADF/OMDF, LRSSG and conservative Eruseans. Even the remaining Sol squadron is also here. Really reminds me of the ACES mission in 5 where Osea and Yuktobania gather their senses and fight together against their true enemy.

Mission was fairly straightforward until the second Arsenal Bird appears, its MQ-101 swarm and protective shielding rendering most attacks useless. Kinda felt this mission is a bit scripted because you have to wait until the Erusean princess destroys the Arsenal Bird modules in the ISEV control room. And even after that, this fight is like AC5 Arkbird fight on steroids. Added with the TLS pod and PLSL pods underneath. Still, I downed it.

And oh my god, the music that massively ramps up when the shield is down. Fuck, man. It's just a plane game. It has no right being absolutely majestic.

Last mission. You and your mates versus 2 ADF-11F drones. Saved up enough for Su-57 with PLSL, but I wasn't expecting to takeoff from a carrier. So the sight of a Felon being raised on the platform, taxiing to the deck and taking off to the skies (without even using the catapult or the launch pad, just sheer power of determination and Belkan witchcraft) is a fun one.

ISEV again, Hugin and Munin. The two birds of Odin that fly around the world and act as his eyes. One by one Sol squadron gets shot down. My Su-57 with PLSL makes relatively quick work of Hugin and Munin. Until the last one where its head broke off into a smaller drone and absolutely peppers my Felon with its MG. And of course it's hyper agile with no human pilot inside and apparently learning from Trigger's style. But challenges are meant to be overcome.

Nope. There's another one, it zooms towards the undersea tunnel, heading towards the ISEV. Of course Trigger is up to the task. Or not, because I underestimated the size of the tunnel and clipped my wing on entry, and I couldn't help but laugh at myself. Thankfully the game respawns me already facing the entrance.

Alright, focus this time, no messing about. But anxiety immediately creeps up my spine because of how narrow the passage is. I've flown the tunnels to the ICBM in AC2, the Geofront tunnels in AC3, the Megalith missile silo tunnel in 04, the SOLG control station in 5, and the V2 launch facility in Zero. This ISEV tunnel is narrower than all of them. But Count believes in me (no I don't have feelings for him shut up).

(What are the odds that the next AC game will have you fly through someone's fireplace chimney)

My hands grip my Xbox controller tight, eyes locked to my monitor and my fingers ready to make throttle and yaw adjustments at any moment's notice. Then the shutters start closing pretty quickly in front of me. Fuck, I can't just idle throttle my way through this. I have to push. And so I push my Felon just slightly above Mach 1.

Finally right underneath the ISEV, with no way to go but turn in circles chasing the ADF drone. I don't remember what Count or AWACS was saying but on my HUD there are target markers on the support beams of the ISEV, which I presume are the computer control units that control the ADF drone. PLSL away again, control units destroyed, the ADF drone slows down and I splashed it. This is reminiscent of the AC3 Geofront mission where you have to destroy the support pillars to trap the X-49 Night Raven inside.

But now what, there's no way out. Count said something about exiting out of the space elevator's pillar. I hesitated for a moment, he shouted me to just fucking go, so I went for it. The narrowest of slits in the base of the ISEV, I went through and pitched my nose up, and start sending it.

Are you fucking kidding me, there are actual cargos being moved through the ISEV on the cables. I mean, no shit Sherlock, it's in the name. Space elevator. I've never felt so tense in an Ace Combat game since I fought Pixy in Zero, because I've come this far and I don't want to start again. I kept going for it until I saw an opening. Cutscene plays. My black Su-57 with PLSL pods and three strikes on the tail, soars through the skies and finally out of the ISEV. I heard something about Count making a belly landing in the base of the ISEV. No damn idea how he does it but I guess I'm glad he's alive.

And then, at the end of the cutscene, a name I haven't heard in a long time.

Kei Nagase. She's become an astronaut, callsign Pilgrim One, up in the skies watching over us all.

I wonder what happened to the rest of Razgriz. Blaze, Archer and Swordsman.

"Hey Trigger, you dumbass, tell me something. What color's the sky up there?"

I've won the game. X-02S Strike Wyvern is available for purchase in the aircraft tree. Credits are rolling, tears are flowing. What a beautiful game. I settled my controller down and took a breather after an adventure full of intense action and engaging storyline. Although, PA, could you uhmm, slow down the credits? They scroll too fast lmao.

(Why do I have a feeling that Avril has a crush on Trigger?)

I wanna go learn how to do PSMs now because I heard it's something you can pull off in 7.

At the aircraft data viewer I ended up using Su-33, Su-30M2 and Su-30SM the most (3 times each). What can I say, man? I love Flonkers. I mean Flankers.

Though one thing is still a bit of mystery for me. What is Trigger's canon aircraft? Mobius 1 (AC04) and Warwolf 1 (ACAH) flew F-22A, Razgriz squadron (AC5) flew F-14As, and Cipher (AC0) flew an F-15C. I haven't played AC6 but I think the main character's canon plane is an F-15E? So what is Trigger's canon aircraft? I'm hoping it is some Russian plane because previous protags all fly American planes. A nice change would be welcome.

Although, remembering that fleet destruction mission where all of Trigger's wingmen fly F-15s, it's probable that Trigger's canon aircraft is also an F-15. And the game cover for Ace Combat 7 depicts an F-22. I guess Trigger's canon aircraft is also an American jet, which will be boring if that's true.

Guessing they have to appear appealing to the American audience.

My final verdict, a solid 9/10 game. I loved every single second of it. And Ace Combat series in general. Its thrill, its charm, its embrace of fantasy science fiction with no care of what's realistic and what's not. Because who fucking cares? It's a video game, and it's fun. That's all that matters. We know we will never be real pilots in the sky, but we can know the thrill of it like it's our childhood dreams as an action hero pilot. And elitists who whine about the unrealism of Ace Combat can suck on a Stonehenge barrel.

That concludes my review of the base game. But rest assured I will not stop here until I find all the secrets and unlockables and all unique named pilots because this game is awesome and has become my new obsession. After 5 years of aggressively avoiding spoilers, I can finally enjoy Ace Combat 7 like it's meant to be.

Now I want to tell my experience with DLC missions! Also DLC planes because I bought quite a lot of them, from CFA-44 to XFA-27 to F-15S/MTD. Not all of them, I didn't purchase the MiG-35D or the Top Gun Maverick set.

I played DLC missions after completing the main story. Which is good because before starting the DLC missions (labeled SP Campaign in the game) the game tells you that it's best to play them after completing the story. Also I did not use DLC planes at all in my first time through the main campaign, for that pure Ace Combat 7 first experience (I literally turned off all the AC7 DLCs in my Steam library until after I finished the main campaign).

But I've finished the main story, so great! I could jump in no problem!

Unexpected Visitor. Simple in the briefing, absolutely and unexpectedly challenging in its gameplay. It feels like your wingmen are absolutely useless and everyone is aiming at Trigger. Seriously it's like the later missions in the game's main story where all the AIs are better and harder to defeat, and make it 50% harder. And I'm playing the DLC missions on Normal diff. I don't remember what plane or SPW I used in my first attempt, but I got my ass absolutely handed to me. I began wondering if the DLC missions are supposed to be played co-op at some point during development. Anyway I switched to CFA-44 with ADMM.

And then those twin Berkuts appear. Scream and Rage. The crazed pilot siblings with no desire but to have Trigger's blood, for some reason. I could not get a single missile hit them. In fact I was shot down by an enemy SAM while I was trying to get them in my sights. Although that's kind of my fault because I forgot I could pop flares. Come on man, back in my day we didn't have flares!

Retried the mission with the same plane and SPW, this time deleting all the ground targets first with my flurry of ADMMs before Scream and Rage showed up. It worked. Landed a few hits on them, Scream and Rage fled the AO, mission completed. Kind of. We failed capturing the Alicorn, and Matias Torres has brought it somewhere underwater.

Next, Anchorhead Raid. Briefing showed a shit load of ground targets in a cluster. Hm, maybe ADMMs wouldn't be the right tool for this. But I have downloaded a Morgan, and it comes with a bunch of MPBMs.

First flight out. Once again did not work as well as I hoped for. Enemy CIWS kept destroying my MPBMs before they could get close, no matter which angle I launched them from. Even trying to drop them directly from above caused almost no damage.

Right, back to the hangar. What else do I have? Ah, a FALKEN and FAEBs. Let's try that. Nope. Still no considerable effect against target clusters that have CIWS in them. Back to the hangar again. Maybe FALKEN-TLS combo will work this time? Eh, sort of, but not really, its firing duration is too short to destroy a lot of targets, even when I'm flying real low and level with the ground targets.

Back to the hangar again. Starting to think I need a goddamn Erusean IRBM to efficiently complete this mission. And then I remember what I flew in AC7's final campaign mission.

Su-57 with PLSL, you're up. I dive low until I'm just a few meters above sea, leveling out with my gunsights pointed directly towards the ground targets. Getting closer and when the PLSL reticle turns red, I begin firing. To my surprise, it works remarkably well. From my experience shooting down Hugin and Munin, I start to learn that PLSL has some splash damage/AOE, and you don't have to be pinpoint accurate with it.

Scream and Rage show up again with more thirst for blood, but I also have equally strong thirst for their blood after harrassing me so much in the previous mission. I still have a few hundred "rounds" of PLSL. With no missile lock warning to make them scurry away, Scream is downed easily. Rage naturally, well, rages (ayy). His moves become faster and tighter. A Berkut and a Felon in a deadly dance in the skies above Anchorhead. After a long tail to tail and a tired left thumb, Rage is downed.

Alicorn apparently resupplied in Anchorhead under our noses, using the chaos in the skies as cover. Now intel suggest it's heading to the seas near Oured.

Ten Million Relief Plan. The final DLC mission. I anticipated that I will fight the Alicorn in this one, but did not know the kind of attacks it would have. I know it has massive railguns but no idea about its true capability. But Su-57 with PLSL has served me well, so I fly out in it again.

First phase of the mission. Wait for the allied planes to drop sonobuoys. This is just like the first time I fight the Scinfaxi in Ace Combat 5, but that mission had Arkbird in the skies above me. No orbital laser to help with this one. A few Rafales appear on the horizon, apparently launched from the Alicorn, but I downed them no problem.

The sonobuoys detected something and displayed a circle on radar that prompts me to go there. With the MAD device (magnetic something something device that I don't remember the name of) I begin searching for the Alicorn. The signal homing indicator on my HUD really just reminds me of White Noise mission in AC5 where you had to find Nagase in the snow.

Signal locked. Alicorn spotted. Nope. It's released jammers to disguise its presence. Sonobuoy planes are also harrassed by drones at the same time. Quickly I destroyed the jammers and the drones.

Trying to detect Alicorn again using sonobuoys. Having to keep speed below 800 kph so the tracker can work, all while trying to avoid missiles from more drones. Alicorn was found again, this time allied ships launch anti sub missiles.

Alicorn surfaced. No visible damage. Allied ships taking damage from Alicorn. Order to attack the Alicorn is a go. Unfortunately this time my PLSLs don't seem to make a dent. By the time the Alicorn gets within PLSL's range, my Felon gets peppered from its guns. 50% damage, 75% damage, 90% damage, I pulled out and quit the mission to choose another plane.

The last time I fought Scinfaxi and Hrimfaxi in 5, I used GPBs and LASMs. But those subs were much smaller and weaker than Alicorn, and I don't have any aircraft with high enough performance and durability that can also carry GPBs/LASMs.

I decided to give the Morgan and MPBM another go.

Alicorn surfaces again. This time I already have my MPBM ready, locked to its ballasts on the side. 2 to 3 MPBM hits later, the Alicorn loses the ability to dive, they're...

Surrendering?

No, this is way too convenient. Even the other Striders think this is too easy. AWACS insists to stand down. So we did, but I kept my MPBM ready to launch just in case, flying my Morgan in circles around the Alicorn like a vulture.

And of course it was a bluff. Torres was just simply buying enough time to prepare Alicorn's massive rail guns, aiming for the Osean capital of Oured. Madman thinks he can stop the war and save 10 million lives by sacrificing 1 million in the process. And he plans to start it by killing Trigger first. Order to attack the Alicorn is a go again.

I don't remember who said "they stopped being soldiers the moment they faked their surrender." Probably Count. But I agree with that sentiment.

Now suddenly we're under time constrain of just 1 or 2 minutes to destroy the Alicorn's nuclear core at the base of its massive railgun. But on the radar I can see the Alicorn's railgun predicted trajectory chasing my aircraft. I fly in a tight circle around it and wait for it to fire and miss. This is like the Excalibur onslaught (AC0) but 6 times harder. And when I try to get close to the railgun, the Alicorn yet has another trick up its sleeve. Defensive bubble fields around it, similar that the Arsenal Bird used but on smaller scale.

Time is ticking down. Just less than one minute now. I put max throttle and slip through the defense bubbles, my MPBM is already locked to the base of the Alicorn's railgun. One successful hit but it's not dead yet. I quickly turned around again, pulling dozens of Gs that would probably kill the pilot in real life. I flew in again, less than 30 seconds on the clock, I landed another MPBM in it.

And then the radar clears.

It's done. The Alicorn is destroyed. A massive explosion went off in the middle section, Torres laughing like a maniac on the radio as he dies and the Alicorn splits in half and sinks to the bottom of the sea. Another explosion went off underwater, the force enough to spew a mountain of sea water dozens of meters to the sky, and finally coming down like a pseudo rain that refreshes the atmosphere.

We never captured the Alicorn, but at least this way we prevented another superweapon from being misused.

I completed Ace Combat 7. Again. Such a cool set of DLC missions. Especially with the fact that they have their own storyline adjacent to the main campaign story. It's difficult, yes, but it's challenging enough that makes you want to try and try again until you succeed. Not Dark Souls-level of difficult that makes you want to murder a child with a controller. So, my thoughts on DLC missions? I loved them. Another solid 9/10.

And you know what? I wanna play them again.

And now I can watch Max0r's Incorrect Summary of Ace Combat 7 that I have postponed for so long!

#ace combat #ace combat 7 #ace combat 7: skies unknown

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