#playing a dangerous game by not censoring shit but its annoying to have to do it and we'll just see if tumblr blows this post up or not

[goldenteddie]

promoting my kofi real quick cause Ive just updated it a bit after not having access to it for a long while :] ive also added a link to it on my carrd

for right now, its just a tip jar, but Im thinking about maybe making it like a more laid back patreon at some point?? idk!! we'll see!!

[punkpal]

Yo, gamer community can y’all help a girl out.

I ain’t a gamer but have a question anyone may be able to answered but i figured you’d be the best to ask so please cure me of the headache i have from the absence of the answer to this specific question i have thats bugging me.

I have this really specific memory, actually several of them about something i don’t know the name of. Whats weird though is that every time i try to look it up with various descriptors of what i remember it being i can’t find anything, as though it never existed.

I can’t tell if i’m going insane or not but i swear this was a real thing and am just tryna like figure out what it is or if alternatively i am going insane and did just make up a whole bunch of false memories i am now convinced were real.

Basically i can’t remember what year these memories are from (not a good look to the hope the memories are real, i know) but from somewhere from like 2008 - 2011 i vividly remember a video game. I don’t know what console it was, if it was common one with a new at the time feature that didn’t stand the test of time and was only popular for a short period or if it was something new with said referred to unique feature with the aforementioned short popularity.

The games i played were group usually duo games often typically family friendly themed like sports games and/or adventure/racing games. There may have been other types like first-person shooter games or whatever but i was a kid and only ever played the ones the adults caring for me and/or friends chose.

What separates these games from those i can name or at least find on the internet is that they were all motion censored and didn’t rely on controls or keypads. I specifically remember how god damn fun that feature was but also hella frustrating because if you wanted to type you’d have to wave around like a lunatic trying to press each letter on screen and this task was harder then it sounds. Because of the hands free, well i guess it would better be described as controller free nature of the game i don’t have memory of what the hell these games were played from. Like i know and remember the game was a disk insert game but what you put the disk into is beyond me. It was probably the wii i am guessing because it was incredibly popular during that time period and with those amongst my age group at the time. 

But yeah i have no idea because when i google things tryna figure out what it is i can’t find jack shit and everyone i mention this game too or strand of game/extension or whatever look at me like i’m talking a different language. I don’t know, maybe everyone i know is conspiring against me knowing how god damn annoyed i get when i think of something but forget its name and/or specifics and are all just playing dumb to make me question my sanity and memory but i swear to god this shit, my memories of this thing are so god damn real. 

I didn’t personally own whatever it is i am tryna describe otherwise i’d be tearing apart my mums place tryna find it because that women doesn’t throw anything out and therefor if we did at one point own it i’d be able to get my hands on it and solve this mystery once and for all. But i remember several old childhood friends who had it and that would invite me and my sister over to play it. None of those people i am still in contact with nor want to talk to ever again as i am apparently not that desperate i’d track them down just to ask. But i do remember playing these games for hours. Only the cool and richer people i new in my life had this console or extension thing but i have a feeling it wasn’t expensive just new and pricier then the other games available hence why adults like my parents who were still skeptical of the dangers of the web and gaming for kids chose not to get it and just insisted we play outside instead; which would just result in me going to other friends houses whose parents had spoilt them with this new and exciting new game i was itching to play.

I’m assuming because these games aren’t still around at least not in the way i remember them or perhaps are still around just not popular that they must have been nothing more then a short lived fad otherwise they would have kept pumping out more the way the original iphone was followed by new upgraded better models one after another in quick succession. 

But the question remains what was it? Was it a whole new console or a extension to a existing one or was it just certain games that didn’t need a new console or plug in to play as a motion censored game. I will admit i am a little high while writing this but its a been a thought and an unanswered question thats been bugging me for ages now (whilst sober) so i assure you this ain’t a result of a weird trip. And because of this i am just itching to figure out the mystery and finally not feel so insane when others have no idea what i am talking about once i have proof this did exist and is not just all in my head.

Lmao any help and/or answers would be greatly appreciated. If this makes no sense to even the most knowledgable gamer nerd then i apologize for my bullshit and apparent insanity/delusion. But i really do think this memory is a real one fellas so if you can help me out i’d be grateful and likely better able to sleep at night.

More but not really all too necessary commentary and vague explanation in tags.

My brain can’t keep up with this valium so i am calling it a night and going to bed early for a long ass sleep so if i don’t respond back thanking you for sorting out this conundrum then i apologize but will grace you with my thanks once conscious in between 9 and 14 hours from now... see ya on the other side and lets hope i awake to answers or at least more clarity in regards to my memories that may help provide more clues or alternatively more fake memories if this is in fact just a figment of my imagination. 

[thenichibro]

Summer 2017 Anime First Impressions

Well here we are again, four weeks into the season before I finally get around to catching up on the twenty shows I’m keeping track of. Not like anyone reads these anyway. Regarding this season, we can say one thing: at least it isn’t last season. Thus far there’s been nothing super stand out, with a lot of middle-of-the-road shows and a few ones slightly better. Much preferable to the shit show 16 weeks ago. As usual, here’s what I’m watching, with MAL links and original shows marked:

Tsurezure Children (MAL) Starting off, we have a webcomic turned serialized manga turned anime, and for good reason. Tsurezure is a 4-koma romcom focusing on way too many couples in bite-sized happy romance stories. Defined by reaction faces, exclamation points, and yet a surprising amount of exposition, it's a quirky comedy I glad I started reading. One of the main downsides of Tsurezure is that although it has overarching themes, minute-to-minute enjoyment is very much based on the current couple. Personally, I love the Class Prez/Deliquent, Chiaki/Kana, and anything with the Love Master. The problem, then, is that once you find the few you really like, it's kind of a shame you only get so much time with them. A simple art style that matches the manga belies an infectious humor that Toshiya has mastered. This is one short show I wish was longer. Watch this.

Aho Girl (MAL) Continuing the notable increase in half-length shows, we have this half-witted one. Aho Girl, lit. "Clueless Girl," follows Yoshiko, an idiot, and her friends(?), mostly childhood friend Akuru, trying to deal with her idiocy. A suitably odd OP, both in sound and visuals (or relative lack thereof), leads into Yoshiko's introduction through getting a 0 on all her tests. I guess that confirms the title, now doesn't it? Tsukkomis, wild attitude swings, and bananas are the name of this show's game. One thing I love right off the bat is just how blatantly annoyed Akuru gets with Yoshiko's antics. It's not hard to see the "he's supporting her because he does feel something," but that being shelved in favor of faces of disgust is just funny on a very essential level. This show knows exactly what it is, a dumb comedy about a girl being dumb. And yet it's dumb fun all the same.

Isekai Shoukudou (MAL) A somewhat restrained take on the well-worn isekai genre, Shoukudou involves Nekoya, a resataurant that serves fantasy creatures once each week, connecting to "the other world" through the restaurant's front door. Right off the bat, the upbeat OP is coupled with some fantastic visuals. I missed having a food porn show last season, but Shoukudou brings it back in force. Further, throughout each episode the background music keeps pace with events and is a very nice touch to the cool tones of this show. Indeed, this show absolutely exudes cool. The smooth tunes while the last few customers (albeit they being beastmen, wizards, and the like) finishing their orders, Aletta and the Master cleaning tables into the night, it's just so nice. Aletta is the new hire, a demon girl homeless in "the other world" who finds the door to Nekoya by happenstance and promptly gets a job and a new outlook on life. She's real cute. Shoukudou has plenty of the "customer narrates the intricacies of how good the food is" every time a new customer comes in, but it's great all the same. If this show is a slow introduction of new characters to Nekoya for the rest of the run time, I will be more than satisfied. AOTS contender right here. Satisfied with an isekai? What is this season coming to?

Koi to Uso (MAL) Marraige is arranged genetically for happiness at 16, and other love is forbidden. As if there was a premise that lent itself more to a high school romance-drama. I have to say, I am in absolute disbelief that Koi to Uso isn't penned/drawn by the same creator as Scum's Wish. The artstyle and really the whole tone, albeit Koi to Uso being a bit more restrained, I immediately thought it was the same author. Wild. Anyway, we're dropped into a modern Romeo and Juliet, Nejima and Takasaki confess, to each other, just as the government - the external circumstances - are pulling them apart. It's not a new path forward, but I think the latter half of the first episode conveyed the emotions pretty well. The beautiful artstyle helps, and with shaking hands, red cheeks, and streaming tears the ending scene got me into it, despite the expected outcome. ...Is what I was thinking as Nejima fucking fell on top of Ririna (his assigned wife) in the second episode. Why. Why do that? Why have that 6 seconds into the show? At least the girls are cute - Takasaki in a hoodie, shorts and thighhighs was just incredible, but Ririna with her curious eyes and attitude beyond her height, hoo boy - guess I'm rooting for the underdog now. Time to suffer. With Ririna's schemes, Koi to Uso is perfecting anxiety - having something so treasured so close, being trapped by things out of your control, being trapped by things inside yourself - so much anxiety. This show can't go anywhere except emotional turmoil, but if it's already getting emotional responses out of me, I'm going to stay interested. Especially after episode three's ending.

Netsuzou TRap (MAL) Yet another shorter-than-normal show, we have NTR. Yes, that NTR. The "fuck over the caring guy and get off on cheating behind his back" kind of NTR. Just now with lesbians. Even moreso, I dislike Hotaru's archetype so much it just makes me feel bad for Yuma. If you're into that, watch this. If you're not, don't. I don't know why I did. There are better fetishes.

Clione no Akari (MAL) The fourth and last of the short shows, Clione no Akari begins with Takashi and Kyoko trying to help Minori, who is getting bullied. Its muted art style matches this tired premise. I know it's only nine minutes, but the first episode still felt like it dragged on for some reason. Moreover, both Takashi and Kyoko reflect on their weakness and that they want to stand up to the class for Minori, but then in the second episode all of that possible growth just gets passed over. They call out to her after she almost gets splashed by a car, and then Takashi says "After that, Kyoko and I grew so focus on how we could solve Minori's current situation, it was as if it were happening to us." So after they complain about their weak personalities, instead of forcing them to change, they simply get a way to help Minori while not directly standing up to the class. It seems like if it affected them that much you'd see a bit more exposition rather than nothing to "And then, we became super close to her" over the span of fifteen minutes. It might seem like I'm asking for a lot from a 9-minute show, but that's exactly the point - if a show aims to be an engaging drama about making friends and standing up for one another, it needs to have more substance packed into its short timespan, and Clione no Akari does not.

Hajimete no Gal (MAL) And the award for "highest percentage of animation budget used exclusively for cameltoe" goes to... First, make sure you eschew the HorribleSubs release on this one, because the censoring is bad. Not Terra Formars bad, not Shinmai Maou no Testament bad, but it's not great. Now then, this is a very simple decision: you watch for the fanservice, or you don't watch at all. I'm serious when I say the animation goes to Yukana, and to a lesser extent the other girls, because the male characters (even the MC) and everything else looks downright bad. The fanservice, however, is pretty damn nice. Junichi's delusions lead into some steamy scenes that are top tier gyaru action. Other than that, the OP/ED are generic, the other girls are lackluster, and the "comedy" is unfunny. Just skip through the dialogue until you get Yukana being cute, and this'll be somewhat enjoyable.

Gamers! (MAL) A nothing main character spoken to by the cutest girl in school because she's interested in video games and especially his passion for them, despite never talking prior. Wew. Karen, said cutest girl, is attempting to bring back the school's gaming club, where real gamers play games with their gaming friends. These are serious gamers, so serious about their gaming that they forget everything else except the game, like the true gamers they are. Episode one has fantastic lines like "I've been looking for new members who are undeniably true gamers" and "Why did you guys become gamers?," like it's something you have to awaken to. And yet even in spite of this, the glorification of gaming is still going hand-in-hand with the conceptualization of "gamers" as outside normal people. Karen hasn't told anyone about her gaming passion even though she's so popular (and it's foreshadowed she'll lost her widespread respect), and Amano gets the description "Games are his friends." Every character is just entranced with Amano's gaming spirit that they can't help but want to game with him. And just like a good MC, Amano is humble and pessimistic about his own gaming passion, but stands up for the game club and the gamers that make it up. This show feels like an E3 PR rep's ideal anime. The game references themselves aren't half bad, but that's certainly not saving this waste of my time. Guess I'm just not a true gamer.

Made in Abyss (MAL) I was originally off-put by the character designs, but I am glad I finally decided to watch it. A city sits on a massive hole - The Abyss - full of ancient ruins - and our main characters are delvers into the giant void. Importantly, Made in Abyss lets us know right off the bat that it will not be all idyllic landscapes - a close call with a dangerous monster now foreshadows so much better than suddenly changing the show's tone halfway through. Background music and art style both benefit this show greatly - the music rising and falling with he action while the art easily conveys the current state of the landscape - overgrown yet hiding secrets. Riko is a energetic girl at an orphanage guild, known for swiping Relics she finds and generally causing trouble. In the tussle with the monster, she is saved by a robot boy, Reg and promptly takes him back to experiment. Just the first episode sets up tone, characters, and the mystery of the Abyss with precision. The choice of children as main characters is an interesting one, but I almost didn't think twice because the rest of the people in Made in Abyss didn't think anything of it, either. Starting with a premise that has such a clear objective, like the Abyss' bottom, also relatively anchors the show against wild plot swings, which gives me more confidence in the story going forward. All these things combined are making for quite an enjoyable experience, and I can't wait to see where it goes.

Ballroom e Youkoso (MAL) Tatara is our typical despondent teen protag, who through a chance encounter is roped into trying ballroom dancing, and in it sees an opportunity to find himself. I picked this up solely on its premise, because I've never seen an anime about ballroom dancing before. It just seems so far from the typical slate that it caught my eye. This show's unique animation style, credit to Production I.G., has its ups and downs. For the most part, the show looks clean, the lines look great, and the motion is good. On the other hand, the actual dance scenes seem to lose a bit, in favor of dramatic freeze frames or showing the top halves of people rather than their legs moving or other intricate motion. I'm certainly not going to yell at the animators, for a show in which Tatara is won over by simply watching a ballroom dancing DVD, to get the viewers interested the motion, the visceral movements of the dance need to be shown, and more often than not they aren't. Oh, and the necks. Why is everyone's neck so long? Apart from Tatara, behind Sengoku's bombast lies a calculated, seriously powerful personality that is the perfect motivator for Tatara. And I don't know about you guys, but Shizuku is cuter in her practice/casual clothes than in a ballroom dress. Just my taste. Anyway, alongside the stalls in animation, I can't honestly say I like Tatara's VA. To me it just gives off the trying-too-hard-to-be-a-teen vibe too much for me to not notice it every time he speaks. While still enjoyable, these two faults are noticeable the entire time you watch the show. However, if you are interested in the premise, and don't mind animation quirks, then by all means, Welcome to the Ballroom.

[ORIG] Princess Principal (MAL) Alt history, 20th century steampunk London, and spies but also superpowers and made-up minerals, this is Princess Principal. Smooth jazz while a loli-ninja wearing a mushroom hat cuts up 20th century cars? Sure, why not? Cavorite, the aforementioned made-up mineral, allows for temporary control of gravity, allowing the girls to make their first daring escape with a VIP. Also, the girls are spying between the Commonwealth, or the West, and the Empire, or the East. Also the Princess herself is a spy. It's certainly a lot to take in immediately, but this show seems to revel in the craziness - echoing the fast-paced, spontaneous action of the spies themselves. Our main girl Ange lies to get through life, and is soft spoken and terse. The others in her immediate crew range from the authoritative onee-san to the cheerful loli. I personally feel like they could have made a perfectly enjoyable spy thriller with just alternate history and no supernatural element Take Joker Game from a few seasons ago - that even went so far as to be historically accurate in its place names and such, and aside from some same-facing was a wonderfully engaging show. While I do feel the personalities more in these femme fatales, I just don't see the "thriller" part as holding up as much. It's really not bad - I just feel my main gripe here is the overpresence of themes that don't need to be there. Still worth a watch if you don't mind it.

Centaur no Nayami (MAL) Having watched both MonMusu and Demi-chan and consequently becoming an Expert™ on monster girl shows, Centaur no Nayami is most certainly more of the former. I'll say at the very least that guys in school also being monsters is a welcome change, rather than including a harem. Hime, the titular centaur, acts just like her name. Nozomi is our sharp-tongued, tomboyish tsundere, while Kyouko (my favorite) is a terse, blonde tsukkomi. We get a surprising amount of world-building right out of the gate - the world is as it is thanks to a different evolution path, and to avoid the discrimination of the past, "equality" is aggressively and strictly enforced. The seemingly dark background behind the otherwise peppy slice-of-life is definitely off-putting, and seems immediately at odds with the tone. If while walking around town the girls maybe glimpsed an abuse or something similar, the aggressive equality mantra might seem like an understandable government reaction. Seeing nothing of the sort while hearing Kyoko not want to ride Hime because that's discrimination and she might get sent to a "correction facility" is more than a bit unsettling. Production-wise, the show looks and sounds great. Quirky music for quirky circumstances, and the motion of all the characters' different bodies is conveyed convincingly. The A/B Parts splitting the episode is something I haven't seen in quite a while, but I think it lends itself well to the SoL part of the show. Overall, this is a surprisingly endearing slice of life with a higher-than-normal amount of kissing, and I just wish they'd lay off the dramatic background. Worth a watch if you're into monster girls or slice of life more generally.

[ORIG] Action Heroine Cheer Fruits (MAL) Last but not least, we have Action Heroine - Heroines (as in those live-acted hero shows) are now super-popular, and the show follows one town that is way behind the curve on popular heroines. Immediately, I like the art. It seems like not too much more than "generic anime-style," but Diomedia has a way of doing soft lines and expressive faces that just looks great. Now I don't pretend to like hero/heroine-type premises, but even I can see this show's got remarkable heart. Spurred by her sister wanting to see Kamidaio, the current most famous heroine, Mikan, an earnest, caring sister teams up with Akagi, an energetic Kamidaio-super fan to put on a small-scale show, and the rest is history. Their first performance is carried singlehandedly by the effort the two girls put into making Mikan's sister's dream come true. Action Heroine gives off the feel of an idol show (he says, having not seen LoveLive nor Idolm@ster), with a diverse cast of girls all trying to be the best for their fans. While I don't think this show is exactly going to enjoy LoveLive levels of success, as I've said - you can see the heart it has. Some individual moments were also very strange - like a flashback where one girl loses a tennis match because a bug flew in her face, and another girl talks to her imagined anthropomorphizations of model trains. If you're into the nostalgia of hero/heroine shows, this plays right into that. Otherwise, it's a show you can pretty easily avoid.