Ugh… has it been two months since Otakon already? I guess I’ve recovered enough to finally get around to writing a roundup post. Let me just say that this year was definitely one of the best. As usual, I spent nearly all of my time alternating between the dealer’s room and the artist’s alley. I spent so much money! Here, have some pictures:
Oh wunderbahr! Even her SUVs are graceful!
DAWN OF THE FIRST DAY – 72 hours remain
Thanks for standing still, wanker!
Been a while since I did one of these, huh? For reasons unknown to me, I was suddenly inspired to momentarily wake from my slumber and present my thoughts on the current anime season. Maybe the end of the world really is coming…
As usual, I will present my thoughts on the series I am following (or followed) in the order of precedence.
Nazo no Kanojo X
Genre: romantic-comedy (fingers crossed, both hands!)
Following the first episode of this series, I came to a startling revelation: the Japanese are weird! Okay, that statement may not be entirely true. I have long known the Japanese are weird, so it was hardly a startling revelation. The story is a simple one: boy meets girl, boy fancies girl, boy tastes girl’s puddle of nap-spit, boy develops crippling addiction to girl’s spit, boy and girl agree to start dating. Y’know, your standard rom-com formula. The art style seems amateurish, but the hook was kooky enough to capture my interest. I have my own theory about what is going on, but it has yet to be explicitly stated.
Sankarea
Genre: romantic-comedy
Accel World
Genre: action
I have to admit, I was somewhat misled by this series. The start of the first episode led me to think it was a delightful character piece. A fatty fat-head with low self-worth spends much of his time escaping reality with a highly advance Second Life clone. There, he meets the most popular girl in the school who introduces him to a special app that allows his brain to function at an Accelerated pace, making the World slow down (see what they did there?). Now, I was hoping the series would continue with him using this power to slowly crawl out of his depression and solve his worldly problems to become something more. Instead, it seems to have turned into some crummy action series. D’oh well…
Acchi Kocchi
Genre: slice-of-life
Your Honor, I confess. I did not watch more than ten minutes of this series. In my defence, I feared that if I watched any more, my brain would slither out of my ear and skip town for its own safety. It seems that with every passing year, slice-of-life series become ever more vacuous and I fear it is beginning to reach a sort of singularity. By this time next year, I am sure the every slice-of-life anime will be nothing more than worn-to-death tropes with the only comedy coming from viewers laughing at themselves for watching the crap.
Side Note:I want to watch the series Hyouka, but I haven’t seen an episode at time of writing.
1) Portal 2 (PC)
Considering how every single person in the world has already played this game, I’m not going to bother writing a full paragraph describing how awesome this game is. It’s awesome.
2) Alice: Madness Returns (Xbox 360)
This game is way too underrated. This is a classic platformer with a jaw-dropping aesthetic and an awesome framing device. It was one of the few games released in recent history that kept me playing it almost non-stop from beginning to end. If anyone reading this hasn’t played it yet, you should.
3) The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (PC)
This is the ultimate choose-your-own-adventure game. Sure, there’s some sort of story line, but who cares? For me, the Elder Scrolls games are all about losing yourself in a huge, living world. I can, and have, spent hours just wandering around looking at all there is to see (and slaying all there is to slay). I do not regret the consecutive 22-hour marathon I spent the day this came out.
4) Saints Row 3 (Xbox 360)
What’s that, Roman? You want me to drive over and pick you up so we can go bowling? Pfft, get outta here! I’m too busy firing missiles from a helicopter at a herd of zombies. Y’know what? Never mind. I’m gonna land this thing and take these zombies out with exploding pistol rounds and my good friend Burt Fuckin’ Reynolds. Oh, and did I mention that I’m dressed like a pirate? You can take your Liberty City and shove it!
5) The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D (3DS)
The original is one of my Greatest Games of All Time. Of course the remake is going to make the list! Go out and buy it right now! Maybe if we buy enough copies, we can convince Nintendo to abandon these ridiculous motion controls.
Honourable Mentions:
FEAR 3 (PC)
Reason for not making the list: Didn’t want to change title to “Top 6 Games of 2011”
Anno 2070 (PC)
Reason for not making the list: Slow pace
Sonic Generations (Xbox 360)
Reason for not making list: The late game modern Sonic levels
Harvest Moon: Tale of Two Towns (DS)
Reason for not making list: Lazy contractor
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (Wii)
Reason for not making list: Absolutely terrible controls
Katawa Shoujo (PC)
Reason for not making list: Released in 2012
… or the worst?
Asia
Boston
Cream
DragonForce
Eagles
Foreigner
Gerry Rafferty
Heart
INXS
Jethro Tull
Kansas
Led Zeppelin
Megadeth
Nightwish
Owl City
Peter Frampton
Queen
REM
Steve Miller Band
Tarja
U2
Van Morrison
Weird Al Yankovic
XTC
Yes
ZZ Top
At last, my iPod is complete!
As of late, I’ve become a major proponent of properly purchasing anime and manga. During my crusading, I ran across a fellow fan that’s a member of an anime site called National Anime. It’s a site that hosts anime and manga for you to download. For five bucks a month, you have unlimited access.
Here’s the weird thing: they’re all fansubs (and presumably scanlations). National Anime is basically charging for content that was illegally acquired, translated, and rebroadcast. Why would anybody pay for such a thing? At least downloading for free can be considered a subtle communist rebellion in favour of the poor proletariat that can’t afford the bourgeoisie’s prices. This is more like renting a storage unit for a burglar to store his loot.
Okay, technically, they ask for “donations”. Donations at five dollars a month. Donations in exchange for improved service. To me, that sounds less like a “donation” and more “paying for a service”. Maybe that’s just me.
Maybe I’m just old-fashioned.
Growing up as a child in the 90s, it comes as no surprise that I consider the decade the Golden Age of Children’s Television. Granted, that’s mostly because it was; but, for now, let us assume it’s because nostalgia played a significant role.
Recently, Nickelodeon decided to pander to overgrown spermatozoa like myself and began reairing some of the classics from the Golden Age. Unfortunately, they decided to air them on a channel that nobody gets at an hour when nobody’s awake. I can’t let that stop me, though. This is nostalgia we’re talking about! After some browsing, I found that they are streaming a select few episodes on the official website. The time has finally come to reevaluate my memories of these shows with, well, the actual shows.
I wonder if I matured at all (lol, ya rite!)
Kenan and Kel (Nostalgia rating: 5 / 5)
In the Line of Kenan
Short version: Not as good as I remember
Long version: Aww, here goes! I remember loving Kenan and Kel! I’m even a fan on Facebook. “I dropped the screw in the tuna!” “Kel… loves orange soda.” So many good, quotable lines. Sadly, it didn’t age well. The episode had its moments; but it suffers from being incredibly stupid. The dialogue sounds so forced it makes me wonder if they weren’t just ad-libbing everything. Maybe it was just a bad sampling. They should’ve aired the Sears tower episode. I seem to recall that one being my favourite.
Hey Arnold (Nostalgia rating: 3 / 5)
The List / Haunted Train
Short version: Somewhat better than expected
Long version: As a kid, I remember feeling “meh” about the show. I only watched it when nothing else was on. Coming back now, I realize that it was actually better than I thought. The voice-acting was decent and the plots were strangely profound. This episode was particularly entertaining in just how far they went out of their way to not use the word “Hell”.
Legends of the Hidden Temple (Nostalgia rating 1 / 5)
Short version: Just as bad as I remembered
Long version: Ugh… game shows. I remember watching this show. I also remember not liking a single one. Watching it again makes me realize just how right I was. It was boring and, from what I’ve seen, ridiculously unforgiving. Still, the “steps of knowledge” segment of the featured episode was pretty sweet with its questions on Ancient Babylon.
Rocko’s Modern Life (Nostalgia rating 5 / 5)
Sucker for the Suck-o-matic
Short version: Impossibly better than remembered
Long version: Out of my way, peons! Rocko’s Modern Life is on. Even at 24 years old, this cartoon is awesome. In fact, watching it again makes me realize just how grown-up it is. A joke about phone sex lines? How in the heavens did that pass the censors?
Doug (Nostalgia rating: 1 / 5)
Doug’s Dinner Date
Short version: Much, much worse than I remembered
Long version: Fuck Doug.
Note: There were two other shows featured on the site, All That and Clarissa Explains It All. I didn’t watch them, however, because I honestly don’t have any memory of the shows, good or bad. Oh, I remember them existing. I just don’t remember watching them. For that reason, I chose not to give them a retrospective.
Now, I’m glad Nickelodeon is bringing some of these shows back. The only problem is the quantity. Only seven? I can think of a much longer list of shows I want to look back on. Here are some of them:
It’s been a while, hasn’t it? To commemorate my triumphant, albeit brief, return, I shall post a bunch of pictures from Otakon 2011! This year was great because it was the first year I got to attend wherein I wasn’t dirt poor. I got to win some auction items and everything! It was oodles of fun. I finally got to watch The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya during its East Coast premiere. As expected, Yuki stole the show. Anyway, enough of that; lets look at pictures!
I saw an interesting bumper sticker on the road today. It was one of those yellow ribbons with the words “Keep my soldier safe” upon it. Being the kind of person I am, I began to think too much into this. I suppose the driver is the spouse of a soldier. Though, the word “my” is a bit… ambiguous.
The big thing that caught me up was the audience. Who was this driver trying to address? “Keep my soldier safe.” It’s a request/command. Considering it’s on a bumper sticker, is it trying to address other drivers on the road like me? What do you expect me to do? By paying my taxes and generally supporting the military, I’m already doing my part. I’m sure most of the drivers on the road are the same way (warning: possible false consensus).
Is it being addressed to God(s)? I’m pretty sure there are other, more direct ways to communicate this request than bumper stickers. Being omniscient and all, I’m pretty sure He would know before you even mention it.
Wait, maybe I’m looking at this the wrong way. Unlike other slogans like “Support our troops” or “Save the ta-ta’s”, this is a request that does not have a side. It’s about this particular driver’s soldier. It could be encouraging protest to end the wars and bring all of our troops home. It could be about an enemy soldier. Who am I to say what kind of soldier this driver controls?
Clearly, this driver is expecting a level of trust I’m not ready to give. It was for this reason, officer, that I was forced to nudge that car into the lamp post over there. Civic duty, sir.
(or Cooking with Jimbo 12)
Since, it’s been almost a full year since our last installment, I thought we would go with a theme for this episode. We’re going to be cooking up a little something from the masterful television series My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Aww yeah, we’re cooking up some motherfnckin’ baked bads. Let me just throw up the ingredients list and get this show on the road:
1 cup sugar
~3 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 eggs
Chips
20 oz. Soda
1 cup sour
Wheat worms
Start out by preheating the oven to 300 degrees (Fahrenheit). After that, begin the mixing with a very large bowl and add the eggs (removed from their shells) with the sugar (removed from it’s sack).
