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| |  "Random Thread Nongaming Edition VIIr" , posted Mon 1 Jun 12:21:  
A really interesting thing that a pal linked me to is this modern folk hero, a protest dog in Chile:
long twitter thread full of images
I did not know about this at all, and it really makes me wonder about what sorts of other folk heroes have come to be in the past decade or two in various parts of the world. There are folk heroes of all kinds, ranging from anti-authority vigilantes like Robin Hood, resisters against foreign occupiers like Wong Fei Hung, to those who united countries and became symbols of authority like King Arthur, but most of the ones I do know of are at least a century old, if not many centuries old! I know very little of the folk heroes of South America and Mexico and India and the many nations of Africa, to say nothing of Southeast Asia and many other parts of the world! If any of you do know of ones local to your region, do name them for me so that I can look them up!
[this message was edited by Spoon on Mon 1 Jun 12:38] |
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| "Re(1):Random Thread Nongaming Edition VIIr" , posted Tue 2 Jun 00:04
quote:
A really interesting thing that a pal linked me to is this modern folk hero, a protest dog in Chile:
long twitter thread full of images
I did not know about this at all, and it really makes me wonder about what sorts of other folk heroes have come to be in the past decade or two in various parts of the world. There are folk heroes of all kinds, ranging from anti-authority vigilantes like Robin Hood, resisters against foreign occupiers like Wong Fei Hung, to those who united countries and became symbols of authority like King Arthur, but most of the ones I do know of are at least a century old, if not many centuries old! I know very little of the folk heroes of South America and Mexico and India and the many nations of Africa, to say nothing of Southeast Asia and many other parts of the world! If any of you do know of ones local to your region, do name them for me so that I can look them up!
Aw man, this story made my day. Love it. There are also 3 other dogs in Chile with a similar story and I think one still alive.
Favorite picture of matopacos is the three version of him. One of himself as normal, one in flames, and one with full of green grass. To show that although a dog, powerful when resisting but down to earth once peace is restored.
Comments mentioned dogs similar in Turkmenistan and Greece. Definitely would like to see somemmore of this.
Long Live I AM!
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| "Re(1):Random Thread Nongaming Edition VIIr" , posted Thu 4 Jun 12:08
quote:
A really interesting thing that a pal linked me to is this modern folk hero, a protest dog in Chile
While I can't be sure, I like to think that our favorite Chilean, Toxico, would approve.
As for non-canine folk heroes, Spoon, you should probably look into Ishikawa Goemon---no, not his supposed successor Ishikawa Goemon XIII of Lupin III---the real-life virtuous thief who robbed from the rich and gave to the poor, and tried to assassinate the mighty daimyou Toyotomi Hideyoshi and maybe even Wakamoto Norio Oda Nobunaga. Unlike his English Robin Hood counterpart, he was unsuccessful and boiled alive, but the legend lives on in kabuki and in the hearts of all virtuous thieves.
The other guy who came immediately to mind is souhei warrior monk Benkei, famous for roaming the land and attempting to collect 1000 swords from samurai. Famous for dying standing up, and staying that way, even after being pierced by arrows. He's the model for the Final Fantasy series' Gilgamesh, to bring it back to games.
The most famous American outlaw hero, of course, has to be Billy the Kid, another bandit figure and a famous train robber, also based in fact. Famed composer Aaron Copeland (who essentially established modern American-style classical music as differentiated from the centuries-old European composers and thus ensured that classical music would one day become the soundtrack music of choice for movies) wrote the Billy the Kid suite, a magnificent score for a ballet about Billy the Kid that totally evokes the wild prairie and Sega blue skies before they were Sega.
人間はいつも私を驚かせてくれる。不思議なものだな、人間という存在は．．．
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| "Re(1):black anime" , posted Fri 12 Jun 22:18
quote:
Woah! Brandon shared a cool article on the first black-owned anime studio in Japan. You'd better believe I had no idea this existed! Every so often, you'll hear a tale from a non-Japanese person who worked in the industry, like at Gainax or Ghibli or somewhere, but this is cool and brand-new to me.
Edit: more interesting still, they've also contributed not only to MMCafe's favorite series, Dracula, in the form of the Netflix TV show, but also to Gintama, which is hot hot hot
Impressive! It's even more impressive when you remember how absurdly underpaid most people in the anime industry are, so traveling to the other side of the world just to get paid peanuts is a real labor of love.
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| "Re(3):Pollyannime" , posted Tue 16 Jun 10:38:
quote:
There's this tribute book edited by Itoi for MOTHER and it's named Pollyanna
And it made me miss Pollyanna  I hope she's doing well!
And here Iggy and I were so sure that our strategy of leaving friendly stalker-ish notes on her Steam profile would somehow catch her attention to lure her back! Who knew?
I think of her whenever I think of Tales of the Abyss, which was pretty good and all thanks to her! Along with many other interesting observations and conversations, of course. Sometimes I think of creating a Bring Back POLLY thread after the success with ONSY, but I figure that if the Toxico tribute thread didn't naturally summon her, nothing would. 
On the subject of Itoi, who might be one of the finest writers around today (I can't tell if writing PR copy was a waste of his time, or whether he elevated the already excellent Japanese PR world to new levels with the Ghibli ads he's famous for), it's always good writing at his site, the Hobo Nikkan Itoi Shinbun, the Almost-Daily Itoi Newspaper.
...or at least it was before, though I find it too cluttered now. I was super-confused to find there was an English version of the Japanese store, but then realized it's probably because it's now this Muji(rushi)-like design shop. I take it as a problem that I literally could not even find the book section without an internet search. That's too bad, because there are some great collections from his pithy daily journals, and his press also published this book on dearly departed Nintendo president Iwata Satoru that collected his Iwata Asks columns and also had special interviews with Itoi.
人間はいつも私を驚かせてくれる。不思議なものだな、人間という存在は．．．
[this message was edited by Maou on Tue 16 Jun 10:48] |
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| "Mortal Kinema" , posted Fri 11 Sep 08:50
I'm never one to pass up multimedia tie-ins to fighting games, so I was curious about Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion's Revenge. Not curious enough to buy it, mind you, but curious. Luckily, my local public library had a copy(!) so I got to check out the latest adaptation of our favorite kombatants.
When I say "favorite" that's pretty accurate, because while this is yet another retelling of MK1 it shifts the focus to also being the origin story of MK's poster boy Scorpion. While the nominal MK heroes are off doing an "Enter the Dragon" pastiche yet again the movie spends an equal amount of time reinventing Scorpion as a sympathetic lone wolf who realizes the error of his ways in time to save the day. It's certainly a shift, but not necessarily a bad one. No matter how beautiful his hair is, poor Liu Kang isn't engaging enough to carry the story by himself.
The character designs reminds me of the chunky, stiff style of a syndicated cartoon series for kids from the 1990's. It even feels that way at points, with Raiden continuously burping out platitudes about destiny and heroism to anyone within earshot. After Raiden a one-to-grow-on lesson the movie would then immediately cut to Scorpion punching the head off a demon in hell. That juxtaposition was cheap amusement but nevertheless worked.
Speaking of which, the main selling point of the show is the violence. Unlike those 1990's cartoons where everyone had to wave weapons at each other in a non-threatening manner, people in MKL are getting chopped apart constantly. Unlike the gruesome fatalities of modern MK games, the violence in MKL is quick and kinetic, with people flying apart in sprays of neon red blood and salami slices of body parts. It's overdone and delightfully ridiculous. Watching the film put me in mind of MK: Shaolin Monks, where you could perform fatalities but other times you could be fighting a group of enemies and some guy's head would suddenly go bouncing off mid-combo. I miss Shaolin Monks, that was a fun game.
What was I talking about? Oh yeah, the MK OVA. In the end it's MK so it's ridiculous but this particular outing is the good sort of ridiculous. Even the outlaw movie critic Vern agrees with me.
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| "Re(2):Mortal Kinema" , posted Sat 12 Sep 08:46:
quote:
I somehow managed to see The Killing Joke one time on HBO, and now I'm curious as to what people thinking about these "matured-up cartoons from my childhood" or if its trying too hard
I'm probably going to get in trouble with Onsy's ghost, but the way I see it, American superhero comics trying to be mature is always going to be a losing battle because the century-old basic premise is so childish. And I say this as someone who loves good fantasy and mythology, so that's not the problem! It's that at the core, you have a collection of characters originally designed for children, where the creative process was literally indistinguishable from what small schoolchildren might've said back and forth: "Oh, check this out, I'm inventing a character who has spider power!" "Ah, but mine is invincible!" "Mine dresses like a bat!" "Mine has the power of the birds!" "Mine has water power!" You see what I mean.
That said, the Gotham aesthetic and bat theme might've made Batman less ridiculous when made darker later on, and the animated series is a nice mix of approximately Shounen Jump-level drama that's fun with some actual adult themes. But in the end, it's still a challenge working with a guy wearing tights and underwear outside his pants with a big bat symbol on his chest in a world of secret identities and villains in elaborate villain costumes.
I've got another theory, though! Maybe the issue with "grown up" superhero media is that people think Alan Moore's gritty Killing Joke style is the only way to go, and it becomes too much like self-parodic self-seriousness. Like, Monkey Punch was once asked if he disliked Miyazaki's more chivalrous take on Lupin that makes the main character less of a pervert, and which was in turn influential on later material. He answered that he was not at all against Miyazaki's take, only that so many other people were slavishly trying to do the same thing as Miyazaki, and not as well, rather than doing something else different. I think there's room for an adult take on silly superheroes, but Alan Moore noir can't be the only way.
quote:
everyone who isn’t Warren Ellis is doing pretty good thanks to their association with Castlevania.
It certainly applies to the Cafe and its successful and attractive clientele!
人間はいつも私を驚かせてくれる。不思議なものだな、人間という存在は．．．
[this message was edited by Maou on Sat 12 Sep 08:51] |
| | "Re(1):Mortal Kinema" , posted Sat 12 Sep 22:35
quote:
I'm never one to pass up multimedia tie-ins to fighting games, so I was curious about Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion's Revenge. Not curious enough to buy it, mind you, but curious. Luckily, my local public library had a copy(!) so I got to check out the latest adaptation of our favorite kombatants.
When I say "favorite" that's pretty accurate, because while this is yet another retelling of MK1 it shifts the focus to also being the origin story of MK's poster boy Scorpion. While the nominal MK heroes are off doing an "Enter the Dragon" pastiche yet again the movie spends an equal amount of time reinventing Scorpion as a sympathetic lone wolf who realizes the error of his ways in time to save the day. It's certainly a shift, but not necessarily a bad one. No matter how beautiful his hair is, poor Liu Kang isn't engaging enough to carry the story by himself.
The character designs reminds me of the chunky, stiff style of a syndicated cartoon series for kids from the 1990's. It even feels that way at points, with Raiden continuously burping out platitudes about destiny and heroism to anyone within earshot. After Raiden a one-to-grow-on lesson the movie would then immediately cut to Scorpion punching the head off a demon in hell. That juxtaposition was cheap amusement but nevertheless worked.
Speaking of which, the main selling point of the show is the violence. Unlike those 1990's cartoons where everyone had to wave weapons at each other in a non-threatening manner, people in MKL are getting chopped apart constantly. Unlike the gruesome fatalities of modern MK games, the violence in MKL is quick and kinetic, with people flying apart in sprays of neon red blood and salami slices of body parts. It's overdone and delightfully ridiculous. Watching the film put me in mind of MK: Shaolin Monks, where you could perform fatalities but other times you could be fighting a group of enemies and some guy's head would suddenly go bouncing off mid-combo. I miss Shaolin Monks, that was a fun game.
What was I talking about? Oh yeah, the MK OVA. In the end it's MK so it's ridiculous but this particular outing is the good sort of ridiculous. Even the outlaw movie critic Vern agrees with me.
I watched it, too. Your assessment is very accurate. The animation is very violent but it feels goofy rather than uncomfortable like the MKX/MK11 fatalities.
The story is very different from both the original game and the 2011 reboot, with many deaths that didn't occur in either of them (at least not during the first tournament). Then again, Boon has said that there is an entire multiverse of MK alternate realities (that's what happens when you get involved with Warner/DC, I guess), so this animation is just another one of them.
That reminds me that there is a live-action MK film being produced (though I suppose the production was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic). The few details about it made it seem like they were taking a lot of creative liberties...
Maybe I'm this person right in front of you... nah probably not though.
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| | "Re(2):An even better TvC" , posted Thu 17 Sep 02:57
quote:
I'll post it in the Non-gaming section for now, but if this doesn't graduate to being an actual game, I'll riot in my living room.
https://www.cinra.net/news/20200915-tezuka
I'm really puzzled by the collaboration, because I can't remember Capcom ever doing a game with Tezuka characters...? Maybe Tsujimoto have invested money in the museum. Or the Tezuka heirs funneled all the money from their horrible plan for AI-generated Tezuka volumes into Californian wineries.
This is awesome and also very puzzling indeed! What is the missing link between Capom and Tezuka productions? Hyogo prefecture is too far away for casual museum travel, but it's going to be very interesting to see how both Capcom and Tezuka artists will draw each other's various characters in this project.
I think I'm more interested in the Capcom depictions of the Tezuka characters, because the Tezuka style is extremely well-established and because it's an institutionalized house style from a dead artist, it by design will not be changing. Capcom has multiple styles established for its games, to say nothing of the multiple styles of the artists used as exemplars of Capcom to the artists who were previously more unknown. It doesn't have a single institutional style, even if there are styles associated with particular Capcom titles.
So in that sense, there's multiple possible directions any particular one of the Capcom renditions of the Tezuka characters could take: character as if they were from game X in game X's contemporary time frame, character as if they were from game X but through the studio style of 2020, character through artist Y's idiosyncratic style, etc.
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| "Dragon Ball Z in UK and Spanish DUB" , posted Sun 27 Sep 04:08
Recently saw an video about the UK experience of Dragon Ball Z. During it's on air run, it went through nearly 5 different voice studios. Which also includes the movies and TV specials. It was an confusion time for those who grew up with the show. Ocean studios did the majority but sadly, none of the studios who did the UK dub is available at home media. Home media releases are only available by the recent Funimation studios, yes that corny cast of voices.
I know everyone has heard there taste on Funimation dub of Dragon Ball Z. All I will say is poor execution and unnecessary extra lines and cheap comedic punches. I hated.
Ocean dub, pioneer , who did the first 52 I my opinion did a fantastic job. Even with the music. Yes, they may have censored the show to an extreme that I agree was not cool. But, again, execution is a key factor here. They still executed there style in a more positive note.
I did notice some voice actors, who continued the dub in UK, acting sort of fell down a bit. Although, they where in a more rush deadline for the airing in the UK. So I can see that the voice acting did seem low compared to the first episodes. It did seemed rush and it was noticable.
Anyways, how can I find the Spanish dub of dragon Ball Z? Would like to buy that if it's available.
Long Live I AM!
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| | "Re(4):New Evangelion: Thrice Upon A Delay" , posted Thu 22 Oct 10:30:
quote:
I haven't been keeping up with latest retelling of the Eva cycle so I have no idea what is going on in these trailers. Is this worth watching?
Those vacuum-sealed pants were hilarious. Putting those on must be quite the sensation!
As with all series whose sequels and remakes wear out their welcome, I wonder what the new Eva is hoping to accomplish. The production issues seem to tragically mirror Anno's same psychological problems that led to a seeming collapse of the latter half of the show in the 1990s, but somehow it's even more uncomfortable when the breakdown is a massively budgeted production rather than the increasingly bare-bones original Eva. Auteur films are interesting, but I'm trying to figure out how much more we need to see of Anno's conflicted relationship with his own creation.
I guess it's giving fans more of what they want? But like all the dumb Star Wars sequels that focus too much on swordfights and recreating the originals, I can't help but wonder if a lot of Eva superfans were more interested in their imagining of the show as seen in the "fun with high school mecha" from the merchandise rather than what actually aired on TV.
Here's kind of an amusing thought I had about EVA:
In terms of raw imagery/designs/etc. it is enormously influential. For many people it was frankly the coolest thing they had ever seen.
For all the young people who were teens or thereabouts when seeing it, the angst and pain the show expressed with protagonists not so far in age from themselves was deeply relatable. It was a show where the hero wasn't just often cowardly, but was excoriated for it constantly, and actually performing acts of heroism only led to fleeting success. Which ultimately would loop back to how as a depressive it was emotionally difficult for him to get his ass in gear, and the fleetingness of that success would just play back into his deep angst.
So now that all those people who were teenagers and felt to strongly about EVA back when they were Shinji's now are adults and still love EVA, to say nothing of an entire generation of studio artists who have grown up admiring EVA, they don't just want to make something with all the cool stuff of EVA... they want fulfillment for the characters who were all so famously unhappy. They want them to be able to be able to heroic and cool in an unqualified way. Many of these artists are no longer angsty teenagers, but adult professionals. They might not be rich, famous, and beautiful, but they crucially no longer have the sadness and anger that has a sharpness you can't really when you aren't still within a stone's throw of puberty. As such, the work tends towards something warmer/nicer/happier with potential for happy endings for everyone.
[this message was edited by Spoon on Thu 22 Oct 10:31] |
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| "Re(3):A cat is fine, too" , posted Tue 27 Oct 02:28
quote:
Kinu's art is enough to launch us into a glorious eternal celebratory dance in space aboard the Nyan Cat. The risk with including her, of course, is that you draw attention to how mediocre a lot of the CG-jammed anime industry has been for the past twenty years while she's been doing better things. Just imagine a series where she does the artistic direction, though...I never thought I'd be asking for Street Fighter V-2 (not 5, but the V for Victory anime), directed by her, until now...
That reminds me of a new anime that aired last season and tried to be a masterpiece featuring character designs by the great Yoshitaka Amano! ...And it came out being... oh boy... .. .
phew, looks like the standard design quality we’ve been seeing for 20 years, with no trace of Amano. I guess only the legendary Vampire Hunter D has pulled off using a Serious Outside Designer that effectively.
人間はいつも私を驚かせてくれる。不思議なものだな、人間という存在は．．．
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| | "Toei Animation and Saudi Arabia" , posted Mon 4 Jan 22:37:
While we were talking about MiSK Foundation's planned majority stake on SNK, they (through Manga Productions) have partnered with Toei Animation for a while, and it was confirmed recently that their co-produced anime, "Asateer -- Future's Folktales" is renewed for a second season.
The first season was kind of successful reaching 70 million in viewership in various platforms.
They have partnered with them for a while. Staring with "The Woodcutter's Treasure" and last year, they released an anime movie called "The Journey". (Note: I am not sure what happened to this after the pandemic struck.)
IIRC, Saudi Arabia had some involvement with One Piece: Stampede.
I did made a small research if Toei Animation is listed in the Japanese Stock Market. (And yes, they are)
I won't be surprised if they suddenly had an investment (at least, a 10-15% minority stake) with Toei Animation in the future.
Then this question again, "If you quit KOF (or any SNK games) because of Saudi Arabia, will you do the same with One Piece or Dragon Ball (or any anime from Toei animation) if Saudi (even a minority stake) is suddenly involved with the ownership of the company like SNK?"
But then again...
"And now my enjoyment of said product has to be tied to a political statement?"
"Lasciate ogne speranza"
[this message was edited by Yuki Yagami on Mon 4 Jan 22:40] |
| | "Re(1):Sumo wrestlers and tasteless pots" , posted Wed 6 Jan 04:54
quote:
I'm not sure how the nongaming edition thread turned into a gaming thread but turning things back, here's a news bit that caught my attention today the way it sort of symbolizes how things are right now in Japan: Hakuho, the top honcho in the wacky world of sumo wrestling, was diagnosed with covid today and a good number of people are thinking this may as well lead to his retirement. He noticed that he's tasteless and discovered himself to be positive after testing, not that he's missing much on his daily chanco/sumo pot considering it's not really a tasty dish.
There's no question that sumo wrestlers are overweight and generally have diabetes and hypertention, so I do wonder where this will lead to, especially since the current season is just 5 days away and the wrestlers have been going full-contact at their small sumo gyms.
On a trivial note, Japanese pro wrestlers also had a tendency to have diabetes since their roots stemmed from sumo and they used to have a same diet in the yesteryears. Things are better now and they take protein instead. M-U-S-C-L-E-! 
I just want to point out that there's a twitch channel which regularly streams sumo, and the twitch chat participants are often both very knowledgeable and demand civility from the chat! I often have it on in to provide background in the evening!
It is also the English broadcast, and the English commentators provide a lot of background on things.
I think sumo is interesting in that it is extremely different from most other combat sports in the extreme shortness of its matches. I know I've talked about this before in fighting game threads, but it's really interesting how sumo wrestling is a seconds-long sprint while fencing/boxing/mma/judo/greco-roman wrestling/TKD/etc. are all marathons playing with many points or rounds in comparison.
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| | "Re(1):New Mortal Kombat Live Action Film" , posted Tue 23 Feb 04:40:
quote:
What do the cafe members think of the new MK film announced? I am actually quite happy and excited. However, I have one big doubt.
I have not watched movies in years. Seems to be repetitive in nature. And nothing innovative. This new character shown in the trailer, a young clueless guy with no ties, has a huge impact on how this film turns out.
If it's the same scenario, "oohh.....I am involved, so I will tag along and try my best...and in the end I save the day...."
If that happens again, I will be enraged. This movie looks awesome to have another repetitive Hollywood script kill it.
Its plot seems to be similar to the first film, only with focus on the new guy instead of Liu Kang, and with much more blood and violence.
Johnny Cage's absence can sorta be justified by this new guy taking his spot. One thing I don't get, however, is why the team behind this film thought it would be a good idea to use Mileena (a.k.a. Kitana's clone)... but not Kitana. I read somewhere that apparently they intend to only add her in the sequel - problem is, there is a good chance that this film won't get one. And even if it does, it's unlikely that Mileena will survive the events of this film, so the two of them won't even meet each other, ignoring their huge rivalry in the games...
That said, the characterizations do look pretty good.
Maybe I'm this person right in front of you... nah probably not though.
[this message was edited by Just a Person on Tue 23 Feb 05:00] |
| | "Re(2):From Mortal Kombat to Stone Ocean" , posted Tue 13 Apr 01:04:
quote:
He likely will, but it's more important that he finish Jojolion first before the anime catches up to him. The last thing this series needs is an anime-original ending that riles up everyone Game of Thrones-style.
True. I guess both SBR and JJL being such long stories can kinda help Araki to finish JJL in time for the anime - then again, Part 9 (if he ever decides to make it) will definitely have this problem.
That reminds me that I finally managed to start watching the JJBA anime (I'm currently in the first half of Stardust Crusaders), and wow, it's SO GOOD!!! The team behind it is definitely full of fans of Araki's work; the way they captured his style, with the onomatopoeias constantly appearing, the hammy way most characters shout and pose, the colors, the detailed animation... the first two chapters from the first season were a bit boring, but after Dio becomes a vampire in chapter 3, it became the most enjoyable experience with animes I had in years.
It's just a pity that Midler didn't get her Heritage for the Future look in the anime, though; that outrageous skimpy belly dancer outfit would fit perfectly with the crazy tone the other characters have, in comparison with the boring look she got instead... and I don't think the team behind the anime would need to ask permission from Capcom to use it, would they?
Maybe I'm this person right in front of you... nah probably not though.
[this message was edited by Just a Person on Tue 13 Apr 09:44] |
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|  "Re(3):From Mortal Kombat to Stone Ocean" , posted Sun 25 Apr 23:18
MORTAL KOMBAT! Do do do du do do do do du do
Anyway, I managed to catch the new MK movie. As per MK tradition, my thoughts will be hidden behind toasty man spoilers:
Spoiler (Highlight to view) -
What was the purpose of the new character Cole? His role as the audience surrogate could easily have been filled by Liu Kang or Johnny Cage. This wouldn't have been as much of a problem if the actor hadn't been such a bore and the character so uninteresting. Cole seemed so out of place that he reminded me of those educational shows for children where someone from the modern day is transported into the middle of a history lesson or a work of literature. Cole is basically Wishbone the dog except not nearly as engaging.
Kano was amoral, violent and the only engaging character in the film. Small wonder he seems to be the one element of the film everyone is responding to. They should spin Kano off into the Fast & Furious franchise and have him join La Familia. That sounds idiotic, but when you remember that someone made the film Hobbs & Shaw is it really that much of a stretch to imagine a buddy movie where Kano and Kabal drive around in muscle cars?
There were places where MK looked really cheap. Kabal looked like cheap cosplay and some of the sets barely looked like a step up from the gravel quarry pits tokusatsu shows film in. On a low budget film like this I don't expect it to be a visual wonder. However, that means everyone making the film has to be clever in how they light, shoot and edit the film to suggest more than the budget will allow. MK wasn't up to the challenge. Then again, nothing could have made Shang Tsung's lousy wig look good.
This is the sort of movie where a character can get horrible gashes across their face and instead of treating it with stitches or bandages spends the rest of the film walking around with open wounds on their head.
At one point Jax tried to exercise while wearing hilariously tiny robot arms. He looked like a t-rex trying to work a punching bag. The actors went through the scene like it was a legitimate bit of character development but nobody told them that the special effects crew were going to replace his arms with sticks.
It was amusing how Sub-Zero kept popping up like he was the monster in a slasher movie. Since New Line Cinema is the home of Freddie that seems appropriate.
I remember reading once that in the 1980's a lot of R rated movies - such as the output of Stallone and Schwarzenegger - were made for 12 year olds. This was a hyperviolent movie for children in the same tradition.
Was it me, or did the movie not make much sense? When Sonya first meets Cole she doesn't recognize him but a moment later she shows off a giant wall of information she had collected about Cole throughout the years. Raiden declares that he worked to hide the Hattori Hanzo bloodline, which apparently meant he sent them to Chicago and ignored them for generations. When Kano's organic eye suddenly short-circuits in a shower of sparks you know the Rewrite Fairy was on set.
End of Spoiler
Although the film had a few moments of life, I found most of MK to be a slog. That said, I am happy that B-grade shlock is making it to the theaters. For the past several years everyone has wanted to make the next mega-franchise. But for every Avengers or Harry Potter there are a dozen tentpole movies that fall apart under their own weight. Hollywood needs to get back to making cheap, crass movies like this where their faults are much more forgivable.
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| | "Re(4):From Mortal Kombat to Stone Ocean" , posted Mon 26 Apr 03:19
quote:
MORTAL KOMBAT! Do do do du do do do do du do
Anyway, I managed to catch the new MK movie. As per MK tradition, my thoughts will be hidden behind toasty man spoilers:
Although the film had a few moments of life, I found most of MK to be a slog. That said, I am happy that B-grade shlock is making it to the theaters. For the past several years everyone has wanted to make the next mega-franchise. But for every Avengers or Harry Potter there are a dozen tentpole movies that fall apart under their own weight. Hollywood needs to get back to making cheap, crass movies like this where their faults are much more forgivable.
It's impressive how much this new film managed to mess up. And about the B-film thing, well, it seems they intend to turn MK into the next mega-franchise, as they already planned the sequel (one of the people behind this film has stated that both Johnny Cage and Kitana weren't used in this film because they were saving them for the sequel)...
Oh well, I hope the Resident Evil reboot film in the end of this year will turn out better than this one.
Maybe I'm this person right in front of you... nah probably not though.
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| | "JoJo Lands..." , posted Sat 21 Aug 08:13
...that's the tentative title for Part 9 of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure.
It's not starting now, as Araki is taking a short break... and who can blame him? JoJolion has just ended this month, and after all the decades he's been working since this series started, I'm surprised (and kinda envious, to be honest) that he still has enough inspiration and creativity to keep the story going. The man deserves some time off to rest.
That said, I'm curious to find out what will be this part's theme, who will be the next JoJo, and whether or not this will have references to Parts 1-6. Both Steel Ball Run and JoJolion were very interesting in the way they show the series' new universe; there are plenty of echoes from the old (erased?) universe, yet things feel different enough that even in the few occasions when a counterpart appears (like Johnny to Jonathan, Gyro to both Will and Caesar, Kira to both Jotaro and the original Kira, or especially Yasuho to Koichi), they're still basically new characters. Part 9 will probably take place in this same new universe, which makes me wonder whether the old universe will ever return and whether this new universe may eventually be replaced by a third one.
It's such a crazy, complicated story... and I love it.
Maybe I'm this person right in front of you... nah probably not though.
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Rare Customer   | "Re(1):JoJo Lands..." , posted Sat 21 Aug 17:33
quote:
...that's the tentative title for Part 9 of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure.
It's not starting now, as Araki is taking a short break... and who can blame him? JoJolion has just ended this month, and after all the decades he's been working since this series started, I'm surprised (and kinda envious, to be honest) that he still has enough inspiration and creativity to keep the story going. The man deserves some time off to rest.
That said, I'm curious to find out what will be this part's theme, who will be the next JoJo, and whether or not this will have references to Parts 1-6. Both Steel Ball Run and JoJolion were very interesting in the way they show the series' new universe; there are plenty of echoes from the old (erased?) universe, yet things feel different enough that even in the few occasions when a counterpart appears (like Johnny to Jonathan, Gyro to both Will and Caesar, Kira to both Jotaro and the original Kira, or especially Yasuho to Koichi), they're still basically new characters. Part 9 will probably take place in this same new universe, which makes me wonder whether the old universe will ever return and whether this new universe may eventually be replaced by a third one.
It's such a crazy, complicated story... and I love it.
I would have never guessed in a million years that bizarre and delightful OVA series my friend's got me hep to one time I ordered Jojo Fries from a local take-out place back in the 90's would become localized, and popular in America.
Buying the Japanese tankouban years ago at anime conventions and Kinokuniya, and poring over Araki's artwork. I was certain only anime club nerds would ever know of this. :b
On Miura's passing - it is unfortunate, but I don't malign the manga industry in Japan. Going purely off of old data from Frederik L. Schodt and Dan Kanemitsu, comic culture in Japan is massive. At one point, and it still may be, 40% of all printed materials were comics. Everybody reads them.
Best of all, given what little scholarly information in English is available; the Japanese publishers are far more equitable to creators than the American comic market has ever been.
Yes, Miura, Oda, and Takahashi have to work hard; but to my knowledge - it's not the absolutely corrupt upward transfer of intellectual property, wealth, and gains to the publisher alone as Marvel and DC are here in the United States. Rumiko Takahashi was a millionaire back in the 90's from making comics. Comic book millionaires are rare in the United States, and I'm hard pressed to think of a woman that has reached Takahashi's level of success.
That's crazy to consider when the market I grew up with and love despite the corruption, is rife with tales of aged creators who need to rely on charities to live comfortably in their twilight years, or when illness befalls them.
I can't speak to the Japanese culture, or opinions of work culture; but I can tell you American comics has a long history of being anti-creator and exploitative, and 42% of workers in the US are just working for a paycheck and take no pleasure from it (I count myself among that unlucky lot). Only in the American comic market could a creator make more money from an incidental character than one of the most well known comic characters in this market.
Yes the manga market is terrifying, Felipe Smith has tales to tell; but it is also more equitable than the American comic market has ever been. Ignoring the mainstream publishers in Japan, in the 90's there were tales of dojinshi artists earning impressive side incomes via Comiket (a fan comic convention that draws more attendees than the San Diego Comic Con which is propped up by Hollywood and video games).
Making comics isn't for everyone, but for some people it's a calling; and I'm happy the Japanese market exists to allow them to tell their stories and live comfortably from the fruits of their labors.
Unlike.
So many.
American.
Comic.
Creators.
"We don't rise to the level of our expectations. We fall to the level of our training." - Archilochus
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| "Re(2):Farewell to the Duke" , posted Thu 28 Oct 17:30
Man, so many legends leaving us. Really is signalling an end of an era...
Onto less dreary topics, I came back from watching Dune (Part One). I'm starting to become a fan of Denis Villenneuve's film directing, but at the same time I couldn't help but think that as a movie that only cover's half the book it feels lacking, and I'm curious as to how they're going to make it work with the second half. The issue is that a Part Two wasn't even guaranteed unless it sold considerably well, at which point I was kind of worried that this would end up a one-off concept considering how many concepts from the book(s) needed to translate well enough within the runtime (thankfully that never happend). On the other hand, I applaud how it seems to stick close to the source material and tries to give enough time to develop most of the ensemble cast.
And I know my jaded and cynical mind can't help but think that this will be Warner Bros. next "Harry Potter" or "Game of Thrones" in that it's a golden calf of a franchise to milk from. Given that, though, it's great that it's bringing more people into the fold, hopefully by inviting them to read the books.
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| | "Re(2):Tekken Trailer" , posted Wed 20 Jul 10:18
Anyway, this new anime looks... interesting. I'm still not sure if in a good way or in a bad way.
Despite being based on Tekken 3, it seems most characters have their Tekken 6/7 outfits, and there are some characters added in later games are in it (Leroy is definitely in, and I think I saw Feng Wei, too)... and this may be a good decision, since nowadays people are more familiar with the recent games. If one of the Laws appears as a contestant in the tournament, Marshall would actually be a better choice (I mean, what's the point of adding Forrest when he was discarded after 3?).
But one point that got me curious is Heihachi stating that Ogre killed Jun, while the video games indicate that no one knows whatever happened to her. Is Bamco using the anime to retcon Jun's status as officially being dead? Hopefully not...
Maybe I'm this person right in front of you... nah probably not though.
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| | "Re(3):Tekken Trailer" , posted Wed 20 Jul 11:21
quote:
But one point that got me curious is Heihachi stating that Ogre killed Jun, while the video games indicate that no one knows whatever happened to her. Is Bamco using the anime to retcon Jun's status as officially being dead? Hopefully not...
Even though it apparently wasn't officially canon, didn't Tekken Tag Tournament make Jun's status questionable?
Unknown looked kind of like Jun, started with Jun's moves, used Jun's win animations, saved Jin from Ogre in Ogre's ending, and then TTT2 straight out made the first form of its boss be Jun Kazama while the second form was Unknown (after a possession cutscene).
But even there, her whole alive or dead status itself seemed to be kept open. Is Unknown possessing Jun's body, or Jun's corpse, or is it a spirit-created form? Jun vanishes in some endings. She turns into a ball of light in one ending, but gets taken by Devil in another ending, while Angel de-possesses/purifies Jun only to let her body/spirit/whatever continue to sink into the abyss in yet another ending.
Namco could easily say that Jun is truly officially dead, then still turn around and bring her back as a spirit or possessed form, or bring her back to life in a flesh and blood body, or just straight out later reveal that she was alive all along.
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| "Re(1):Space Channel 5: The Movie" , posted Fri 9 Sep 00:00
quote:
What sort of audience goes to kabuki shows nowadays? Is there much crossover between the kabuki crowd and those that would enjoy the adaptation of a twenty year old videogame? Trying to answer these questions might be more fun than the play itself.
Ha! I meant to mention that with kabuki adaptations of things like One Piece, Naruto, and Nausicaa, it's not too far a leap for games, too. I mean: even without game stuff, Kabuki and Kyougen are AWESOME and have a popular approachability and sense of fun that the dreadfully refined and stilted forms of Noh do not...as a certain Iggy-shaped apparition once noted in an informative speech in MMC's long-form fanfic.
Uhhhh anyway the only announcement that could possibly have surprised me more than FFX kabuki is the genuinely weird decision to have the Sonic the Movie producer work with a US company I've never heard of called Picture Start to make movie adaptations of...Space Channel 5 and Comix Zone!?!? I'm sure they'll give Ulala some damned gym shorts instead of a short skirt and that it'll be bad like all game movies, but the idea of taking Comix Zone and making a movie out of a video game about being trapped in a comic book is bizarre enough to see in the same way as Street Fighter: The Movie: The Game.
Well, although it's not a "comic", we did have Cool World with Brad Pitt. But then again, i feel as though there is a movie with the same depiction as Comic Zone that came out years ago?
Long Live I AM!
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| "Sakamoto Ryuuichi" , posted Mon 3 Apr 12:54
RIP to the venerable Sakamoto Ryuuichi, whose immense musical talents influenced so many people's compositions, indirectly and directly (games included). I'm no expert, but I know that Sakamoto as part of Yellow Magic Orchestra=YMO brought hugely imporant and excellent electronic music forward, which together with the somewhat related jazz fusion is the basis for most of the foundational 8- and 16-bit sounds we know and love. Obviously, his work is infinitely broader than this. I'd love to hear others' favorites, but two appropriate pieces come to mind, now: his marvelous theme for Christmas on the Battlefield/Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence, and his special covid-era performances, playing piano for the isolated---a thoughtful solace for listeners everywhere, all while gravely ill himself. At the end of last year, he streamed what he likely knew was a final piano performance even while very near death, and I really regret missing it...I hope it resurfaces as a tribute to his talent and noble spirit.
人間はいつも私を驚かせてくれる。不思議なものだな、人間という存在は．．．
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| "Re(1):Sakamoto Ryuuichi" , posted Tue 4 Apr 03:10
quote:
RIP to the venerable Sakamoto Ryuuichi, whose immense musical talents influenced so many people's compositions, indirectly and directly (games included). I'm no expert, but I know that Sakamoto as part of Yellow Magic Orchestra=YMO brought hugely imporant and excellent electronic music forward, which together with the somewhat related jazz fusion is the basis for most of the foundational 8- and 16-bit sounds we know and love. Obviously, his work is infinitely broader than this. I'd love to hear others' favorites, but two appropriate pieces come to mind, now: his marvelous theme for Christmas on the Battlefield/Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence, and his special covid-era performances, playing piano for the isolated---a thoughtful solace for listeners everywhere, all while gravely ill himself. At the end of last year, he streamed what he likely knew was a final piano performance even while very near death, and I really regret missing it...I hope it resurfaces as a tribute to his talent and noble spirit.
Thank you for mentioning the passing of Sakamoto, it truly is a loss. I love that COVID performance you linked where he could play an elegant piano piece and then turn around and blare out guitar feedback with the same level of thoughtful determination. He truly loved music and the artistry he had allowed him to share that emotion with the world.
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| | "Re(3):What timeline is this" , posted Thu 13 Jul 06:01
quote:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSaBR58f7I0
Presented without context
That seems strange on first glance, but wasn't the completely bonkers Batman Ninja anime an isekai as well? Is isekai the hot new mainstream trend after everyone tires of multiverse shenanigans? Is Suicide Squad that popular of a concept that it warrants this many adaptations? Or does it say more about the strength of the DC villain roster... or, possibly, the lameness of the DC hero roster? Can I write anything here without ending the sentence with a question mark?
Although I can't remember the plot of Batman Ninja despite the Jojo-directed visuals from the movie scattered around the nooks and crannies of my brain, I do seem to recall it was probably isekai. Although back then isekai was the hot new thing, and now isekai is... just a thing. One of the most over-saturated things in anime right now, but certainly not new anymore, and maybe not even hot. Still, with Tappei Nagatsuki writing it maybe it'll be something to look forward to?
There is so much isekai, but the reader appetite for isekai seems unending
It still is a dominantly popular force in manga/webtoon/manhua, so one way to look at it is kind of like shonen battle manga which has been a thing for literal decades but continues to be popular.
However, isekai has the advantage of having a specific enough genre label and trope set that you can literally call it by name even outside of Japan, and it is still popular in the contemporary environment.
I think because it is a bit of a meta-trope, it has one distinct advantage compared to things like battle manga in that it doesn't have to be battle-centric and can work across a variety of different audience appeals. You've got your otome-game-inspired ones, your revenge-power-fantasy ones, your comfy-life ones, your porno-power-fantasy ones, etc. Whether or not I like it, I can't deny the sheer power the genre has to just crank out new works in all kinds of ways and fill some kind of audience niche. The fact that it starts with an inherently silly premise also invites a high level of audience suspension of disbelief from the outset, which I think is a huge advantage for it since you can handwave so much stuff narratively.
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| "Re(5):What Scott Pilgrim is this" , posted Mon 27 Nov 20:28:
I never actually read Scott Pilgrim or played the apparently quite good game version, but I always had a good impression of it as a fun manga-styled story, maybe the first to come out of North America that wasn't embarrassingly amateurish. I can't remember if the Cafe enjoyed it but I imagine so, especially since I think its game references are supposed to have been more fun and less cloying than later retro gamer (us!?) targeted movies, etc. Anyway, holy s--t, I see there's a sequel animated by Science Saru, the studio behind such important things as The Night Is Short, Walk on Girl! That would be the single movie that I feel like the biggest jerk for not having seen yet, outside of Revolutionary Girl Utena: Adolescence Apocalypse!
*edit: I read the first volume and it is fun, and the animation is fantastic! I like the fighting game announcer for each character.
人間はいつも私を驚かせてくれる。不思議なものだな、人間という存在は．．．
[this message was edited by Maou on Tue 28 Nov 00:49] |
| | "Re(6):What Scott Pilgrim is this" , posted Tue 9 Jan 02:21
quote:
I never actually read Scott Pilgrim or played the apparently quite good game version, but I always had a good impression of it as a fun manga-styled story, maybe the first to come out of North America that wasn't embarrassingly amateurish. I can't remember if the Cafe enjoyed it but I imagine so, especially since I think its game references are supposed to have been more fun and less cloying than later retro gamer (us!?) targeted movies, etc. Anyway, holy s--t, I see there's a sequel animated by Science Saru, the studio behind such important things as The Night Is Short, Walk on Girl! That would be the single movie that I feel like the biggest jerk for not having seen yet, outside of Revolutionary Girl Utena: Adolescence Apocalypse!
*edit: I read the first volume and it is fun, and the animation is fantastic! I like the fighting game announcer for each character.
Scott Pilgrim may be, in my opinion, one of the few franchises that did a great job in all the media it was adapted into. I watched the anime last week and loved it, especially the fact that they brought the actors from the live-action film to voice the characters (...well, except the Katayanagi twins, due to them not having lines in the film), and using Ramona as the protagonist worked surprisingly well.
That said, the comic book is still my favorite version of the story. Possibly due to its size, it manages to flesh out the story, include more important characters (Lisa, Mr. Chau, Lynette, Joseph...) and provide a nice balance between the absurdity of Scott's world and the individual journeys that each character goes through - including Scott being confronted with his immaturity and tendency to avoid owning up to his mistakes in life.
The film and video game focused much more on the battles against the evil exes and barely touched on the characters' growth throughout the story (plus, Ramona's personality in the film feels closer to Kim Pine's than to the actual Ramona from the comic book; and I still can't forgive the game developers for not even bothering to write a proper ending for Wallace Wells). That said, they're both still very fun works!
Maybe I'm this person right in front of you... nah probably not though.
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| "Re(1):Infinite Toriyama" , posted Tue 12 Mar 23:37
Obviously everyone has already seen and lamented the late great Toriyama Akira's passing. I don't even think you need to be a fan (and I am!) to acknowledge how he had probably the strongest, most beautiful line work possible, always reminding me of the powerful "ligne claire" of Tintin's Herge, except with the flat textures traded for some of the most rounded and three-dimensional faces and bodies of all of comics. I need Nobi here to help, but there's such weight and heft to all his charming creations, big and small.
For the Cafe's purposes, the most obvious masterworks beyond Dragon Ball and Dr. Slump are likely top-two SFC RPG contender Chrono Trigger, all time top PS1 fighting game Tobal 2 (maybe the best-realized Toriyama video game world all the way up to the most recent DBZ fighter, and in 60fps!!), and of course Dragon Quest.
Sometimes people abroad would miss the point and complain, mistakenly in my view, that Toriyama's designs looked too similar. I think it's more that his style is so unique and unmistakeable, such that regardless of the work's style and time period, you instantly know it's him, on a level as clear as Tezuka or Miyazaki and very few others.
What a gift, what a loss now for art.
人間はいつも私を驚かせてくれる。不思議なものだな、人間という存在は．．．
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| | "Re(2):Infinite Toriyama" , posted Tue 12 Mar 23:55
quote:
Obviously everyone has already seen and lamented the late great Toriyama Akira's passing. I don't even think you need to be a fan (and I am!) to acknowledge how he had probably the strongest, most beautiful line work possible, always reminding me of the powerful "ligne claire" of Tintin's Herge, except with the flat textures traded for some of the most rounded and three-dimensional faces and bodies of all of comics. I need Nobi here to help, but there's such weight and heft to all his charming creations, big and small.
For the Cafe's purposes, the most obvious masterworks beyond Dragon Ball and Dr. Slump are likely top-two SFC RPG contender Chrono Trigger, all time top PS1 fighting game Tobal 2 (maybe the best-realized Toriyama video game world all the way up to the most recent DBZ fighter, and in 60fps!!), and of course Dragon Quest.
Sometimes people abroad would miss the point and complain, mistakenly in my view, that Toriyama's designs looked too similar. I think it's more that his style is so unique and unmistakeable, such that regardless of the work's style and time period, you instantly know it's him, on a level as clear as Tezuka or Miyazaki and very few others.
What a gift, what a loss now for art.
Yes, it's a huge loss. Hopefully he's in a better place now, and even though we'll no longer have new Toriyama's works, he left behind such a huge legacy and several fantastic works that we'll always be able to re-read Dragon Ball or play again Chrono Trigger and appreciate again how great they are.
That makes me wonder how the next Dragon Quest games will look like. Toriyama's art style was a huge signature of the DQ series, so it's hard to imagine new DQ games with a different art style - on the other hand, this series is such a huge money maker and cultural phenomenon in Japan that I don't see SquareEnix stop developing new DQ games.
Maybe I'm this person right in front of you... nah probably not though.
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New Customer | "Mmmmhh..." , posted Mon 18 Mar 17:29
quote:
I'm probably going to get in trouble with Onsy's ghost
-- Message too long, Autoquote has been Snipped --
Nah, it's been years since I touched a superhero comic, well, at least from Marvel or DC. Even though I don't like them anymore I still believe that a great writer can do wonders with any given material, however childish in origin that material might be. Regarding Alan Moore I like most of his works but I think he is at his best when working with his original characters, even if they are derivative from other genres. It is well documented (no great insight from me) that the grim and gritty era brought to comics by Alan Moore and Miller for example was unintentional (at least on Moore's account) and that everyone took the wrong ideas and instead of creating truly mature content they just went with surface level violence and sex, and hey, nothing wrong with that, it's just that some writers wanted to elevate the genre while others just saw a trend to follow.
Incidentally, my favorite book from Moore is not The Killing Joke or even Watchmen, it is Top Ten, give it a try if you haven't.
I'm trying to remember what's the most recent comic I've read and I think it is Crisis Zone by Simon Hanselmann, not a superhero comic. Oh, that reminds me I have Monsters by Barry Windsor Smith sitting on my bookshelf, untouched, I'll have to read that soon.
Speaking of comics I will be forever bitter that Kieron Gillen never finished Über, such a shame...
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| "ONSY ONSLAUGHT" , posted Mon 18 Mar 19:50
OH SNAP after the first successful resurrection years ago, I did not expect to accidentally summon Onsy again, Lavos-style, in the year 202X...welcome back!
quote:
I still believe that a great writer can do wonders with any given material, however childish in origin that material might be.
Even if the never-ending parade of Hollywood movies featuring Marvel-for-adults-or-overgrown-children is doing the best to prove otherwise, I think you're right! I still think Batman the Animated Series is pretty neat, and I only saw a little bit of it in the US a billion years ago.
Oh! I finally read a non-Japanese comic for the first time since, ah, Persepolis: 15 years late, I have had a lot of fun with Scott Pilgrim. Do Canadian comics count? I will write more from the sub-thread above once I watch the anime after finishing re-reading the comics, but I mostly really enjoyed it.
人間はいつも私を驚かせてくれる。不思議なものだな、人間という存在は．．．
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New Customer | "Re(1):ONSY ONSLAUGHT" , posted Tue 19 Mar 16:02
quote:
OH SNAP after the first successful resurrection years ago, I did not expect to accidentally summon Onsy again, Lavos-style, in the year 202X...welcome back!
Batman and Scott Pilgrim
I watched BTAS when I was young and it always amazed me how creative they were with all the restrictions of a children's cartoon. They had guns with bullets (even if no one got shot), punches and themes that were very mature, at least for me at the time; this in stark contrast with the Marvel cartoons like Spider-Man or X-Men which only saving grace was that they somewhat recreated famous arcs from the comics but had some laughable changes like the Punisher using Non-Lethal weapons for some inane in-story reason or Morbius thirsting for "plasma" instead of blood.
I read Scott Pilgrim when it came out and I didn't like it one bit, I even forgot why I didn't like it, the humor wasn't for me perhaps? Can't remember.
Now that you mentioned non US comics, there are plenty of comics that I can recomend:
Blacksad: From Spaniard authors Juan Díaz and Juanjo Garnido about anthropomorphic animals in a 50's setting, basically detective stories. And yeah, I know, furries, but it is quite good and the artwork is great.
Jodorowski's comics: Incal, The Tecnopriests and Metabarons. I don't know if I can recommend these, because I love/hate the work of this guy when it comes to comics. First the good, the Art, Moebius for the Incal and Zoran Janjetov for The Technopriests. I think Moebius is famous enough so you might be familiar with his work and legacy, but Janjetov's art is breathtaking, gorgeous if a bit stiff in some aspects but I love it.
Now the bad, Jodorowski himself, he's always playing the same themes, the chosen one, metaphysical, philosophical and existential. His dialogue is full of technobabble and his characters are always saved by the most outrageous asspulls... to me, it looks like the guy is trying way too hard to sound smart or "enlightened" yet I think he's just pretentious. Keep in mind that he might be very smart and I'm just an uneducated and ignorant prole who cannot grasp his greatness so you might like his work.
Asterix the Gaul: By René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo. A staple of my childhood, my mother has an almost complete collection of these comics (sorry Iggy, I meant bande dessinée), no, scratch that, she has the complete collection plus some that got made after Goscinny's death. The humor is great and I cannot vouch for the english translation but the spanish one is great; I don't know how faithful it is to the french editions but if it's not, then the translators did a great job adapting all the wordplay and puns (I still laugh out loud when I read "¡Es una guerra servil!"). If you read it, please stop the moment Uderzo takes over.
Megg, Mogg and Owl: By Simon Hanselmann. It is basically Depression: The Comic. It is about a witch, her cat boyfriend and their "friend" the neurotic Owl, a bunch of losers spiraling unto new lows everyday of their lives. It is very funny and depressing at the same time, the Bad Gateway tome hit me very hard in the gut. Fun for all family!
quote:
Well, Marvel is closing the Krakoa era now, so Gillen is finally working on something more personal. He's publishing some scenarios for the DIE RPG, but who knows after that!
High-five Iggy!
I can only dream of him finishing Über, but even if he does so I will never read anything else done by him, and to think he could wrap the story in two or three issues...
quote:
Maou accidentally pushed the Onsy button again but it was worth it! To this day, thinking about Onsy's old cat avatar makes me smile.
Was this cat or another one? Cats are nice and can make your life better.
Ssssssssushi! ^_^
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|  "KFC Colonel vs. Onsy" , posted Wed 20 Mar 12:19
Oh man, Asterix! Everyone loves Asterix. Years later, I still can't spell astericks as a result. I have an even greater love for Tintin, of course.
MEANWHILE
In keeping with our long tradition, here is some important historical news for the Cafe, very likely the only place to write in English about Colonel Sanders' curse about a decade before everyone else:
That's right, the Colonel's statue in Osaka, the one which was carried away by ecstatic Hanshin Tigers fans after their 1985 win due to his resemblence to the team's slugger before being tossed into the river and beginning a decades-long losing streak/curse, has finally been retired. He was rediscovered in 2009 and has given us his blessing from the display in KFC's Osaka office despite his peeling paint and crumbling state. The Tigers finally won again last fall after 38 years, so perhaps his final mission was complete.
Apparently, the Colonel was taken to Sumiyoshi Taisha shrine for a traditional ningyou-osame doll funeral pyre. The offerings included sacred sake as well as 30 pieces of KFC original chicken. EXCELLENT.
人間はいつも私を驚かせてくれる。不思議なものだな、人間という存在は．．．
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| | "Re(1):KFC Colonel vs. Onsy" , posted Mon 25 Mar 11:28
quote:
Oh man, Asterix! Everyone loves Asterix. Years later, I still can't spell astericks as a result. I have an even greater love for Tintin, of course.
MEANWHILE
In keeping with our long tradition, here is some important historical news for the Cafe, very likely the only place to write in English about Colonel Sanders' curse about a decade before everyone else:
That's right, the Colonel's statue in Osaka, the one which was carried away by ecstatic Hanshin Tigers fans after their 1985 win due to his resemblence to the team's slugger before being tossed into the river and beginning a decades-long losing streak/curse, has finally been retired. He was rediscovered in 2009 and has given us his blessing from the display in KFC's Osaka office despite his peeling paint and crumbling state. The Tigers finally won again last fall after 38 years, so perhaps his final mission was complete.
Apparently, the Colonel was taken to Sumiyoshi Taisha shrine for a traditional ningyou-osame doll funeral pyre. The offerings included sacred sake as well as 30 pieces of KFC original chicken. EXCELLENT.
That's incredible and incredibly funny
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New Customer | "Re(4):Rite Here Rite Now" , posted Fri 5 Jul 15:47:
quote:
I have not! Do tell me about it!
Well, sure, I have some time to kill before this Cat 3 Hurricane kills me!
Ghost is a Swedish band, they started as a "satanic" band and they still are, but the satanic angle has been somewhat diminished in the last 2 albums.
The frontman is a satanic Pope from the Clergy called Papa Emeritus and they change frontman every "era", which is every album. The Pope is the same guy, only using different masks, they are now up to Papa Emeritus IV, but recently they announced the fifth one. They have this fictitious history and lore that is (for me at least) very fun and engaging.
Recently they released a movie from the last performance last year at Los Angeles. It was basically a concert movie, interwoven with parts of the lore to advance the story. You can see most of this lore in the form of "Chapters" on youtube.
As to what kind of music they play, well, some metal, some arena rock, some pop even. I love the band and went last year to Mexico City to watch them. It was the happiest day of my life.
Anyway it may not be everybody's cup of tea.
[this message was edited by TheGhostofOnsy on Fri 5 Jul 16:44] |
| | "Re(5):Rite Here Rite Now" , posted Tue 16 Jul 13:35
quote:
I have not! Do tell me about it!
Well, sure, I have some time to kill before this Cat 3 Hurricane kills me!
Ghost is a Swedish band, they started as a "satanic" band and they still are, but the satanic angle has been somewhat diminished in the last 2 albums.
The frontman is a satanic Pope from the Clergy called Papa Emeritus and they change frontman every "era", which is every album. The Pope is the same guy, only using different masks, they are now up to Papa Emeritus IV, but recently they announced the fifth one. They have this fictitious history and lore that is (for me at least) very fun and engaging.
Recently they released a movie from the last performance last year at Los Angeles. It was basically a concert movie, interwoven with parts of the lore to advance the story. You can see most of this lore in the form of "Chapters" on youtube.
As to what kind of music they play, well, some metal, some arena rock, some pop even. I love the band and went last year to Mexico City to watch them. It was the happiest day of my life.
Anyway it may not be everybody's cup of tea.
That sounds awesome! Any favorite arcs/albums you would recommend?
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New Customer | "Re(6):Rite Here Rite Now" , posted Fri 19 Jul 08:20
quote:
That sounds awesome! Any favorite arcs/albums you would recommend?
Well, I will post 3 songs from each album that I love.
1.- Opus Eponymous (Frontman: Papa Emeritus)
The first album, the theme is the imminent coming / procreation of the Antichrist, the album with most heavy metal than the rest.
Elizabeth
Ritual
Con Clavi con Dio
2.- Infestissumam (Frontman: Papa Emeritus II)
The second album, the theme is the Antichrist is already here. They started to add more varied styles here.
Year Zero (my all time favourite track)
Ghule/Zombie Queen
Secular Haze
3.- Meliora. (Frontman: Papa Emeritus III)
Third record, the theme is the absence of God. Some might say this is the best album from their catalog.
Cirice
He is
Mummy Dust
4.- Prequelle (Frontman: Cardinal Copia)
Theme is the black plague / inevitability of death. The album with most ballad tracks and way less heavy metal.
Rats
Witch Image
Faith
5.- Impera (Frontman: Papa Emeritus IV which is Cardinal Copia after being ascended to Papa when Papa Emeritus Zero [The father of them all] "died" onstage in Mexico City back in 2021 or 2022, I will add a link to a youtube video for this event)
Theme this time is the fall of empires and the cyclic nature of history. Mostly arena rock
Spillways
Respite on the Spitalfields
Call me Little Sunshine
In between albums they've released cover EPs as well and a "rerelease" of an album from the 60's with two tracks, one of which got really popular for some reason on social media, I mean, I like it, but it's not even on my top 20 of Ghost's songs. It is called Mary on a Cross, a song about marijuana but people think it is romantic (?).
Anyway, here's the link:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=k6jCmAHMnxg&pp=ygUSRW1lcml0dXMgNCBhcnJpdmFs
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| PSN: zonepharaoh
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| "Takarazuka meets Dracula meets Scott Pilgrim" , posted Fri 15 Nov 00:38
Possibly only Maese and maybe Iggy knew this up till now, but I really love the Takarazuka all-female dance revue, its fabulously frou frou sets and great songs, and the unusual aesthetic world they create that exceeds shoujo manga in creating a unique form of female beauty that often isn't conventionally "attractive" to a male eye but which is still fascinating and appealing. And what better place to partner with game-hating Konami to make a...Takarazuka production of Akumajou Dracula!?!? The Hana-gumi troupe's new lead Towaki Sea is extremely good in male roles and had better get to be...Alucard (aesthetically most likely)? Dracula? Simon? ... ... Vampire Bat?? This is a way cooler idea than the Final Fantasy X kabuki which I stupidly missed last year or so.
The only problem is that Takarazuka already made the best vampire musical a long time ago in the adaptation of Poe No Ichizoku, the long-running Poe Clan manga. The good news is that as far as non-game media, Konami may finally have something better than its (in)famous Akumajou Dracula: EROTIC VIOLENCE pachinko table.
Oh, and speaking of things I like that are not video games, there's an anniversary set of the Scott Pilgrim comics (the color verison is great!) for half-off on Amazon now for US-dwellers I see. Even with international shipping it'd be a good deal. Sure, non-Japanese comics are WAY too expensive, but this is a good one!
人間はいつも私を驚かせてくれる。不思議なものだな、人間という存在は．．．
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| "Docudrama" , posted Sat 25 Jan 00:28
I recently watched the Street Fighter 2 documentary Here Comes a New Challenger. This wasn't on my radar, but I stumbled across a copy at my local library. My guess is that comp copies were sent out and the staff at my library took pity on them and put the dvd on the shelf.
Anyway, the documentary details the worldwide success of SF2. At least that what it claims. In reality, it's a UK-centric take on what happened. The filmmakers are based in London so I guess that makes sense but it makes for a lopsided presentation. When the art for the characters is discussed no Japanese creators are named, but Mike McGinty gets an extensive interview. The film's approach reminded me of Western game journalism from the 1990's, where incorrect translations and complete nonsense were presented as fact. Since the documentary is designed as nostalgia-bait perhaps that was intentional?
Some of the information was genuinely interesting, such as how Capcom avoided a lawsuit over the Rainbow edition by having the bootleggers stop manufacturing and pay royalties for "borrowing" the CPS boards. Other parts made the film feel bloated, such as an exhausting sidetrack into SF G.I.Joe toys. For every fun nugget of information there was too much chaff to sort through. The production nuttiness of the SF movie probably deserves its own feature but when it came to the presentation of the SF animated film the documentary couldn't be bothered stating the names of the creators who made the damn thing and instead had people moon on about the Manga Entertainment release. It made for uneven and unenlightening viewing.
So do I recommend it? Eh, out of all the SF retrospectives, Here Comes a New Challenger is certainly one of them.
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| PSN: zonepharaoh
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| "Re(3):Docudrama" , posted Sat 1 Feb 00:45
This reminds me of a fun little documentary I mentioned here before called the Lost Arcade, about legendary New York arcade Chinatown Fair that Professor and other former New Yorkers will remember. It was a place that somewhat inadvertantly transformed into the premier (and only) Manhattan arcade, very narrow and filled with some novelty carnival style stuff as I recall, but insanely good players. The West Coast scene had the space to nurture its great players, but the East Coast as I understand was packed into this incredibly narrow space, far deeper than it was wide.
I vaguely remember the documentary made the somewhat odd choice of focusing more on the Peter Pan-like community of Lost Boys who made this unlikely place their home, rather than really showing much of anything in terms of the actual games or competition. It's kind a film about a place and the people surrounding it, though veterans might find it incomplete in that sense.
Today, I think the scene is likely at Next Level, where I've never been, but which is where people went after Chinatown Fair became more of the family carnival ball-throwing thing, while a few barcades appeared for lightweights featuring mostly very early arcade games like Pacman.
In Japanese terms, it's hard to think of how difficult it could be to even find an arcade in the US, let alone where people were good, though of course with the trend towards consoles, game centers feel increasingly like glorified UFO Catcher/Print Club centers. We will always have Mikado at least!
人間はいつも私を驚かせてくれる。不思議なものだな、人間という存在は．．．
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| | "Re(5):Docudrama" , posted Wed 5 Feb 00:22:
quote:
It always amuses me when US players speak in reverent tones about the hallowed arcades of yore, when in reality those places are the rattiest little holes in the wall you've ever seen. I know it's about the memories and access to the games, but between the poor upkeep on the buildings and the dodgy clientele those arcades weren't photogenic.
Access and comradery were massively important. More so when the alternative is nothing at all.
I know the local mall pizza place was eventually shut down due to effectively being the local drug distribution center, but the arcade room in the back is where I played all sorts of shooters for years, and where I "beat" the crane game getting several plush animals that I gave away to little kids.
Before the pizza place, the best the local mall offered was a food place that just stuck four or five cabinets along the back wall.
I know the arcade next to college was a bit dank, and had its own bit of drug distribution going on. Sure, the town's mall had a bigger arcade that was much cleaner, had more games, and didn't smell like damp carpet whenever it rained. But the mall arcade was a congested traffic drive away, while the college-adjacent arcade was just a convenient walk. It was also the birth and boom of the fighting game era, so I spent insane amounts of money there playing against all sorts of other people, meeting with friends, making friends, de-stressing and relaxing and the like.
When I was younger, I didn't mind having to go grocery shopping with my mother and grandmother in part because the supermarket kept an arcade cabinet at the front, which was my chance to play Centipede or Dig Dug. We didn't have any game consoles at home.
I could of course list others. The movie theater cabinets, the other mall arcade, etc. They were all kind of crap. Anything with more than a couple of cabinets was likely used by drug dealers. Most had some sort of smell. The more dive-ish ones were poorly lit. If food was allowed near the cabinets, then you might find food on the floor. Etc. But again the alternatives were nothing at all.
Mind, there is also just the "times were different" aspect to it all, with a bit of survivorship bias. Like how I can fondly reminisce about how my earlier elementary school years used a playground area that included an abandoned well.
[this message was edited by Baines on Wed 5 Feb 00:23] |
| | "Re(6):Rebels of the Neon Docudrama" , posted Thu 3 Apr 01:59:
quote:
It always amuses me when US players speak in reverent tones about the hallowed arcades of yore, when in reality those places are the rattiest little holes in the wall you've ever seen. I know it's about the memories and access to the games, but between the poor upkeep on the buildings and the dodgy clientele those arcades weren't photogenic.
Access and comradery were massively important. More so when the alternative is nothing at all.
I know the local mall pizza place was eventually shut down due to effectively being the local drug distribution center, but the arcade room in the back is where I played all sorts of shooters for years, and where I "beat" the crane game getting several plush animals that I gave away to little kids.
Before the pizza place, the best the local mall offered was a food place that just stuck four or five cabinets along the back wall.
I know the arcade next to college was a bit dank, and had its own bit of drug distribution going on. Sure, the town's mall had a bigger arcade that was much cleaner, had more games, and didn't smell like damp carpet whenever it rained. But the mall arcade was a congested traffic drive away, while the college-adjacent arcade was just a convenient walk. It was also the birth and boom of the fighting game era, so I spent insane amounts of money there playing against all sorts of other people, meeting with friends, making friends, de-stressing and relaxing and the like.
When I was younger, I didn'
-- Message too long, Autoquote has been Snipped --
Excuse my ignorance and lack of experience with fighting game docs. Have there been any that get into that aspect of the 90s arcade scene? The seamy yet comforting underbelly? I fondly remember arcades as a place where violence could happen at any moment, but it was never unprovoked. Unlike playing online, when you talk shit in real life there are consequences. I miss that a bit. I know I sound like I'm glorifying violence, but I never saw a beatdown at an arcade that wasn't unjustified. I remember my older brother beat a guy real bad at SF2 and the dude was such a sore loser that he started throwing hands, so my brother threw him through the arcade window! All my arcade rat friends have stories like that.
On a related note, you guys ever watch Rebels of the Neon God? It's a 1992 Taiwanese film directed by legendary Malaysia/Taiwanese art film auteur Tsai Ming-liang (his debut film actually!). The plot is about some punk kids who hatch a scheme to steal a bunch of Street Fighter 2 boards and resell them. But it's also one of the GREAT films about disaffected youth. It's oozing with style and ennui. And on top of that the plot has explicit references/parallels to Chinese mythology, specifically the story of Nezha, who has recently had a huge revival in pop culture himself! The original Chinese title of Rebel's of the Neon God translates to "Teenage Nezha."
It's a really really beautiful film. And it has a surprising amount of footage of actual arcade games of the era too. It's an actual artifact of the times. I'm especially fond of the movie cos my mother is from Taiwan and some of my earliest memories are from there. I remember arcades were actually seen as dens of sedition back then, many didn't allow kids under 18! But yeah, Rebels of the Neon God is so good! I give it my highest recommendation! I'm surprised it doesn't come up more often among fighting game fans!
www.art-eater.com
[this message was edited by nobinobita on Thu 3 Apr 02:00] |
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| "Re(7):Rebels of the Neon Docudrama" , posted Thu 3 Apr 23:45
Rebels of the Neon God sounds like it's worth searching out! It sounds like it very much understood the culture and view of its characters. The lost souls in the film would have certainly found themselves in arcades in that time and place. It's that attention to detail that makes a movie feel alive.
Sadly, I haven't come across any documentaries that capture the good, bad, and just plain weird of arcades. It would be fascinating to see a film that got into the multicultural appeal of arcades and how small communities could pool together in these areas. Instead, too often the presentation of arcade games is as soft and non-threatening as the never-never land arcade in Wreck-It Ralph. (When Wreck-It Ralph came out I remember grousing that the children for whom the movie was made would have no point of reference for arcades and that the filmmakers might as well have made the movie about butter churning for as much as it applied to the current lives of 21st century kids. But I digress.)
But while arcades are nice, what's really important is food. While I've been reading the gentle adventures of Delicious in Dungeon, I haven't had a chance to watch the animated adaptation. Hopefully I can get to it soon, but there just aren't enough hours in the day. It's amusing that between the success of D&D and that Frieren show, the big thing nowadays is elves. There was a time when every character was Rei Ayanami, now all the characters have what looks like painfully large amounts of cartilage in their ears. Anyway, I am glad to hear that D&D is enough of a mainstream show that it has the modern standard approach of debuting a couple nice looking episodes before the budget falls off a cliff. While annoying, at least it's better than the old recap episodes where the characters would muse about footage from the last adventure. No matter what fads come and go, the one thing that will never change is the need to stretch budgets.
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"Re(5):A chicken is fine, too" , posted Thu 10 Dec 00:07
"Re(3):Kentarou Mirua (Berserk) passed away" , posted Fri 21 May 03:15
