December 13, 2015
And That Was My Reaction Too
From episode 3-6 of RWBY which is entitled Fall...a title that can be taken a number of different ways.
This answered several important questions and put a couple of characters in really bad situations for utterly different reasons.
Boy.
Howdy.
The next 166 hours are going to be like forever.
RWBY's been uneven but on balance quite enjoyable. This season they have REALLY hit their stride though.
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December 06, 2015
This Week's Chapter of RWBY Seems to Have No Title
I Propose Retro Funk!
As has generally been the case in this tournament cour, most of this episode's important stuff takes place outside of the fights. But the main fight went in an entirely unexpected direction and was gloriously worthy.
The pacing and voicework were fantastic, Meg Turney in particular did a stellar job as Neon Catt.
UPDATE: Wait..Of course!
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November 29, 2015
Heh. Coco has groupies...
From episode 4 of this season's RWBY, which seems to have really hit its stride. This episode's fight was still not up to the spectacular choreography that Oum was known for, but the pacing was superb and the tension was as intense as anything we've seen.
The last 9 of the 14 and a half minutes was spent with people sitting and talking while either drinking tea or playing video games. Those 9 minutes however, were very well paced and developed characters, moved the plot along, clarified plot points and answered questions.
While no explicit reference was made, we now probably have a very good idea of just what was going on in the "White" trailer and yes, it looks like that incongruously expressionist installment of the original 4 teasers is indeed canon. Even more surprisingly, it likely happened pretty much as presented (though some of it is a flashback).
Also: From this point forward, the heiress is on a budget.
One observation. One of the things the success of this series has made possible besides increasing the crew by 50% is that they have been able to hire additional professional voice actors (some with impressive resumes) to supplement the shows writers and animators, cosplayers and internet personalities that has made up most of the main cast. Interestingly this has resulted in the relative novices in the main cast being backed up by serious pros playing bit parts. The original cast has actually held their own pretty well and even those who started out a bit awkward have grown into their roles nicely. The additional money, however, is still well spent. Elizabeth Maxwell has hit it out of the park as Winter Schnee who, it turns out, is absolutely vital to understanding Weiss.
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November 27, 2015
That is Some Truly Epic Sunblock
A vampire and her maid go to San Francisco.
Clip by Perry Street.
I linked to the unfinished version of this before, but the animator finished it yesterday and thoroughly succeeded in producing a cute and technically interesting little skit.
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November 21, 2015
Oh Look...The Sun is Up.
Wait...
NO!
The sun is going DOWN!
This is incredible. Bethesda has invented time travel!
This game really is 'all that and a bowl of grits'.
Most surprisingly, despite the grim premise and post-apocalyptic setting, Fallout 4 gives off a remarkably optimistic vibe.
I find it really interesting how they integrated a first-person shooter quest game with a 'rebuild civilization' game. What's interesting is the freedom one has. The player can pursue the main quest like a regular adventure game, wander around and interact with the incredibly detailed world (usually via high powered weaponry) or focus on the second life aspect of building a settlement. The player can also build a series of settlements and thus rebuild civilization. I'm nowhere NEAR close to finishing the main quest...there's just so much interesting stuff to do.
Re-playability looks to be really high.
On the down side:
Mirelurks. Those things are tough.
Also: It's like clicking on a TV Tropes link that delivers crack intravenously...I predict the collapse of society by the end of the year.
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November 19, 2015
Good Grief!!
Art by Meow Neuron
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November 15, 2015
What ARE We Looking At Here?
From this season's third episode of RWBY which thickens the plot a bit by whisking some ambiguity into the vagueness and spicing it with a pointless fight made with apparently unseasoned ingredients that only serve to remind us how good things were when it was possible to get them made with genuine Monty Oum.
The fight choreography is not actually bad, and pretty decent in comparison to many other shows. However, despite increasing the size of the staff from around 15 to nearly 30 that particular aspect is not up to the standard set by the show's much mourned creator. Oum appears to have been a singular talent.
The story is proceeding apace though the shadowy council opposed to something bad talks in sufficient circuitousness that we still don't know exactly is going on. There is a big reveal, but I suspect that it is probably not at all what it seems to be.
On the other hand the character animation is really well done and the voice work is excellent. Lindsay Jones (Ruby) in particular does a really good job in this episode.
Also there is a drunken martial artist, so they've got that going for them, and in any event, I'm still enjoying the show.
The foreshadowing for next week seems strangely ominous.
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November 07, 2015
Exactly The Right Length
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November 03, 2015
Some Shows...
...have tremendous amounts of action that doesn't advance the plot or mean anything.
Contrasting with that sort of thing, in the latest episode of Owarimonigatari two highschool students stand and listen as a third reflects upon her middle school years for twenty two minutes. They never leave the room and nothing else happens.
This episode had me on the edge of my seat.
Owarimonogatari is supposedly the last in this supernatural dramedy franchise, and has, aside from its first episode (and the unremarked upon mystery of what happened to a certain characters irises) not had a lot of supernatural anything in it. Despite this it has been genuinely surprising and at times rather disturbing.
People can be the worst monsters, and perfidy is a wretched thing.
This is a very well written show. I'm not sure where they are going with it, but I am anxious to find out.
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I'd Trade My Blackberry for a Flying Car
Tam finds the money quote in a William Gibson interview.
"Holy crap. That's right!"
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November 02, 2015
Regrettably, We Must Interrupt Your Monday For a Moment of Whimsy
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October 30, 2015
Remember. Trick is an Option
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October 25, 2015
RWBY Volume 3 Begins
Somewhere, Monty Oum is surely smiling.
The opening of RWBY:Volume 3 continued the shows general trend of considerable improvements in production quality and pacing seen over the last two seasons. The Vytal Festival, which has been "right around the corner" for most of the last two seasons and somewhat hyped, has finally arrived. Naturally, this episode has a fair amount of "smashies" and "splodies"which allow us to conclude that Dillon Gu (who was hired as action animator/choreographer after Mr. Oum's death) is, indeed, up to the task.
Action aside, the pacing and writing of the episode are quite good as is the voice acting.
Apart from the fact that this is a tournament cour that will last at least a couple of more episodes, we do find out three things of varying levels of importance.
"Oooh! Oooh! What things? What Things?"
Well for one thing, to everyone's astonishment, it's revealed that...
"RWBY's dad wears Lederhosen!"
No. just. No.....I mean he does, but...Dammit...
Fine..
Amongst the MANY things that we've learned...
The hapless shopkeeper, who, do to the local crime wave, has switched from a high overhead retail establishment involving crystal MacGuffins to a more easily insurable noodle kiosk, may, in fact, be more than meets the eye. He is certainly well versed in the esoteric art of card-fu.
'That was rude, but kind of awesome."
Somewhat surprisingly, we are quickly introduced to that new character from the trailer who has been getting so much fan attention for the last week. While her time on screen is brief we do get a surprising amount of insight into her character and motivations.
Liquorice
Apparently, Team JNPR has been having some extracurricular adventures of their own, albeit off camera...
"You know. All those times WE dealt with murderers."
It was an offhand comment, but it was certainly interesting.
Equally offhanded but rather less likely to be a continuity error, was the revelation that Rin and Nora are not only both orphans, but they both no longer have homes to return to.
Not so much revelation as confirmation is the fact that the episodes are 17 minutes and three seconds with credits. This means that we've got to wait a week to see that bit at the rest of the next fight and whether or not the lowbrow foreshadowing will pan out.
This season is off to a resoundingly promising start.
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October 24, 2015
Jellyfish!
...that's what this reminds me of!
That time at the Chinese restaurant I decided to try something completely new and off the wall...and so I ordered the jellyfish.
Well, there are similarities: I have the sneaking suspicion that a terrible prank has been played on me and a general sensation of horrible wrongness. On the other hand, the Jellyfish did not make me fear I had lost brain cells.
MILPOM however....
Can't unsee eyes
After watching the show I checked the '"about" bar to see if any side effects were listed, what their symptoms were and if there were any counter agents recommended.
But all I got was this...
The story takes place in a certain ordinary town where it is natural for everyone to wear an animal costume head. It depicts the everyday life of the main character MILPOM and her friends who live there, filled with the essence of Kawaii and a little bit cynical girls.
I read it twice and it didn't put me at ease at all.
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Owarimonogatari
Owarimonogatari is supposed to be the finale of the Bakemonogatari franchise and it shares the tone, pacing and aggressively surrealist art direction of its predecessors as well as being fairly dialog heavy...and text heavy... having bursts of 'textposition' onscreen for such a short period of time that they frequently defy even the pause button.
Araragi, the (former vampire highschool student who is theoretically the protagonist) has tended heretofore to deal with various flavors of supernatural horror. This time a really creepy transfer student has gotten him looking into something much more mundane.
Or not...
The narrator and point of view are not particularly honest and there seem to be very peculiar goings on...assuming that they are happening.
It takes two episodes to finally get the ground rules set...
...and now the show is off running; down a flight of stairs in an M.C. Escher painting.
This one is looking to be quite good, being both clever and genuinely creepy at times.
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OK, Fears Were Unfounded
Crunchyroll WILL be streaming RWBY, starting tomorrow.
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October 23, 2015
Super Robot Girls Z Plus Ends
Well..she pretty much sums up the series, but sacred honor demands that I write something.
Super Robot Girls Z Plus never quite came together. It could have been a great show for parents to watch with their kids if they had toned the vulgarity down a notch. The fact that it was a 10 minute show that aired once a month did not help. As it was it was, it was this silly show made me chuckle quite a few guilty chuckles mainly because being an old fart, I got most of the obscure super-robot show references (and am a bad person).
In fairness though, it did pick up towards the end, especially with the revelation that the season two big-bad is a special kind of malevolent....
Zounds!
Lots of structural stupidity in this show, but with the main villain's motivations being a contempt for the suburbs and a hatred for weirdoes it's not without merit if one can minimize the number of one's brain cells the show kills.
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October 20, 2015
Well, This Is Raising My Hopes Enough That The Inevitable Betrayal Will be Most Vexatious.
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A Few Observations of Negligible Importance
CGI has come a long way in the last 16 years.
Widening my page screen some years ago really bolloxed by earlier formatting.
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October 18, 2015
Japan in 1887
...as imagined in 1987.
There may be some inaccuracies.
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