OOC Discussion

Kolson enlightened me a few weeks ago. One reason why anime characters say stuff we, the viewers, obviously can see?

So they can use the audio on radio drama and sell it on discs.

Japanese history/based on history. Never been a fan. Meanwhile, I just introduced myself to Rick and Morty and marathoned the first season. I was disappointed that it was only 11 episodes, but I am going to be hooked on that second season.

Zeiss wrote:Thanks for the summary. I could have googled it, but I wouldn't have the perspective of a fan.

No prob.

K wrote:I wonder if they'll ever adapt the Jinchuu Arc in any real format

I don't know if it's worth it to be honest. It tried to recapture the magic of the Kyoto Arc without ever matching its brilliance. If anything, I'd prefer to see an adventure staring Yahiko and Kenshin's son duking it out over who is the true heir to Kenshin's legacy. I always hoped the author would return and do it because that sounded fascinating. The idea would be that Kenshin's son is also a sword genius and manages to piece together his father's old fighting style from stories alone and would either use it to kill several people or challenge Yahiko to a duel. I don't remember 100% since it's been a while since I read the author's idea on it.

@Rory Yes, Rick and Morty is a brilliant series and is, in my opinion, the best American animated show at this time. I got the first season for Christmas so I'm looking forward to listening to the commentary. Apparently they become progressively more drunk as they watch the episodes to comment on them, at one point being forced by legal to rerecord one of the commentaries because of all the shit they said that could get them into real trouble.

I think the words were "More twisted than Saitou and more egomaniacal than Shishio". Still, unless Kenji were to be the actual villain, i don't really see it having much of a punch. This could be just me, but i think the action plot for RK was highly situational. You have a fledgling goverment that just came out of a war, with tons of former military and mercenaries that have either been abandoned in the gutter - like the Oniwabanshu, or straight up betrayed and slaughtered for their loyalty - like the Sekihoutai. All the main antagonists were born either out of that environment, or dredged up straight from Kenshin's past, which makes the backdrop for all the themes that resonate throughout the story. So, if you move up a generation, there stops being good context to create conflict with. Sure, there are always scoundrels lying around, but i don't think that's what RK was ever about (except for the filler arcs they had to pad the anime with, and we know all the good that did).

I was really hopeful we'd get a Jinchuu Arc when they announced the new OVAs a couple years back, but that turned out to be such a dud, it wasn't even funny. I'd very much prefer to see it animated rather than live, but i get the feeling you didn't think much of the movies.

I've never seen them so I have no opinion on them directly but I don't generally enjoy live action adaptations since manga, anime, and videogames run on different rules of acceptable believability. That includes aesthetics, combat methods, pacing, and the situations the characters find themselves in and how they react to them.

To pull an example directly from Kenshin, it made sense in the manga and anime for Yahiko to join the rest of Kenshin's group on the attack on Takeda Konryu's mansion so they could rescue Megumi. But later works have Yahiko staying behind. Why? Because he's just a kid. I don't want this kind of realism in the story I enjoy so I stick to the story I enjoy. It's as simple as that.

I also think you are super focusing on the main theme of Kenshin's story. That effectively ended in the Kyoto arc (Shishio represented the past and the sins of the Meiji government, Kenshin the future and a peaceful reconciler caught between his own past and future; the Oniwanbushu made peace with Kenshin, effectively reconciling the two factions also representing the past and future; Kenshin's friends have their finest hour in this arc, literally protecting Kyoto, and hence Japan and the future, from destruction.) Incidentally, that's also why I think the Jinchuu arc was ineffective and unnecessary. But that's a conversation we can have another time if you want.

But the other theme, of safeguarding the promise of the revolution, is a quest that will never end. Yahiko and Kenji are supposed to be the guardians of this quest and having them violently disagree on how best to execute it is a real tragedy. That's why I would want to see it and why I would want it to stand alone. I'm not looking for a sequel series here, just a companion tome or even a 2 hour movie.

I get that. I had said earlier that i'm not crazy about live action adaptations, and that's a big part of the why of it. The trick here is that, at least to me, the movies offer enough substance of their own that i was willing to shift my lens and give them a shot. I only watched the first one because it was recommended, and i went in expecting something in the realm of crap, but i liked it because they were able to bring their own thing to the table. It's by no means perfect, but it's the only adaptation of an anime that i actually recommend, for whatever that's worth.

A remastered version of the original Resident Evil will be available on the 20th. Normally I wouldn't get hyped about this, but it has the goods. Detailed graphics. Better resolutions. Animated 3d models. Post-processing effects. Widescreen support. New sound.

And the clincher, the clincher for me: new controls and full controller support! Look and turn with one stick, move in all directions with the other. What's that, grandpa? Prefer the old movement scheme? You can switch with the press of a button, so shaddap and let me have this moment.

I've my eyes on BBCP Extend, coming out late April, and Guilty Gear Xrd. Money's a problem, though.

K's love for Arc System Works' games reminded me that I didn't watch the latest Bururaji since I have reinstalled windows 7 in this machine. so might as well do that now.

I didn't know they were still at it. All i've watched of that show is the odd episode that shows up on YT.

I might buy Resident Evil HD. If it's good. My father asked me to find him a game to play and something simple like the first Resident Evil might do the trick.

They have slowed down significantly, but yeah, still at it, Nicodouga being the best place to watch them. In fact, the last two episodes are about GGXrd, with Ky's and Sol's voice actors as guests.

Nico's subbing them, or do you speak japanese?

Also, are we talking Ishiwatari or George?

Oh right, sorry. Man, it's so easy to forget people don't know japanese even tho they are into anime, manga, etc.

I do indeed speak japanese, and I doubt ASW is doing anything to sub Bururaji.

I speak Animese. It's like Japanese, only you can understand it a lot better since they keep saying anime terms all the time, making you think you can actually speak japanese (until you hear real japanese and realise you can barely understand half of it). I can watch japanese movies raw, relatively unhindered, but that's bout my limit.

Did you study it or live near a Japanese community or something?

Both my english and japanese are mostly self-taught, as I wished to play games in their native language, and later in life, watch anime and read manga in raw.
So yeah, I just immersed myself in raw media, got a physical portuguese-japanese dictionary AND a JP-JP dictionary, and things kinda went upwards from there slowly but surely. And years later, Internet became a thing, which made things easier. That's the story.

You got some guts. The closest i ever got to reading raw was the Katakana on KH FM and Berserk, and i forgot most of it by now.

More like I didn't have a real choice in the matter, as every 2-3 years meant moving to another state, so it was either that or not learning at all. And as a kid, not doing stuff you really want to because it's difficult is not a valid choice.

Oh, and Bloodbourne. I so want to shoot From Software in the feet for making it a PS4 exclusive. That's so evil of them.

Bloodbourne. Anger. Lots of anger.

I'd just like to say both of you are way smarter than me because I can't understand Japanese for anything.

Well, i could never GM, so there.

And I lack the understanding of the meaning of life, videogames, and everything. So double there.

Well, I'm more intelligent than any of you. I win.



*is backstabbed by the Lord Butterfly*

Except possibly for me.

Because I felt like showing off.

The friendly bots:

What has my life become?