The long awaited second track off of Traveling Companion is revealed!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7aJUxoJXG1E
Friday, October 14, 2011
Thursday, September 8, 2011
An Ass Load of Short Video Game Reviews
Score: 10
The irreplaceable first moment I realized that games were art. The music, visual style and gameplay all come together perfectly in this delicious enchilada of awesome. An amazingly creative, subversive, offbeat experience that can be found nowhere else... except maybe the sequel.
Jet Set Radio Future
Sega (2002)
This sequel took everything awesome about Jet Set Radio to the next logical step, by making it even more insane. You could move around more freely, grind into infinity, do more elaborate tricks, tag in half the time and kill airplanes with spray-paint. The soundtrack is once again amazing. It's a bigger game but feels ever-so-slightly less focused than it's predecessor.
Skies of Arcadia
Sega (2000)
Score: 10
This top notch JRPG is a thing of wonder. The vast airborne world is more interesting and beautiful than anything seen in a Final Fantasy game, the characters and storyline are heartwarming and memorable, and the gameplay is strategic and deep. This game is a grand, lush adventure that you will find yourself longing to return to again and again.
Halo: Combat Evolved
Bungie Studios (2001)
Score: 10
If you're speaking in terms of good, plain fun, Halo is an unparallelled experience. A thrill ride from start to finish, this sci-fi first person shooter single-handedly upped the ante for all shooters to come. It's cinematic, epic, and just gigantic feeling. This Xbox launch title was kick in the pants that the game industry needed at the time.
GoldenEye 007
Rare (1997)
Score: 10
The first great console shooter may not hold up so well today, but for its time it was an superbly crafted experience the was completely unparalleled. Always good for a fun-filled nostalgia trip.
Silent Hill 2
Konami (2001)
Score: 10
The best story ever written for a video game and indeed one of the best stories ever written period. Poetically understated and tinged with sadness and despair, this twisted story is the type of thing that may haunt you for the rest of your life. One of the very finest video game experiences of all time.
Silent Hill 3
Konami (2003)
Score: 10
The last truly great Silent Hill game gives us the most vivid look into the hellish Otherworld. This is actually one of the very best looking games ever made. With darkness, blood and rust covering most of the game world, the things that do pop into focus are beautifully rendered. The story gives some closure to the thread started in the first Silent Hill, wrapping up one of the greatest trilogies of games ever made.
Silent Hill 4: The Room
Konami (2004)
Score: 7.5
Team Silent's red headed stepchild is still measurably better than most survival-horror games. Ditching the familiar gameplay of the first three Silent Hills for a more "experimental" approach proved to be a mixed bag, but when the game is at its best, it contains some of the most frighteningly bizarre imagery of the series and one of the most engrossing plots.
Silent Hill: Origins
Climax Group (2007)
Score: 7.0
This compact Silent Hill adventure feels the most like the original Silent Hill out of any other game in the series. As a result, it feels like a bit of a rehash. If you like the other games in the series, you will probably like this one too, just be warned that it is probably the least compelling entry because it's the least ambitious.
Silent Hill Homecoming
Konami (2008)
Score: 8.0
The sixth Silent Hill game is the strongest since the original trilogy. A very welcome change was made to the combat, and even made sense in the context of the story, which is full of great moments that longtime Silent Hill fans with either greatly appreciate or relentlessly bash. There are some pretty glaring flaws, (slider-box and wire puzzles, I'm looking at you) but overall, this is a scary yet entertaining journey even if it does lack a certain element of Japanese insanity.
Silent Hill: Shattered Memories
Climax Group (2009)
Score: 7.0
This strange entry into the Silent Hill saga masquerades as a remake of the original, although in reality they look, feel and play nothing alike. There's nothing wrong with that though, as this game ends up feeling like the most unique, far removed experience of any of the games in the series. There are some brilliant mechanics at work here, like psychologically profiling the player- I just wished it was pulled off a bit more smoothly. The biggest problem with this game is that it isn't very scary and focuses entirely on puzzle solving, as opposed to combat. In the end, It's still a recommendable game because of its sheer uniqueness.
Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly
Tecmo (2003)
Score: 8.5
Possibly the most frightening video game ever made. The game is designed to mercilessly torment the player, who is constantly forced to confront horrific apparitions up close and personal, thanks to the ingenious implementation of a camera-lens view. The story is also very intriguing, concerning extremely disturbing Japanese sacrifice rituals.
Enslaved: Odyssey to the West
Ninja Theory (2010)
Score: 6.5
Enslaved feels like a genuine effort on the part of its designers, and in some ways it comes together magnificently. However, an extra layer of polish would have been greatly appreciated. On the positive side, the dialogue and mo-cap acting is really superb. The characters have a very human quality to them and you end up caring quite a bit about the plot. The world and atmosphere is great. The problem with this game is that it feels unfinished- there are some janky glitches, frustrating restrictions on movement and a pretty atrocious frame rate when things heat up. This is definitely a case of a game that looks more visually impressive when it's not moving. That being said, it is still a relatively fun, if simple and short experience.
Beyond Good & Evil
Ubisoft (2003)
Score: 6.5
I remember being turned off by this game's art style back when it was released, but after eight years of hearing about what I was missing out on, I took the plunge. I still feel the same way about the art. The cool green color palette does not work for me and the character design are downright laughable in many cases. Anyway, I digress. The game itself is fun, if short and kind of generic feeling. Button mashing, puzzle solving, sneaking, photography and driving all play a part in the experience, some more interestingly than others. There are certainly moments when you realize that you are having a great time, but by the time you are really getting into it, it just ends. Glad I haven't been waiting for the sequel these past eight years.
Vanquish
Platinum Games (2010)
Score: 9.0
Platinum Games strikes again! In similar fashion to Bayonetta being a perfected revision of the Devil May Cry formula, Vanquish is a perfection of the Gears of War formula. This game is one pulse pounding encounter after another, taking on waves of increasingly insane amounts of enemies. Pay no attention to the retarded story, and just enjoy it for the thrill ride that it is. It's very rare that you feel quite this powerful in a game, given the ability to slow down time and rocket boost all over the battle field, and the game encourages you really take risks and go balls to the wall. The game is stunningly produced, with graphics and frame-rate never taking a hit, even when there is pure mayhem occurring on-screen in this amazing shooter.
Alien Front Online
Sega (2001)
Score: 6.0
One of the very first online console games and a fun, if simplistic, one at that. That microphone attachment for the Dreamcast controller was hilariously dumb looking.
inFAMOUS
Sucker Punch (2009)
Score: 7.5
By far the most violent T rated game I can think of, this game lets you unleash a torrent of destruction on helpless citizens. Of course, this all factors into whether you are good or evil but trust me when I say that it is far more fun to be evil. Anyway, Infamous gives you an impressive amount of freedom. I have not seen any other sandbox game that lets you feel like a legitimate superhero (or villain) like this one does. It's a fun romp not to be taken too seriously, as the plot and characters are nothing noteworthy.
Resistance: Fall of Man
Insomniac Games (2006)
Score: 6.0
When I think about how I rate games, I divide the quality into two categories: how well the programmers did their job and how well the artists did theirs. In other words, one part is how the game plays and the other is how the game looks, sounds and tells a story. From a gameplay perspective, there is nothing really wrong with Resistance. It's your standard sci-fi first person shooter. Artistically, this game is about as interesting as the crumpled up piece of tin foil so many of its environments look like. And this coming from the minds who created the lush and colorful worlds of Ratchet and Clank seems like a huge misfire. The only part of the Insomniac flavor that remains is some creative guns, but even they are tame in comparison to R&C.
New Super Mario Bros.
Nintendo (2006)
Score: 7.5
Damn. I guess I didn't realize how difficult the 2D Mario games are compared to the 3D ones. This tight platformer requires nearly scientific timing and precision to complete 100%. It's a fun and addictive game that utilizes many of the more recent additions to Mario's skills with the original Mario gameplay. It may not do anything particularly awe-inspiring, but it has solid, time tested mechanics and character to boot.
Demon's Souls
From Software (2009)
Score: 9.5
The sense of accomplishment one receives from progressing through this game is unparalleled. The journey is dauntingly perilous and not for those who have little patience, but the asymmetrical multiplayer component adds a unique twist that elevates this game into the stuff of legend. When the book is closed on the PS3, this will without a doubt be remembered as one of its finest games.
Shadows of the Damned
Grasshopper Manufacture (2011)
Score: 8.0
It's a bit rough around the edges, but what Shadows of the Damned lacks in finesse, it more than makes up for in creativity. Lake Suda51's previous games, this one will be polarizing, but if you are a fan of Resident Evil, Silent Hill, Killer 7, and No More Heroes, you owe it to yourself to check it out. It's like a smoothie of all of those things. Steering away from full-on horror into grindhouse territory, it is every bit as fun and stupid as the movies it tries to emulate. Add that to some of the most bizarre imagery and great music found in any game these days, and you have something that feels unique and full of character. So here's to Suda51 and his gang of freaks. May they continue being the wild card in gaming for a very long time.
Dead Space 2
Visceral Games (2011)
Score: 8.5
Dead Space 2 is an extremely polished, intense sequel to a game that was already those things. Dead Space 2's main weakness would have to be its lack of innovation from the original. It literally felt like a continuation of the first game. That okay though, since Dead Space was an extremely enjoyable modern survival horror experience. While I might bemoan the death of the classic survival horror genre, the fact of the matter is that I have a lot of respect for the Dead Space series carrying the torch for survival horror in the modern age. Sure, it's not as scary as the old Silent Hills, Resident Evils or Fatal Frames, it's a bit to easy, and many areas look identical. However, It's a thrill ride that's full of great (and gory) moments.
The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
Nintendo (2007)
Score: 7.5
Although I'm not a Zelda completest, this is without a doubt the blandest the series has gotten for me. Basically a side story to Wind Waker, this game takes place in a similar ocean-like world. Even the art style, while greatly simplified is very similar Wind Waker's. Obviously if you hated that game, don't even bother with this one. It's not like you are missing a fundamental piece of the Zelda saga. There are clever uses of the DS hardware like having your map present and editable at all times, weird quirks like having to blow into the system to put out flames, and a bit of variety to classic Zelda gameplay. What bothers me most is the childishly simple dialogue and the devilishly difficult and repetitive Ocean King Temple. Still, Zelda!
Catherine
Atlus (2011)
Score: 9.5
Yeah, at its core it's a relatively simple puzzle game, but there is so much love put into every inch of Catherine, it feels like so much more. Like the Persona games, this gem is full of great characters, witty dialogue, and a story that gets progressively weirder and more entertaining. The anime inspired Persona visuals really come into their own here too, a stunning mix of bold graphic colors, creative and disturbing monsters, expressive characters and atmospheric environments. What's really amazing about Catherine though, is that what would appear to be a repetitive rinse and repeat cycle of puzzle solving and character interaction never, for a single second, gets old, a testament to the clever pacing of both the story and gameplay.
Resident Evil (GC)
Capcom (2002)
Score: 9.5
Along with Resident Evil 4 and Silent Hill 2, the Resident Evil Remake on the Gamecube deserves the very highest honors bestowed upon a survival horror videogame. As a remake and overall improvement of the game that single-handedly invented the genre itself, this should be considered absolutely essential to anyone interested in survival horror. It is the one Resident Evil game that can honestly be considered terrifying and features the tightest version of the "old school" Resident Evil game mechanics. Before Resident Evil became a phenomenon, spawning a plethora of dubious and campy diversions, it was a story about about one extremely creepy mansion and the struggle to escape.
The irreplaceable first moment I realized that games were art. The music, visual style and gameplay all come together perfectly in this delicious enchilada of awesome. An amazingly creative, subversive, offbeat experience that can be found nowhere else... except maybe the sequel.
Jet Set Radio Future
Sega (2002)
This sequel took everything awesome about Jet Set Radio to the next logical step, by making it even more insane. You could move around more freely, grind into infinity, do more elaborate tricks, tag in half the time and kill airplanes with spray-paint. The soundtrack is once again amazing. It's a bigger game but feels ever-so-slightly less focused than it's predecessor.
Skies of Arcadia
Sega (2000)
Score: 10
This top notch JRPG is a thing of wonder. The vast airborne world is more interesting and beautiful than anything seen in a Final Fantasy game, the characters and storyline are heartwarming and memorable, and the gameplay is strategic and deep. This game is a grand, lush adventure that you will find yourself longing to return to again and again.
Halo: Combat Evolved
Bungie Studios (2001)
Score: 10
If you're speaking in terms of good, plain fun, Halo is an unparallelled experience. A thrill ride from start to finish, this sci-fi first person shooter single-handedly upped the ante for all shooters to come. It's cinematic, epic, and just gigantic feeling. This Xbox launch title was kick in the pants that the game industry needed at the time.
GoldenEye 007
Rare (1997)
Score: 10
The first great console shooter may not hold up so well today, but for its time it was an superbly crafted experience the was completely unparalleled. Always good for a fun-filled nostalgia trip.
Silent Hill 2
Konami (2001)
Score: 10
The best story ever written for a video game and indeed one of the best stories ever written period. Poetically understated and tinged with sadness and despair, this twisted story is the type of thing that may haunt you for the rest of your life. One of the very finest video game experiences of all time.
Silent Hill 3
Konami (2003)
Score: 10
The last truly great Silent Hill game gives us the most vivid look into the hellish Otherworld. This is actually one of the very best looking games ever made. With darkness, blood and rust covering most of the game world, the things that do pop into focus are beautifully rendered. The story gives some closure to the thread started in the first Silent Hill, wrapping up one of the greatest trilogies of games ever made.
Silent Hill 4: The Room
Konami (2004)
Score: 7.5
Team Silent's red headed stepchild is still measurably better than most survival-horror games. Ditching the familiar gameplay of the first three Silent Hills for a more "experimental" approach proved to be a mixed bag, but when the game is at its best, it contains some of the most frighteningly bizarre imagery of the series and one of the most engrossing plots.
Silent Hill: Origins
Climax Group (2007)
Score: 7.0
This compact Silent Hill adventure feels the most like the original Silent Hill out of any other game in the series. As a result, it feels like a bit of a rehash. If you like the other games in the series, you will probably like this one too, just be warned that it is probably the least compelling entry because it's the least ambitious.
Silent Hill Homecoming
Konami (2008)
Score: 8.0
The sixth Silent Hill game is the strongest since the original trilogy. A very welcome change was made to the combat, and even made sense in the context of the story, which is full of great moments that longtime Silent Hill fans with either greatly appreciate or relentlessly bash. There are some pretty glaring flaws, (slider-box and wire puzzles, I'm looking at you) but overall, this is a scary yet entertaining journey even if it does lack a certain element of Japanese insanity.
Silent Hill: Shattered Memories
Climax Group (2009)
Score: 7.0
This strange entry into the Silent Hill saga masquerades as a remake of the original, although in reality they look, feel and play nothing alike. There's nothing wrong with that though, as this game ends up feeling like the most unique, far removed experience of any of the games in the series. There are some brilliant mechanics at work here, like psychologically profiling the player- I just wished it was pulled off a bit more smoothly. The biggest problem with this game is that it isn't very scary and focuses entirely on puzzle solving, as opposed to combat. In the end, It's still a recommendable game because of its sheer uniqueness.
Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly
Tecmo (2003)
Score: 8.5
Possibly the most frightening video game ever made. The game is designed to mercilessly torment the player, who is constantly forced to confront horrific apparitions up close and personal, thanks to the ingenious implementation of a camera-lens view. The story is also very intriguing, concerning extremely disturbing Japanese sacrifice rituals.
Enslaved: Odyssey to the West
Ninja Theory (2010)
Score: 6.5
Enslaved feels like a genuine effort on the part of its designers, and in some ways it comes together magnificently. However, an extra layer of polish would have been greatly appreciated. On the positive side, the dialogue and mo-cap acting is really superb. The characters have a very human quality to them and you end up caring quite a bit about the plot. The world and atmosphere is great. The problem with this game is that it feels unfinished- there are some janky glitches, frustrating restrictions on movement and a pretty atrocious frame rate when things heat up. This is definitely a case of a game that looks more visually impressive when it's not moving. That being said, it is still a relatively fun, if simple and short experience.
Beyond Good & Evil
Ubisoft (2003)
Score: 6.5
I remember being turned off by this game's art style back when it was released, but after eight years of hearing about what I was missing out on, I took the plunge. I still feel the same way about the art. The cool green color palette does not work for me and the character design are downright laughable in many cases. Anyway, I digress. The game itself is fun, if short and kind of generic feeling. Button mashing, puzzle solving, sneaking, photography and driving all play a part in the experience, some more interestingly than others. There are certainly moments when you realize that you are having a great time, but by the time you are really getting into it, it just ends. Glad I haven't been waiting for the sequel these past eight years.
Vanquish
Platinum Games (2010)
Score: 9.0
Platinum Games strikes again! In similar fashion to Bayonetta being a perfected revision of the Devil May Cry formula, Vanquish is a perfection of the Gears of War formula. This game is one pulse pounding encounter after another, taking on waves of increasingly insane amounts of enemies. Pay no attention to the retarded story, and just enjoy it for the thrill ride that it is. It's very rare that you feel quite this powerful in a game, given the ability to slow down time and rocket boost all over the battle field, and the game encourages you really take risks and go balls to the wall. The game is stunningly produced, with graphics and frame-rate never taking a hit, even when there is pure mayhem occurring on-screen in this amazing shooter.
Alien Front Online
Sega (2001)
Score: 6.0
One of the very first online console games and a fun, if simplistic, one at that. That microphone attachment for the Dreamcast controller was hilariously dumb looking.
inFAMOUS
Sucker Punch (2009)
Score: 7.5
By far the most violent T rated game I can think of, this game lets you unleash a torrent of destruction on helpless citizens. Of course, this all factors into whether you are good or evil but trust me when I say that it is far more fun to be evil. Anyway, Infamous gives you an impressive amount of freedom. I have not seen any other sandbox game that lets you feel like a legitimate superhero (or villain) like this one does. It's a fun romp not to be taken too seriously, as the plot and characters are nothing noteworthy.
Resistance: Fall of Man
Insomniac Games (2006)
Score: 6.0
When I think about how I rate games, I divide the quality into two categories: how well the programmers did their job and how well the artists did theirs. In other words, one part is how the game plays and the other is how the game looks, sounds and tells a story. From a gameplay perspective, there is nothing really wrong with Resistance. It's your standard sci-fi first person shooter. Artistically, this game is about as interesting as the crumpled up piece of tin foil so many of its environments look like. And this coming from the minds who created the lush and colorful worlds of Ratchet and Clank seems like a huge misfire. The only part of the Insomniac flavor that remains is some creative guns, but even they are tame in comparison to R&C.
New Super Mario Bros.
Nintendo (2006)
Score: 7.5
Damn. I guess I didn't realize how difficult the 2D Mario games are compared to the 3D ones. This tight platformer requires nearly scientific timing and precision to complete 100%. It's a fun and addictive game that utilizes many of the more recent additions to Mario's skills with the original Mario gameplay. It may not do anything particularly awe-inspiring, but it has solid, time tested mechanics and character to boot.
Demon's Souls
From Software (2009)
Score: 9.5
The sense of accomplishment one receives from progressing through this game is unparalleled. The journey is dauntingly perilous and not for those who have little patience, but the asymmetrical multiplayer component adds a unique twist that elevates this game into the stuff of legend. When the book is closed on the PS3, this will without a doubt be remembered as one of its finest games.
Shadows of the Damned
Grasshopper Manufacture (2011)
Score: 8.0
It's a bit rough around the edges, but what Shadows of the Damned lacks in finesse, it more than makes up for in creativity. Lake Suda51's previous games, this one will be polarizing, but if you are a fan of Resident Evil, Silent Hill, Killer 7, and No More Heroes, you owe it to yourself to check it out. It's like a smoothie of all of those things. Steering away from full-on horror into grindhouse territory, it is every bit as fun and stupid as the movies it tries to emulate. Add that to some of the most bizarre imagery and great music found in any game these days, and you have something that feels unique and full of character. So here's to Suda51 and his gang of freaks. May they continue being the wild card in gaming for a very long time.
Dead Space 2
Visceral Games (2011)
Score: 8.5
Dead Space 2 is an extremely polished, intense sequel to a game that was already those things. Dead Space 2's main weakness would have to be its lack of innovation from the original. It literally felt like a continuation of the first game. That okay though, since Dead Space was an extremely enjoyable modern survival horror experience. While I might bemoan the death of the classic survival horror genre, the fact of the matter is that I have a lot of respect for the Dead Space series carrying the torch for survival horror in the modern age. Sure, it's not as scary as the old Silent Hills, Resident Evils or Fatal Frames, it's a bit to easy, and many areas look identical. However, It's a thrill ride that's full of great (and gory) moments.
The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
Nintendo (2007)
Score: 7.5
Although I'm not a Zelda completest, this is without a doubt the blandest the series has gotten for me. Basically a side story to Wind Waker, this game takes place in a similar ocean-like world. Even the art style, while greatly simplified is very similar Wind Waker's. Obviously if you hated that game, don't even bother with this one. It's not like you are missing a fundamental piece of the Zelda saga. There are clever uses of the DS hardware like having your map present and editable at all times, weird quirks like having to blow into the system to put out flames, and a bit of variety to classic Zelda gameplay. What bothers me most is the childishly simple dialogue and the devilishly difficult and repetitive Ocean King Temple. Still, Zelda!
Catherine
Atlus (2011)
Score: 9.5
Yeah, at its core it's a relatively simple puzzle game, but there is so much love put into every inch of Catherine, it feels like so much more. Like the Persona games, this gem is full of great characters, witty dialogue, and a story that gets progressively weirder and more entertaining. The anime inspired Persona visuals really come into their own here too, a stunning mix of bold graphic colors, creative and disturbing monsters, expressive characters and atmospheric environments. What's really amazing about Catherine though, is that what would appear to be a repetitive rinse and repeat cycle of puzzle solving and character interaction never, for a single second, gets old, a testament to the clever pacing of both the story and gameplay.
Resident Evil (GC)
Capcom (2002)
Score: 9.5
Along with Resident Evil 4 and Silent Hill 2, the Resident Evil Remake on the Gamecube deserves the very highest honors bestowed upon a survival horror videogame. As a remake and overall improvement of the game that single-handedly invented the genre itself, this should be considered absolutely essential to anyone interested in survival horror. It is the one Resident Evil game that can honestly be considered terrifying and features the tightest version of the "old school" Resident Evil game mechanics. Before Resident Evil became a phenomenon, spawning a plethora of dubious and campy diversions, it was a story about about one extremely creepy mansion and the struggle to escape.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
The Lavender Shadowfish- Ticonderoga
It is my honor to present the very first single from The Lavender Shadowfish, Ticonderoga, off our upcoming album, Traveling Companion. This song is inspired by the battle of Ticonderoga, in the American Revolution. Every American owes it to their country to listen to this song. It's like 4th of July fireworks inside your brain. But less gory. maybe.
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Anime Review- Darker Than Black
Score: 8/10
The premise of the story, where in select humans are given super powers in a catastrophic accident, is not particularly unique. However, the show manages to tackle the same topic that many have before without feeling stale at all. Although the idea is not new, Darker Than Black manages to stay fresh by examining the dilemmas of its rich cast of characters in believable and interesting ways. Nearly all of the the characters have fleshed out back-stories, many of which are very compelling. Even characters who initially seem 2-dimensional and unlikable, like the syndicate affiliated Huang, come into their own and become extremely sympathetic.
The story even has a sense of irony and poetic justice, as the "contractors" (as these super humans are called) must make payments for their powers. This may consist of smoking a cigarette, aligning objects into obscure patterns, composing a poem, or a whole plethora of bizarre and sometimes fitting punishments. The reason for these payments, like many other aspects of the plot (including the catastrophe that gave these individuals their powers) is kept fairly vague. It's a decision for the better undoubtedly, as it creates an air of mystery and confusion throughout the series. It's best to not dwell on the things that are unexplained and simply enjoy the narrative as it unfolds with the scarce explanation that is provided. Really, I still don't know exactly what the story was about, and I'm completely fine with that. All I know is that it was a pretty damn good ride- one that I won't soon forget.
The other piece that makes Darker Than Black so enjoyable is the quality of art, music and voices. Bones studio, most famous for their Fullmetal Alchemist adaptations, are behind this series and bring their accomplished and highly professional look to it. Character models are consistent and expressive, backgrounds are atmospheric and convincing, and there is nary a moments of weak animation to take you out of the experience. The overall visual tone is extremely even too, avoiding the pitfalls of low-budget middle sections that many series find themselves in. Opting out of cartoonish anime "shorthand", the series is a decidedly serious looking one, if not necessarily always as serious feeling show, as moments of levity are strategically placed throughout the narrative.
Darker Than Black, for all of its strengths, does leave i bit to be desired. I haven't watched the second series yet, but honestly a series should stand on its own without using the possibility of a second as a crutch. Without revealing anything, I will say that it doesn't end on its strongest foot, leaving you a bit high and dry. Also, I kind of with things had gotten a bit more bizarre and surreal. There were certainly signs pointing in that direction, and even plot elements that would make contextual sense for things to get more psychological. This isn't the mindfuck that it could have been, but I suppose not all things can be. One can dream.
Anime Review- Full Metal Panic!
There is literally nothing about Full Metal Panic! that adds up to being anything more than derivative. It's filled with cliched characters and scenarios, the animation looks horrendous by today's (2011) standards, the voice acting is extremely hollow with only a couple exceptions, the writing is unintentionally laughable frequently, plot threads are started but never resolved, there's pointless filler episodes, etc, etc.
Never has the urge been so strong to stop watching an anime half way through, that exact point being a confoundedly stupid episode in which men in giant robots compete at table tennis and tug of war. Don't get me wrong, this show is actually best at its most lighthearted. Unfortunately, this is one of those cases where the goofiness and seriousness are so awkwardly juxtaposed, that it ends up feeling like idiocy that takes itself very seriously.
Maybe there's something I'm missing here, but I can't find anything redeeming about this series. If it were older, I might be able to see as an influence to the giant robot genre, but 2002 really wasn't that long ago. It really kind of feels like a relic that would have been more at home in the early days of the genre, with the likes of Gundam, and Gunbuster.
I realize that maybe I'm being overly critical of something that is just meant to be casually enjoyed and not dissected and analyzed like the best anime can hold up to, but if every step of the way, you are wondering why you are bothering to watch, it's not worth it.
Saturday, June 18, 2011
The Lavender Shadowfish Traveling Companion
about. The Lavender Shadowfish project is on the verge of realization. Be prepared for an experience unrivaled and unprecedented. For all of the fans of Homie S's musical indulgences and Dirty Midnighter's artworks and writings, get psyched for for your mind and soul to get blown, courtesy of The Lavender Shadowfish Traveling Companion. Stay tuned...
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Anime Review- Lucky Star
Coming off the heels of the heartstring tugging K-On!! and the absurdly funny Azumanga Daioh, I found Lucky Star a bit flat. Of the three shows, Lucky Star is by far the most self-aware. It knows exactly what it is and who it is trying to appeal to, and upon achieving that, seeks to do no more. While all of these moe-centric shows are murderously slow and ultimately go practically nowhere as far as plot is concerned, they are redeemed by their breezily entertaining demeanor once you settle into them. Moments of true comedic brilliance shine through every once in a while and even moments of genuine depth are displayed. Lucky Star just doesn't have as many of these moments as its competition. Konata, the main character, is the one unique aspect of the show, essentially a female personification of the otaku lifestyle that many viewers will identify with. Her insights and quips about the obsessive and bizarre nature of otaku culture are by far, the show's best moments- and the most absurd. A certain re-occurring plot theme involving Konata and a group of impassioned manga shop clerks, who idealize her as the otaku's dream girl, are particularly funny because they seem to be in on the show's joke. The gleefully bizarre, Vocaloid referencing OVA conclusion is also a highlight.
The big problem is that the rest of the time, when the show is in typical schoolgirl moe-show mode, it's just kinda boring. The banter between the four main girls is less nuanced than K-On!!'s and far less abstract than Azumanga Daioh's weirder moments. It's just cookie cutter characters exchanging mundane dialogue about nothing in particular. Look no further than the first episode's 15 minute pastry conversation for an example of the general pacing of the show.
Lucky Star takes it's look from the 4-panel manga by the same name. The characters are ultra-chibi to the point of being a bit on the overly-simplified side. Their faces don't really emote much. Where as K-On!!'s characters displayed a surprising amount of depth in their subtle facial animations, the same care wasn't taken by KyoAni on this series. I suppose it falls in line with the fact that these characters just don't have the same degree of believability or human attraction.
Lucky Star may have waned in popularity since K-On!! seemingly took it's place as the epitome of moe anime. Despite a decreased distance between the viewer, the main character essentially serving as a bridge, Lucky Star ultimately shies away from ever taking itself seriously enough to be little more the most derivative thing that moe can be- a sly parody of the schoolgirl tropes aware of it's exploitative nature.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Video Game Review- Fatal Frame 3: The Tormented
Despair. Exhaustion. Agony. Not exactly words you would typically want to hear associated with a video game. All the same, the survival horror genre has made it's mark on the history of video games by forcing its players to experience these very emotions. It's an essential part of what makes the games what they are and if you take it away, they become nothing more than extremely clunky action adventure games. By the same token, the survival horror genre is granted a good deal of leniency to mess with gamers, whether it be in the form of incoherent plot, unfair difficulty, shoddy controls and camera, or just plain bad gameplay because, you know, it's designed that way to screw with you. The high water mark of the survival horror genre happened when this concept was still novel and intriguing, the emphasis was put into the art, story and music, and before games, in general, became so damn streamlined. To narrow it down to a single game, this high water mark would be 2001's Silent Hill 2, a game that was equally terrifying, enigmatic, heartbreaking, and somehow beautiful. Although it was painful to play and not what you would call a "fun" video game, it was a towering achievement in the argument for video games as art because it sought to elicit the emotions that the main protagonist would feel in the given scenario, and it achieved this perhaps more so than any other video game… ever.
The Fatal Frame series is famed for being the third wheel of the survival horror golden age. While Resident Evil was more fun and Silent Hill had the best stories, Fatal Frame had the distinction of being the scariest. Its novel idea of having you enter a first-person camera mode to combat ghosts set it apart and gave the series it's greatest strength- the sheer terror of having a ghastly apparition rush towards your face, emitting a horrid shriek. It's fucking scary- as scary in the third entry into the series as it was before. So why is it that Fatal Frame 3 isn't another stellar addition to the survival horror pantheon?
Fatal Frame 3: The Tormented might be one of the most aptly named games ever made. Tormented is exactly how I would describe my experience in this game. Imagine, if you will, a nightmare where you continually roam a creepy haunted manor being constantly scared shitless and having no idea where to go or what to do. That is both the concept AND the story of this game and the game. You taken the role of three kids as they take turns wandering (very slowly) through the same dilapidated Japanese manor unlocking doors and battling ghosts… in their dreams! Because the game sticks to this concept or a reoccurring nightmare so faithfully, it can be hard to fault the game for being so exhaustingly repetitive. The extreme difficulty and ghosts that refuse to die seem to reinforce the idea that the game is, in fact, fucking with you and you are supposed to be miserable. This is survival horror, after all.
Then you come to realize that the game is just plain evil. It literally never gives you any decent hints as to where you are supposed to go, making every stage of the game an entire manor-wide search for something slightly different, running from the same ghosts who you already killed, who take away half of your health the second they touch you. Said manor is where the entire game takes place. It's definitely big, but it's not enormous either. Every step of the game, you keep thinking "I've got to be able to leave soon right?" Wrong. Just to put things into perspective, it's about the size of the Spencer mansion in Resident Evil. Just the actual mansion part. That's the entire game. Oh, and the real kicker is that the game took me 20 hours to beat! If you've ever played a survival horror game, you know that there is something seriously wrong here. These type of games never last for more than ten hours. Honestly, you wouldn't want them to last any longer. Hell, Silent Hill 3 only clocks in at about 5 hours! By the end you are fried and just want to see the thing to its bloody resolution. Fatal Frame 3 could have been easily chopped in half and it would have been a much slicker, easily digestible experience. Instead, it chooses to be this long, arduous, gradual descent into utter despair.
There is a metric ton of backtracking in this game. That's what the game essentially it. You have this manor to wander around, and you have to find a bunch of things, unlock a bunch of doors, kill a bunch of ghosts in the same rooms over and over and over again. Sound miserable? Yeah it is. Pair this antagonistic level design with the fact that the game is just downright pants-shiningly scary and you have a surefire game that you will always dread playing.
I mean, if you look at the game purely in terms of its ability to make you scream like a girl, its at the top of its class. The sound design is very high quality and the voices, singing, and droning sounds you hear around the mansion will put you on edge so that when a ghost pops out, often times you just lose it. Certain scenarios are set up just to make you freak out too. Here's an example: A doll randomly falls off a dresser in an eerily still room. When you bring the viewfinder of your camera up to get a better look, there is a bloody eyed ghost an inch away from your face who promptly releases a ear shattering scream and contorts her face to a demented scowl as she lunges at you. As a side note, I find it extremely odd that the faces of the ghosts are so able to convey a wide range of convincing and horrific expressions, yet the protagonists are the among most emotionless, expressionless wind-up-dolls you will find in any game.
In the end, the story is decent. More importantly, actually, is the wealth of expansions made to the overarching mythology of the series. The games all concern various fictional-yet-believable sacrificial rituals that supposedly took place in traditional Japan. Each one of this is delightfully twisted, poetic and heartbreaking. They are what the games are really about, not the adventures of slow-moving Japanese kids with magic cameras. Fatal Frame 3 is a decidedly weaker outing than Fatal Frame 2 because it seems like the developers half assed a lot of aspects of the game. The area of the game is significantly smaller. Not enough time was spent on distinguishing the progression of the game. It's lopsided to the point where you can access all but a couple rooms only a third of the way into the game. There are a few new half baked mechanics, like a home base, that never pay off. Hell, there's even less variety of ghosts than before. It's obvious that the game was a downgrade from it's predecessor in almost every regard. So, while you could say that in some regards, Fatal Frame 3 is an agonizing experience by design (and I would agree), it does not make up for the fact that it is essentially a borderline broken game. Very few games have been this difficult for me to finish, based mainly on the fact that every time I looked at the box, I got a deep sinking feeling in my gut. This game should be commended however, for being on of the most hardcore survival horror experience anywhere. I thoroughly believe that if you can make it through this, you can make it through anything.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Anime Review: Gankutsuo- The Count of Monte Cristo
While I will admit that I have not read of the classic revenge novel, The Count of Monte Cristo, Gankutsuo certainly appears to be a more interesting entry into the ever-growing heap of remakes of this tale. However, it failed to make a real impression. It certainly has some commendable qualities, but in the end, its jumbled and inconsistent visuals, stilted dialogue and murderously slow pace ruin any chance of redemption.
The most immediately striking thing about this series in the visual style. Let me make this clear- there is a difference between visual style and animation. The show's visual style is rather stunning. It's main trick is that it employs complex textures and patterns in the coloring of any and everything. This looks pretty cool as long as things are still. The animation, however, suffers greatly because when all of these detailed textures begin moving, all depth and illusion of real texture is lost. Instead of the designs moving with the items that they are transposed on top of, they just stay still. Thing look like jarring kaleidoscopic acid trips more often than not and its just way to much to take in. Interestingly, this visual style is actually extremely reminiscent of the way that thing seem to form complex patterns when under the influence of hallucinogenic drugs. Perhaps the first anime conceived on acid? Somehow I highly doubt it, actually.
Gankustsuo, overall, just ends up being a case of the good being slightly edged out by the bad. There is a good foundation plot from the original source material… but the they end up adding mechs, immortal demons, space travel and a plethora of needless non-sequitors. The story actually ends up in a very different place than the original tale, actually. While there is some genuine moments of emotion near the end of this overly-long series, the majority of the plot points are played out with the stilted melodrama of a high school play. The english voice actors, aside from the titular character, are awful. The main protagonist, Albert, is possibly the most whiny, insipid character I have witnessed in an anime, ever. The dialogue between him and best friend Franz is particularly uninspiring. It really is an example of just how bad anime translation can get, both actors doing what they can to make sense of a conversation that has more holes and ridiculous lines than the Matrix movies.
The setting of the show is a rather baffling juxtaposition of 19th century aristocratic France and science-fiction space-opera. The characters travel in space freely and battle in giant mechs, yet they still write letters on parchment and travel in horse drawn carriages. It's like the artists couldn't decide on a consistent motif so they just threw all of their influences into the tub and saw what came together. All of these sporadic technologies and settings create a lack of believable space and time. If you have no relatable setting and no relatable characters, what is there? Just a somewhat-interesting story which takes entirely too long to reach its climax. This series could have easily been a 13 episode series instead of a 26. My mind literally goes blank when trying to recall important plot points from the middle of the series. The big question of the series, whether or not the Count is really evil, just ends up being answered 3/4 of the way through when we find out his backstory. The 15 episodes after the beginning but before that are often mind-numbingly boring. I honestly struggled to finish this series along-side Lucky Star. Lucky Star, dammit!
Gankutsuo is actually pretty critical acclaimed and I'm not really sure why. Perhaps it's story is a subtle one, revealing itself slowly through repeated viewing ala Neon Genesis Evangelion. Maybe the dub is just garbage and left a bitter taste in my mouth. However, I really don't feel like this should weigh so heavily on the overall experience. Plenty of great pieces of entertainment has cheesy, stilted dialogue. Quentin Tarantino, anyone? Maybe it's the visuals, filled with ambition and moments of beauty but ending up looking like a few too many ideas thrown together. Gankutsuo wants to be a series that is sophisticated in the classic sense of French materialistic excess. However, as we see here, all that glitters in not gold.
Friday, February 18, 2011
Super College
I made this animation out of my own blood and tears. Please don't let them go to waste!
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Video Game Review: Red Dead Redemption
Best played in short bursts, Red Dead's campaign mode can come to be quite a grind to the finish. This is not a new problem for Rockstar, masters of the sandbox game format. I've played nearly all of their games since Grand Theft Auto 3, but actually finished only a few of them. I believe that this exposes an apparent flaw in the sandbox genre itself, or at least the way in which it has been presented in the past. So yeah, the appeal of the sandbox game is freedom. Freedom to go where you want and do what you want. To experiment in a living, breathing digital world. The campaign just kind of works around this already present world to give you things to do in it. This means that right off the bat, the world and all the fundamental mechanics of the game are there for you to explore. This creates a sense of wonder and exhilaration in the very beginning of the experience, which wears off long, long before the conclusion, 40 hours in. You just start to get bored when you fell like you have gone everywhere and seen everything, and at that point, if you are feeling like that, you probably have. Rockstar has tried to remedy this problem in the past by locking off certain areas of the map and gradually opening them up. Red Dead Redemption does this too. And while there is a certain amount of joy derived from seeing the new scenery of each area, there are no real new, unique experiences to be found in these new areas. Just more of the same gameplay set in a different setting.
Essentially, this is what Red Dead Redemption is. It is GTA set in the old west. Comparing GTA 4 and Red Dead just on on appearances could be like comparing apples and oranges. The vast open expanses of the old west certainly seem to be at odds with the cramped urban sprawl of Liberty City. However, when you boil it down, these games are extremely similar in terms of gameplay, tone, story, and mechanics. I would say Red Dead is the better game in the end though for several key reasons. Unlike GTA, which had an extremely annoying policy of making you restart a mission from the beginning if you failed, Red Dead has a checkpoint system, which relieves enormous amounts of stress. Red Dead also has a greater array of activities that the player can do on the side of the campaign. Some are just pointless and boring- picking herbs, horseshoes, cards. Some are quite a bit more fun- bounties, random roadside encounters, hunting, going to movies. While they are very hit or miss, at least they are there to mix things up a bit. Hunting, in particular is a blast and the wild animals found all over the world of Red Dead is one of it's very best features and something new to the Rockstar formula. Some of the very best experiences i had with the game came from being stranded in the wilderness with no horse and having to fend for my life against a pack of wolves of an extremely lethal cougar. These moments where I was truly struggling to stay alive were particularly notable because of the fact that they were mostly absent from the campaign mode. This game is pretty damn easy. Once you have the dead eye and a couple decent guns, you are essentially unstoppable. Unlike GTA 4, where if you broke the law, it could be pretty difficult to get away from the cops alive, in Red Dead they essentially have no chance of catching you. This is due in a big way to the fact that you a riding a fast, extremely maneuverable horse through open fields instead of trying to maneuver a difficult-to-control-car through busy streets.
Red Dead's greatest strength is it's tone and atmosphere, which never breaks for a single second over its entire run time. Essentially, the game is an extremely beautiful Western, in which can control the main protagonist. The writing and acting is sharp and clever, if a bit repetitive, just how you would expect from Rockstar. The plot is a decent yarn filed with many of the conventions of the genre. It is at times very heartfelt and touching and contains some really great scenes that would be right at home in a classic Western. There is a certain underlying cynicism to be found in the story, something also present in the GTA games. Red Dead smartly goes for a more serious approach to homage though, as opposed to the borderline genre parodies of Vice City and San Andreas. You might not laugh as much as you did at older Rockstar games, but you will probably take the story a lot more seriously, as it tones down the outlandish comedy quite a bit.
So yeah, Red Dead Redemption is essentially Grand Theft Auto set in the old west with a few minor changes. But then again, this same thing can be said about almost every sandbox game. Since GTA 3 simultaneously invented and perfected the formula back in 2001, not much has changed, Sure the games have allowed you to do more things than you could before, and the attention to detail and production values have improved drastically, but it's still the same basic idea. That being said, red Dead Redemption is perhaps the best sandbox game yet because it has the most beautifully crafted world, the most memorable story, the best (original) soundtrack and the most consistent tone of any of the similar games to come before it. It's a highly immersive experience that only the collective efforts of a large and highly talented studio can afford. A true next-gen experience.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Album Review: ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead- Tao of the Dead
Trail of Dead still hold a unique piece of real estate in the music landscape. There is no other rock band that is equally fixated on the sounds of punk, noise, and prog rock and has the musical prowess, sense of subtly and pacing, and artistic integrity that Conrad, Jason and company do. Very little modern music has this kind of teeth, and it's extremely refreshing to hear the band regain the vigor and ferocity that fell of at points along the way. Where previous albums sounded a bit forced and uncomfortable at points, Tao of the Dead constantly engages. It succeeds magnificently because it is the band's most consistently huge, freewheeling and ornately detailed album, helped immensely by the fact that it is very evident that the band had a damn good time recording and producing the thing. Taking only about ten days to record, it is without a doubt the most impulsive feeling Trail of Dead album, songs lingering just long enough to make an impression and then morphing into something else.
An easy criticism to make of the album is that it is slight in the way of what we traditionally recognize as a standout song. On only a few occasions do we get a normal verse/chorus progression. More often the songs bleed seamlessly into one another like how the verse of The Spiral Jetty becomes the chorus of Weight of the Sun. Make no mistake, this album as a whole, is infinitely greater than the sum of its parts and is best enjoyed in order, the way the band intended. The sense of pacing and the dynamic ways in which the tracks meld into one another is awe inspiring. Trail of Dead have played with the idea of a reoccurring motif bridging across past albums (After the Laughter, Insatiable, Stand in Silence), but the way that Pure Radio Cosplay and Know Your Honor bookend both parts 1 and 2 of Tao of the Dead, respectively, is pure brilliance- a move that harkens back to the great concept albums of the 70's like 2112 and Dark Side of the Moon.
As far as production goes, one thing that the post-Source Tags and Codes albums were berated for was pulling away the heavy fog that had previously shrouded and romanticized the band's sound. As the hazy production and mystery of the band's debut faded, there was a definitive point when just enough of the underlying melodic nature of the band was obscured. That point was Source Tags and Codes. When Worlds Apart was released, it was notoriously panned by many critics. I believe that this has to do with this the fact that the remainder of the obscuring noise and chaos had been pulled away in favor of a focus on a more classic sense of songwriting and a cleaner, more simplistic sonic pallet. Tao of the Dead wisely re-instates a good deal of fervor and destruction that serve as the obscuring fog. Look no further than the blaring, screeching guitars at the climax of Cover the Days like a Tidal Wave and the out of tune chords at the end of Weight of the Sun. These are among my favorite Trail of Dead moments, where the music reaches a sort of point break where there can be no turning turning back but to abruptly crash into itself. A beautiful trainwreck.
All this being said, I'm still not sure that this album will really convert many nonbelievers as it may not be as apparent why this album is so great to someone who is not a long time listener. The thing about …And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead is that they are obtuse, difficult to categorize, un-radio friendly, and overstuffed. And I love them for it. I honestly think that there is no other band in existence that can capture the same spirit of bombastic, artistic, rock grandeur and wide eyed wonder about the power of music. Here's my pick for best album of the decade.
Friday, January 28, 2011
Fairly More Concise Anime Review: Azumanga Daioh
Azumanga Daioh is considered by many to be the finest slice-of-life/coming-of-age-story-revolving-around-a-group-of-school-girls anime out there. Basically, it is regarded in some circles as the premier Moe anime. These lofty claims are justified for the most part as Azumanga Daioh, while average in many regards, has an extremely strong sense of character and humor. While not exactly intellectually stimulating by any means, it is an excellent show to just relax and enjoy for what it is, mindless entertainment.
If you want to compare popular Moe anime, it could be said that while Lucky Star is most self aware and K-On! is most sentimental, Azumanga Daioh is by far funniest. Not that the other two are not funny, but this show brings something entirely different to the table. Sure, there is the typical humor that is usually displayed in shows of this variety (back and forth banter about mundane topics resulting in resolution, judgment, or impasse) accompanied by the typical scenarios (culture festivals, trips to the summer house, athletic competitions, and a WHOLE lot of passing periods). From the casual uninvested perspective, there is nothing remarkable about Azumanga Daioh and for the first few episodes it is difficult to see what the hubbub is all about. Slowly though, the show's knack for excellent comedic exposition and timing as well as an interest in the just plain bizarre come into focus. The character Osaka, with her sleepy southern drawl, has got to be one of the best anime characters of all time. Her strange epiphanies and surreal daydreams make for many of the show's funniest moments. She is the kind of like that friend that always says the exact right thing at the exact right moment, unintentionally, that pushes the whole conversation over the edge. Magnet-for-abuse Chiyo and hyperactive Tomo are also hilarious quite frequently. The writing of the show seems to have a bit of a dark streak, which is funny given its benign context. Infact, the show's crowning moment of funny is equally parts disturbing and innocent, something that is difficult to pull off. There are also a slew of other gags worthy of being honored as some of the finest that anime has to offer. When a show has it's own chunk of YouTube real estate filled with "top 10 funniest moments" compilations, then generally, you know that it struck a chord.
And that's Azumanga Daioh in a nutshell- a run of the mill, slice of life story with some entertaining characters, peppered with just enough moments of pure comedic brilliance. While some of the gags are great, there is just as much, if not more, of the tedium that can be found in any show of this variety. You will need some patience. You will need to scratch your head at jokes that don't hit on the head. (getting repeatedly bitten by cats doesn't do it for me) Most importantly, you will need to accept the fact that very little actually happens in these shows- it is more about finding a grove in the calm, casual air that exists within them and taking comfort in it.
Make no mistake. Like its contemporaries, Azumanga Daioh is hugely entertaining. It's just plain easy to watch and it compellingly exhibits the qualities that are admirable about Moe and slice-of-life anime while expanding the envelope ever so much, to encompass a more mature observational keenness to the goofiness of everyday life. Although the conventions of this genre can grow stale quite quickly, Azumanga Daioh proves that it is all about the spin you put on it, not the actual content.
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Rambling Anime Review: Mushi-shi
Score: 8
Mushishi does not march toward some sort of conclusion or final purpose. Much like it's main character, Ginko, the anime merely drifts around, dispensing bits of wisdom and wonder. It is an almost zen-like meditation on the mystical unseen natural world and holds many parallels to our own lives, as it deals mainly in the unanswered and mysterious questions that we all find ourselves asking in life. It excels at acute observations on the state of humanity and revels in our lack of understanding. Most importantly, it romanticizes the things that we do not understand and creates a new language to describe it's nature. This language is the Mushi, an unseen force which holds great mystical power. This series plays out like a sort of collection of folk tales concerning the Mushi, centered around a sort of sage who helps people with their problems as he wanders the Japanese countryside. It is quite slow and is probably not for everyone, but if you have patience and a sense of wonder about the natural world, you will almost certainly gain something from this.
This anime is beautifully drawn. Taking place mainly in the forest and small villages, the show contains an unfathomable amount of painstakingly painted backgrounds. You don't really notice how beautiful it is after a few episodes, but the fact that there is never a significant dip in quality to call your attention to it is impressive in itself. Characters are a bit more generic looking. Because this anime is meant to have an aesthetic quality similar to that of a restrained traditional japanese painting, there is no overt craziness in the character's designs. They all have dark hair, wear traditional Japanese garb, and life in modest homes. What distant visual flare there is comes from the atmospheric and believable settings that the show dwells in. The caves of a tunneling Mushi, a foggy sea, a field set ablaze, and an inescapable bamboo forest are all brilliantly infused with personality and a sense of realness that is uncommon in animation. The Mushi themselves are also highly creative at times.
The series score is done by Toshio Masuda, also the composer for Naruto. The music here is restrained and has an almost improvisational feel to it. Each episode has it's own piece of accompanying music, which is nice, however many of them sound the same. Repetition also sinks in when the few other pieces, like the one used when Ginko is describing a Mushi, are used EVERY episode. I will say though, the opening theme, "Sore Feet Song" is absolutely amazing. It conveys the feel of the show perfectly and for all 26 episodes, I never skipped through it. It prepares you perfectly for the quiet and contemplative experience you are about to have.
Mushishi, as I said earlier, dipenses bits of wisdom about the age-old relationship between mankind and nature. The story, if you wish to call it that, is all about different people and their experiences with the unknown and the unexplainable. The show never really makes any assertions on good vs evil, right vs wrong, etc. Instead, it makes simple observations about the things that exist in nature and twists them into bizarre phenomena. For example, it details the experience of closing your eyelids vs truly not seeing or actually finding the end of a rainbow. Although there is peril in many of these stories, they are usually resolved through natural and logical means. If there is one overarching message, it is that things simply are. Trying to control what simply is is a futile exercise. In this way, the series draws similarities to the Zen Buddhist outlook on life and existence. This show is, in-fact, as close to a meditation as any piece of popular entertainment I have seen.
So what is wrong with the show then? As I just said, this show succeeds brilliantly as a meditation. However, It fares less well in terms of entertainment. Despite the show being beautifully done, If you know what the conflict and resolution is going to be going into each episode, you kind of lose interest. In each episode, you know after a certain point that there will be a problem which at first seems unexplainable, it will be explained as being the work of Mushi, there will be some way to fix it, and everyone will go home. Although there are deviations from this outline, they are somewhat rare. The real reason to keep watching is not to see what happens so much as it is to see what there will be. The scenarios and settings are sufficiently interesting and beautiful to keep you wanting to return to this world. However, you may become fatigued, as I did, and take a break for some more straight-forward entertainment.
Monday, January 10, 2011
Rambling Anime Review: Aim For The Top! Gunbuster
Score: 6
This is a review of the 1988 OVA series Gunbuster. Be sure to also read my review of Diebuster, the second part of the Aim For The Top! series. I had never seen either before so I decided that watching both, one after the other, would be a great way to witness the progress of Gainax as a studio and perhaps to observe trends in the anime genre at large. After all, Gainax's productions has always had a certain effect on the industry. This is the one that started it all for this studio, so it's importance is inarguable.
I feel like the Aim For the Top! series fits into the category of media in which the original was a cult phenomenon that gained critical appreciation over time, and when the sequel finally came out much later, there was no way it could live up to the unrealistic expectations placed on it. Another recent example of this is the Tron sequel that was just released. For something like Tron or Gunbuster, their fandom has become something of an institution- something that has far reaching implications in the rest of the medium. They have been attributed with pioneering and shifting tropes that exist to this day. Like the more popular Evangelion, Gunbuster is seen by many anime appreciators as a series that was ahead of it's time, heavily nuanced and far deeper than it may seem from a glance. To what degree should we attribute this to actual quality, as opposed to nostalgia? As we know, nostalgia can cloud our perceptions of things. As a viewer with no sense of nostalgia, this should be an unbiased comparison of both Aim For The Top! series.
Gunbuster was Hideaki Anno's debut as a director and in many people's opinions, it is the first real reveal into the mind of a man who is one of the greatest ever to grace the anime genre (a sentiment I would agree with). I'll say right here that if you are looking for an expertly paced, beautifully twisted, life altering experience on par with Evangelion, you will probably be disappointed. Gunbuster does not set it's goals and stakes nearly as high. So, in a way, Gunbuster is the smaller, more simplistic prototype of the masterpiece which was yet to be told.
This is only a six episode series and there is very little time for the subtle character development found in Eva. However, it is very noticeable that Anno MAKES as much time as possible, even at the cost of much explanation of the setting and plot itself. Like Evangelion, it is very clear that while the story could easily focus on the stunningly rendered sci-fi world, it would rather spend time in the minds of the main characters, searching for what it is that makes them tick. I have absolutely no qualms with this approach but there are a couple nagging issues that don't work in it's favor. Length is one. There is simply not enough time to develop anyone other than Noriko. In Evangelion, we got to really get inside the heads of five or six characters. Here there is just one or two (you could maybe argue that Amano counts). The other thing is that the main character, Noriko is simply not as deep and multifaceted as some of Anno's later characters. Her motivations are pretty two-dimensional. That being said, she is still deeper than the majority of anime characters. She is almost a more simplistic representation of the themes that were later fleshed through Shinji Ikari in Evangelion. She is given a seemingly impossible task despite very little experience, the fate of humanity rests on her shoulders and she has a very hard time with this, she is desperate to be accepted and loved. She has deep insecurities about abandonment and self-worth. The only thing that is lacking is a sense of maturity in storytelling of knowing how a character would actually behave and react in given situations. You can see the raw emotion that went into this character but there is very little restraint and subtlety. So, Noriko is perhaps a perfect personification of this series- ambitious and filled with volatile emotion, displaying hints of some great untapped potential. Noriko is a great character to discuss. However, she is unfortunately the only really developed character in the series. The only one that even comes close is Amano, Noriko's idol. Her most discernible quality is the tendency to be utterly two-faced. A sort of Asuka Langley Soryu prototype shows up too, in the form of Jung Freud. (haha get it? Anno likes psychology) It would have been nice to see more of her too. There is nothing to set her apart from any other hot-headed pilot. It's hard to knock Gunbuster for it's characters though. After all, it is only six episodes long. Although better characterization can be seen in just as short a span of time (FLCL, much later), it is an admirable and impassioned early try.
Okay, so… art style. It looks dated. No way around it. Compared to the quality of animation in say, Diebuster, it looks pretty uneven. Where as Diebuster comes off as a culmination of everything Gainax had done up to that point, Gunbuster has the visual look of something in it's insecure infancy. You can see vague traces of what would come to be known as the Gainax style, (female character designs, jiggle, interesting robot ideas) but you really have to search for them. For the most part, the characters, animation and designs look generic. Not bad, just a lack of that certain exaggerated visual flair found in later productions. The music is notable for being far more produced and expertly done in many places than the visuals. The theme song for when the Gunbuster machine first makes an appearance is a relatively famous piece of music that is both instantly recognizable and invigorating. Other orchestral pieces are found throughout and are extremely effective at conveying the emotion of the series. The 80's style OP and ED just sound dated unfortunately- they remind me a bit too much of 80's montage music.
Gunbuster was Gainax's first take on the giant robot genre, originally made popular by the likes of Gundam and Macross. It serves as a unique and interesting take on the concept, with a heightened sense of personal drama and inner turmoil. Iv'e said it already, but this series should really be longer. It is just too grand a story to be crammed down into six episodes. This problem could have been potentially solved had the sequel, Diebuster, been a continuation or embellishment of the story instead of an update… Stick around for the review.
This is a review of the 1988 OVA series Gunbuster. Be sure to also read my review of Diebuster, the second part of the Aim For The Top! series. I had never seen either before so I decided that watching both, one after the other, would be a great way to witness the progress of Gainax as a studio and perhaps to observe trends in the anime genre at large. After all, Gainax's productions has always had a certain effect on the industry. This is the one that started it all for this studio, so it's importance is inarguable.
I feel like the Aim For the Top! series fits into the category of media in which the original was a cult phenomenon that gained critical appreciation over time, and when the sequel finally came out much later, there was no way it could live up to the unrealistic expectations placed on it. Another recent example of this is the Tron sequel that was just released. For something like Tron or Gunbuster, their fandom has become something of an institution- something that has far reaching implications in the rest of the medium. They have been attributed with pioneering and shifting tropes that exist to this day. Like the more popular Evangelion, Gunbuster is seen by many anime appreciators as a series that was ahead of it's time, heavily nuanced and far deeper than it may seem from a glance. To what degree should we attribute this to actual quality, as opposed to nostalgia? As we know, nostalgia can cloud our perceptions of things. As a viewer with no sense of nostalgia, this should be an unbiased comparison of both Aim For The Top! series.
Gunbuster was Hideaki Anno's debut as a director and in many people's opinions, it is the first real reveal into the mind of a man who is one of the greatest ever to grace the anime genre (a sentiment I would agree with). I'll say right here that if you are looking for an expertly paced, beautifully twisted, life altering experience on par with Evangelion, you will probably be disappointed. Gunbuster does not set it's goals and stakes nearly as high. So, in a way, Gunbuster is the smaller, more simplistic prototype of the masterpiece which was yet to be told.
This is only a six episode series and there is very little time for the subtle character development found in Eva. However, it is very noticeable that Anno MAKES as much time as possible, even at the cost of much explanation of the setting and plot itself. Like Evangelion, it is very clear that while the story could easily focus on the stunningly rendered sci-fi world, it would rather spend time in the minds of the main characters, searching for what it is that makes them tick. I have absolutely no qualms with this approach but there are a couple nagging issues that don't work in it's favor. Length is one. There is simply not enough time to develop anyone other than Noriko. In Evangelion, we got to really get inside the heads of five or six characters. Here there is just one or two (you could maybe argue that Amano counts). The other thing is that the main character, Noriko is simply not as deep and multifaceted as some of Anno's later characters. Her motivations are pretty two-dimensional. That being said, she is still deeper than the majority of anime characters. She is almost a more simplistic representation of the themes that were later fleshed through Shinji Ikari in Evangelion. She is given a seemingly impossible task despite very little experience, the fate of humanity rests on her shoulders and she has a very hard time with this, she is desperate to be accepted and loved. She has deep insecurities about abandonment and self-worth. The only thing that is lacking is a sense of maturity in storytelling of knowing how a character would actually behave and react in given situations. You can see the raw emotion that went into this character but there is very little restraint and subtlety. So, Noriko is perhaps a perfect personification of this series- ambitious and filled with volatile emotion, displaying hints of some great untapped potential. Noriko is a great character to discuss. However, she is unfortunately the only really developed character in the series. The only one that even comes close is Amano, Noriko's idol. Her most discernible quality is the tendency to be utterly two-faced. A sort of Asuka Langley Soryu prototype shows up too, in the form of Jung Freud. (haha get it? Anno likes psychology) It would have been nice to see more of her too. There is nothing to set her apart from any other hot-headed pilot. It's hard to knock Gunbuster for it's characters though. After all, it is only six episodes long. Although better characterization can be seen in just as short a span of time (FLCL, much later), it is an admirable and impassioned early try.
Okay, so… art style. It looks dated. No way around it. Compared to the quality of animation in say, Diebuster, it looks pretty uneven. Where as Diebuster comes off as a culmination of everything Gainax had done up to that point, Gunbuster has the visual look of something in it's insecure infancy. You can see vague traces of what would come to be known as the Gainax style, (female character designs, jiggle, interesting robot ideas) but you really have to search for them. For the most part, the characters, animation and designs look generic. Not bad, just a lack of that certain exaggerated visual flair found in later productions. The music is notable for being far more produced and expertly done in many places than the visuals. The theme song for when the Gunbuster machine first makes an appearance is a relatively famous piece of music that is both instantly recognizable and invigorating. Other orchestral pieces are found throughout and are extremely effective at conveying the emotion of the series. The 80's style OP and ED just sound dated unfortunately- they remind me a bit too much of 80's montage music.
Gunbuster was Gainax's first take on the giant robot genre, originally made popular by the likes of Gundam and Macross. It serves as a unique and interesting take on the concept, with a heightened sense of personal drama and inner turmoil. Iv'e said it already, but this series should really be longer. It is just too grand a story to be crammed down into six episodes. This problem could have been potentially solved had the sequel, Diebuster, been a continuation or embellishment of the story instead of an update… Stick around for the review.
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