Various thoughts on a variety of topics.
Japan’s Saga Prefecture has many things to recommend it, from traditional arts and crafts to stunning vistas. Join us as we explore the area’s sights and take a look into the lives of a few people who call the city of Saga home.
A collection of short stories highlighting different parts of Saga’s cultural history and a few of its attractions. The first two are romance themed, while the third is comedic and fourth is more slice of life.
More Information:
aniDB (1, 2)
Living in Dark Meat City, a slum on the west coast of the United States, is never easy. Yet after a traffic accident leaves Angelino suffering from hallucinations coupled with severe migraines it gets even harder, as now he must try to figure out exactly what happened to him while dodging hostile Men in Black intent on capturing him.
A graphic, conspiracy-themed action movie threaded with splashes of comic relief.
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aniDB
Wikipedia
Saved from a near-death experience when he was younger by a strange woman, Daisuke Doujima was told that many years in the future it would be up to him to protect his four friends. As time passed he became ever more overprotective, pushing most of those same friends away, to the point that now in high school he’s generally regarded as delusional. Yet the woman did not lie: On one morning just like any other the city of Shibuya is suddenly catapulted hundreds of years into a post-apocalyptic future, a future plagued by hostile lifeforms called ‘Revisions’.
An action-drama with a few comic relief elements primarily focused on character psychology.
More Information:
aniDB
Netflix
Wikipedia
Despite his love of archery, Minato Narumiya is reluctant to be involved with it personally due to past trauma. Eventually caving under the pressure from a recently reunited childhood friend to at least watch his school’s resurrected kyuudou club perform, Minato quickly discovers that returning to the sport will take more than just overcoming his mental reluctance.
A mixture of character drama, school club comedy, and sports shounen.
More Information:
aniDB
Crunchyroll
Wikipedia
The first part of the prequel trilogy to Jean Johnson’s Theirs Not To Reason Why series will be familiar to returning readers. It’s just as fond of verbose monologues and musings regarding ethics, with the only outliers being the inclusion of a seemingly pointless (beyond straining the ability to suspend disbelief) romance and a strangely heavy focus on Hawaiian culture.
The second is a disaster: The protagonist morphs into a short-tempered scold, the Terrans reveal themselves to be hypocritical authoritarians, a couple extraneous deus ex machina pop up, and the work as a whole turns out to be a variation of the ‘enlightened foreigner sets out to save ignorant native‘ genre of storytelling with the one unique facet being the exploration of ageism via inconsistently conflating it with (alternately) classism and racism… which is most certainly not a positive. The romance aspects continue to lack any noteworthy purpose.
There was only one thing in my mind that could possibly save the trilogy’s conclusion, and that was (at the very least) the acknowledgement of the hypocrisy inherent in the Terrans continuously demanding the V’Dan stop treating them like V’Dan when they themselves insist on treating the V’Dan like Terrans. An acknowledgment which unsurprisingly never came. Instead, we get the expected and infuriating result of the V’Dan people being forced to undergo what amounts to a partial lobotomy presented as a justified solution. An ultimately exhausting and ignoble end to what began as an entertaining first contact scenario (though there are a few decent combat scenes in the second half).
So overall? I can’t suggest bothering with this trilogy unless you’re the type who likes to complain about microaggressions and want something that preaches to the choir with unearned self-righteousness. Anyone else would likely be better off reading through Mass Effect‘s backstory instead.
The fourteenth entry in Michelle Sagara‘s Elantra series resolves the long-simmering subplot regarding the Barrani’s Test of Name and, far more importantly, gives indication that Kaylin is finally ready to research how to consciously use the powers at her disposal for more than healing. There are many directions the series can go from here, but I hope it continues to advance the ‘main’ storyline involving the Dragon outcast.
Nalini Singh’s Guild Hunter series is one that I initially loved, but which eventually fell out of favor as the books became more episodic and overly similar to her Psy-Changling series in content. Picking the series back up on a whim turned out to be a good idea:
Due to never owning an XBox of any form (and not being able to read Japanese), the recent release of the Definitive Edition of Tales of Vesperia marked my first chance to play the game.
It became immediately apparent why Yuri was a popular protagonist, and nearly all the other characters end up solidly entertaining in some manner (Karol leans more toward annoying). Where the game fails spectacularly though is in the plot developments… which are atrocious. It’s not very completionist-friendly either and requires a ton of grinding and a not insignificant amount of backtracking if you want to collect everything (though be aware that the world map search points can help a little with material requirements).
In addition to the standard pitfall of missing hidden sidequests (following a walkthrough will solve that issue) another noteworthy trap for completionists is the Fell Arms weapons. If you happen to face the final boss with all of them collected, you’ll get thrown into an extra battle against an enemy scaled for a post-game party. A nasty surprise which will probably force you to grind even more and/or lower the difficulty to Easy.
As for the prequel movie, it can be watched either before or after playing; all it does is show Yuri’s brief stint with the knights. There’s effectively no storyline connection and little character connection. You do get to see more of the red-haired twins who pop up in a sidequest though.
Former childhood friends Yuri Lowell and Flynn Scifo have just been assigned to the same unit after graduating from the Knight’s Academy. Though once close, now they couldn’t be more different, a strained relationship which will be further tested by events set in motion when their commanding officer decides to investigate the source of the monster infestation currently plaguing the area.
An action-drama with an early focus on comedy. It’s a prequel to the Tales of Vesperia video game, taking place ~3 years earlier.
More Information:
aniDB
Wikipedia
Spring has come once more, a time for new beginnings and new relationships. These are the stories of several students attending Otowanomori Nishi High each encountering their first taste of romance… and heartbreak.
A school life romance series with a small amount of comic relief and mid-episode eye catch segments featuring live action ecchi.
More Information:
aniDB
Wikipedia
Sousuke Banba’s search for UMAs takes on new urgency now that he must find a way to defeat the original Kagewani before Kimura’s Kagewani clone overwhelms him, with the appearance of a new Kagewani hunter and the meddling of Kimura’s boss only further complicating matters.
Action focused with secondary horror elements. It quickly abandons the mostly episodic structure of the prequel to move Banba and Kimura’s story to the forefront, making it necessary to watch that first.
More Information:
aniDB
Crunchyroll
Wikipedia
