OMG TOUHOU

Touhou - The most insane game ever created

Danmaku (fire curtain), bullet hell, freakishly impossible - all these describe the Japanese vertical-scrolling shooter series called Touhou, made by an alcoholic named ZUN.

Although the latest demo of Touhou 11: Subterranean Animism doesn’t run on my computer and I haven’t played the PC-98 games, I would like to try to review as many of the Touhou games as I can.

Anyway, here are some awesome videos of other people playing to give you an idea of what I’m talking about:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9VuWzZWlms - second part of someone's Phantasm run from Touhou 7 (I LOVE YOU YUKARI YOU ARE SO COOL AS THE PHANTASM BOSS!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWa_NCOrLC0 - Someone's amazing run at Imperishable Night's final stage on lunatic difficulty.

(Please note that I am not good enough to do either of the above... though I did beat extra mode in Impershable Night this afternoon.)


TOUHOU 6: THE EMBODIMENT OF THE SCARLET DEVIL

The first game in the Windows series, playable with either Reimu or Marisa in three options each. The story is just as simple as the other Touhou games - A red mist begins to cover Gensokyo, coming from the Scarlet Devil Mansion. On the way, the player meets Rumia, who’s in the way, Dayousei and Cirno, who want to have some fun. Then, they meet Hong Meirin at the gate (and so the “China” meme is created, as Hong Meirin’s subtitle is “Chinese Girl”). After beating her, they go to the library where they first defeat Koakuma, and then Patchouli. Next, the player finds the Head Maid, Sakuya. Lastly, assuming the player is on normal difficulty or higher, the final boss battle with Remilia begins. The extra stage features McDonald’s best friend (just kidding -http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2yfvszqZPo), Flandre.

Some neat points include Patchouli’s various spell cards that are different depending on which character and shot type used. The spell cards used by Hong Meirin are rainbow colored and very fun to watch.

However, after playing the later games, I find quite more issues with this game. First of all, there isn’t a visible hitbox when the character focuses, making dodging bullets more difficult. As this is also one of the more difficult of the Touhou games, a hitbox is extremely important. Also, it’s not possible to complete the full game or see the good ending when played on easy difficulty. The music - especially the first stage theme - is really nother special in exception to Sakuya’s theme “Lunar Clock ~ Luna Dial”, Remilia’s theme “Septette for the Dead Princess”, and Flandre’s theme “U.N. Owen Was Her?”, the last two which cannot be heard in an easy run. (The last two were also turned into a Sakuya-harassing video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J45no0vXkDM )

Rating: 7/10. It’s still great fun, but I prefer the other Touhou games.


TOUHOU 7: PERFECT CHERRY BLOSSOM

The second game in the Windows series, playable with Reimu, Marisa, or Sakuya with two shot options each. This story becomes one of the more complicated Touhou storylines - Spring is late, and as the player traveles to the Palace in the Netherworld, they collect more and more spring along the way. First, the player meets Cirno (reappearance!) and Letty, who are the fairy and mastermind of winter. Next, the player travels to Mayohiga, where they meet Chen. Mayohiga is on the border of Gensokyo, and quite close to the border of the Netherworld. On the way up, the player meets Alice (the first non-player character to reprise a role from the PC-98 games), then the Prismriver Sisters. Finally, the player reaches the gates of the Netherworld Palace Hakugyokurou, where the half-ghost gardener Youmu guards the final boss, Yuyuko. Yuyuko was gathering spring so her Youkai Cherry Tree, the Saigyou Ayakashi, would be in full bloom. The first extra stage features Chen guarding Ran, and the Phantasm stage features Ran guarding the most powerful Youkai in Gensokyo, Yukari.

Some neat points include the addition of Sakuya as a playable character. Sakuya A is the best combination of easy and powerful, as she has homing shots that are extremely strong. The music is also the best of all the Touhou games here, with great Asian-style songs such as the stage 2 theme “The Fantastic Legend of Tohno”, the stage 4 theme “The Capital City of Flowers in the Sky”, and the stage 5 theme “Mystic Oriental Dream ~ Anceint Temple”. The character songs are also amazing, such as Alice’s theme “Doll Judgement ~ The Girl Who Played with Peoples’ Shapes” (which became “Marisa Stole the Precious Thing” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32kVVKT-2v0), Yuyuko’s theme “Border of Life”, and Yukari’s theme “Necrofantasia”. Also, the addition of a second extra stage, the Phantasm stage, is neat, and also very difficult to unlock. The graphics in this game are also quite fantasic, such as Yuyuko’s backdrop after her first spell card.

The one problem I have with this game is the difficulty - it’s the hardest of all the Touhou games, and also the last game I completed on easy difficulty. Even with that, I don’t have any extra lives or bombs left. It’s also the only game I’ve completed in which the final spell after the final boss has been defeated does not count against you if you lose - other games (well, just 8, the rest don’t have a final spell) have the life and bomb meters crossed out with “nullify” on them, saying that it doesn’t matter if you lose. It’s frustrating to get to the very last spell - a spell that cannot be ended by defeating a boss, you have to let the timer run out - a 45-second timer for the game’s most difficult spell card.

Rating 9/10. It’s too easy to get to the end and completely fail! I get to the final spell with three lives and three bombs per life, and *still* lose because I run out of bombs being too scared to lose, and then die at the last few seconds because I’ve used all the bombs up when I didn’t need them.


TOUHOU 8: IMPERISHABLE NIGHT

The third game in the Windows series, playable with either four teams or eight individual characters (after the individuals are unlocked from their teams), Reimu & Yukari, Marisa & Alice, Sakuya & Remilia, and Youmu & Yuyuko. The story is about when the moon seems unnatural, so the team the player chooses freezes the night and tries to find the reason. They first run into Wriggle and Mystia, then travel to the human village where Keine has hid it. Then, depending on who the player is, the team encounters either Reimu or Marisa. After that, they reach the mansion of Eientei in the Bamboo Forest of Lost, where earth rabbit Tewi and lunar rabbit Reisen try to halt their advances. After that, if it’s the first playthough, the team battles Eirin, the brain of the moon, and the second playable ending is unlocked. The second playthrough has the team battle Kaguya, the princess of the moon. After 6A and 6B have been cleared, the individuals are unlocked and the ending is selectable.

The best part of this game is the spell practice option. It allows the player to choose a spell card to pratice so that the entire stage doesn’t have to be played through just to pratice one spell card. If you beat the game enough times / beat enough spell cards / etc, you can unlock characters’ Last Words, wich are extremely difficult chards. Each playable and non-playable character has a Last Word spell card. These are extremely hard spells only availible in card practice. Another great feature is the team dynamic. With four team choices, there are tons of ways to play the game. After beating the game through 6B on easy with all four teams, I have to say they are all very different, but fun to play with. Also, this makes the dialogue very fun to read, as it features three-way conversations instead of just two-person banter. The music is also nice in this game, though not as good as the previous - it’s more of a pop style than an Asian or classical style. The extra boss, Mokou’s theme, “Reach for the Moon, Immortal Smoke”, is phenomenal.

I can’t really find too much fault in this game. If anything, it’s that you have to beat the game twice to actually get the good ending.

Rating 10/10. It’s the best Touhou game to start with because it is the easiest and also the spell practice feature makes the problem spell cards easier to practice and get past.


TOUHOU 9: PHANTASMAGORIA OF FLOWER VIEW

The fourth game in the Windows series, playable with 14 unlockable characters. In what I think is the correct order: Reimu, Marisa, Sakuya, Youmu, Reisen, Cirno, Lyrica, Mystia, Tewi, Yuka (another return from the days of PC-98 Touhou), Aya, Medicine, Komachi, Sikieiki. It’s played in a versus style, where both characters have the same stage and whoever dies first loses. Each character has a lifebar, so a few hits can be sustained in the process. Basically, the story is that there is an extremely large flower outbreak - something that happens every sixty years - and it’s the fault of the Shinigami Komachi and her master Sikieiki. The character plays through seven stages that can be any characters in any order, then Komachi, then Sikieiki.

The best part of the game is that not only can you battle the AI, you can also battle your friends via LAN or over the internet. Also, with the variety of characters, a better match for the player can be found. Whether it’s Lyrica - who attacks two bullets forward and one bullet behind, Yuka - who has a wide spread of bullets, Marisa - who shoots a single laser, etc. Also, each player has a special sort of attack that is reflected onto the opponents screen. For Reimu, Tewi, and Yuka, these are simply falling obstacles. But for characters like Komachi, Mystia, or Sakuya, these are difficult to dodge bullet patterns. Also, I love the Cirno meme presented in this game (⑨ - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXCZ90Xk9bo!)

The thing I take issue with here is that it doesn’t really feel like a Touhou game. The multiplayer thing is interesting, but there’s not a lot of danmaku unless your opponent shoots a spell card your way. Also, it’s the easiest of the Touhou games - I can get to stage 7 on Lunatic without dying.

Rating 8/10. It could be better or more Touhou-ish, but I don’t mind it the way it is.


TOUHOU 10: MOUNTAIN OF FAITH.

The fifth game in the Windows series, with playables back down to Reimu and Marisa in three shot types each. The basic story is that a new shrine is being built to worship a new god in Gensokyo, and that competes with Reimu’s own shrine. The player meets people getting in the way such as the Aki sisters, Hina, and Nitori, then make their way up Youkai mountain where Momizi and Aya try to stop them, before they battle shrine maiden Sanae and the god of the shrine Kanako. The extra stage features another god, Suwako (kero, kero - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUBbigtfCWs!).

I really love the bullet patterns in this game. They’re very neat and innovative, and very different from Zun’s previous works. He gives some characters some basic ideas, such as circles for Aya and stars for Sanae, and makes them into patterns of bullets. Some patterns are more pretty than dodgeable, but they’re all possible. The music starting with Aya’s theme through Kanako’s theme is all very nice and features a lot of electric guitar work, which is fabulous.

That being said, the earlier music is rather juvenile, as is the character designs, moreso than the previous games, in my opinion. The graphics are also a bit softer than the previous games, and that’s kind of distracting.

Rating: 9/10. It’s not a bad game. I think I don’t like it as much because it doesn’t run well on my computer.


Touhou 6-10 in order of favoritism:

1. Imperishable Night
2. Perfect Cherry Blossom
3. Phantasmagoria of Flower View
4. Mountain of Faith
5. Embodiment of the Scarlet Devil

Now, there are other games, such as 7.5 Immaterial and Missing Power, which is a fighting game featuring Suika (flat as a pancake, haha - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JrmKBWoyfs), and a hundred million fan-games, but these are all the official ones.

Now, make sure you check out all the links to Youtube videos I stuck in here! You’ll be so glad you did! (I couldn't make actual links because Macs don't support Blogger's ctrl + shift + a link shortcut *sob*)

End of the year lists! - 2007 style!

When I woke up this morning, I was excited - and it wasn’t because of Santa, presents, family, or food, but because I knew I had a very special blog entry (that no one will read) to write this evening. So - here goes!


TOP FIVE YURISTUFFS OF 2007!

5. Anime - El Cazador de la Bruja
The final installment of Bee Train’s “girls-with-guns” trilogy didn’t really live up to it’s expectations, but that’s all right - it still had what I was looking for: a hot supporting character with the hots for the main character. And by that, I’m referencing Blue-Eye’s gigantic crush on Nadie. As far as main characters go, Nadie and Ellis were good, but I’m kinda sick of the older-younger yuri stereotype - especially because the appearance difference in anime for people, like, 2 years apart makes everyone look like pedophiles, when common sense tells us they’re not. And that’s the main complaint with this anime, besides the fact that there was no plot and none of the episodes really got us anywhere. I mean, and entire 24 minutes dedicated to trying to capture a VULTURE?

4. TV - South of Nowhere
Season Three started airing this fall, and then broke for a haitus at about 8 episodes or so, planning to come back in April. So, what makes this good enough for my list? That there’s actually kissing instead of hairbrushing is a huge plus over last season. They have a pride parade, an abusive girlfriend for Spencer, and some more Spashley goodness for us romantics. It’s definitely not perfect - the whole Ashley and Kyla is famous storyline really needs to die - but it’s a great step forward from last season.

3. Anime - Kyoshiro to Towa no Sora
The AU sequel to Kannazuki no Miko that I hated deserves a spot on this list just for being awesome at being yuri when not focusing on the main characters. Kaon is hot, she has a good story with Himiko and that crazy lady making them do things, and in the end, things turn out just fine. Except Kuu and Kyoshiro are still annoying. Oh well

2. TV - The L Word
Having just discovered this show this last spring, I am very pleased to inform you all that Season 4, which aired this past winter/spring (a season I’d call something a creative mix of the two words but nothing seems to come out right), was better than Season 3. However, since Season 3 was absolutely terrible, that’s not saying much. We got some awful new characters (Jodi, Papi, Phyllis...) and some good characters got terrible storylines (Tina, Jenny... wait, they’re sucky returning characters...). Okay, okay, I’ll admit, I didn’t really like this season much, but it really was good and the show serves a good purpose. Here’s fingers crossed that SEASON FIVE THAT PREMIERS JANUARY SIXTH is much better.

1. Anime - Simoun
Not only was the fansub finished (by Simoun-Fans, the best but slowest fansubbers in the world - love you all for your fantastic work!), but the series was licensed this year, too! That’s right, a yuri series that is undeniably yuri no matter how you look at it got licensed! And not by just any company, it got licensed by Media Blasters! I have no idea who Media Blasters is, but it’s not the yuri publisher Seven Seas, so I think it’s important to mention. And it’s funny, because it would have been my top yuristuff last year had I finished watching it when it finished airing (but I was waiting for Simoun-Fans to finish subbing it, so it’s all right).



And now, the bonus list, LINDSAY’S TOP TEN ANIME OF ALL TIME!

10. Stellvia of the Universe
This anime was cute, techy, and fantastic. I mean, besides the main couple, of course. Shima Katase is the most adorable incompetent genious I’ve ever seen! And I’m all for futuristic space academy shows like this one - stereotypical plot line, I’ve heard, but I haven’t seen much in this genre, so I found it just perfect. And it takes the number 10 spot because it doesn’t stick well with me, and because the yuri’s thin. I actually always forget this awesome series exists, unless I’m DDRing to “Asu E No Brilliant Road” which is a fabulous song.

9. Bakuretsu Tenshi
This anime got bumped down a slot just because Jo is so boring. Otherwise I think it’d stay where it was - maybe. I’m not fond of mecha or short hair, so Jo doesn’t get my ultimate vote of coolness. Sorry. But Sei is one of the hottest anime characters around, so she brings the series back up. And Meg and Amy are both adorable in their own adorable ways, and the whole thing was just a crazy mess of fun. Except I don’t really remember it. But I know I liked it.

8. Read or Die
Still a great anime with one of the best plots in existence, but it’s one I really am overdue for a rewatching weekend. So bear with me and hope I end up getting this higher on the list by next year! That being said, I love books and reading and learning and this anime is great for people like me. It’s also great for people who don’t like books, because it is a bunch of fun that will completely change your mind - I guarantee it! Well, I don’t 100% guarantee it, but pretty close.

7. Kannazuki no Miko
I really bumped this one down, didn’t I? From 4 to 7. But it really deserves a space this low, because all the mechas seemed to run together. The storyline was very very loose (wtf about the Orochi and the Priestesses and all those other excuses to get Himeko and Chikane together?), but the characters were good. I mean, Chikane was your stereotypical hot, coveted, blackhaired, smart, talented, repressed lesbian that you see everywhere (Strawberry Panic!, Yamibou, Marimite, etc) and Himeko was your typical innocent, clumsy, blonde, outspoken, cute not-really-straight-but-doesn’t-know-that girl that you see everywhere (Strawberry Panic!, Yamibou, Marimite, etc). Okay, okay, the characters weren’t original, but they were good. I liked it. I guess.

6. Simoun
The second newcomer! This fantastic series was mentioned above and in another blog post where I dedicate more webspace to its fantasticness.

5. Haibane Renmei
This one goes down two places, simply because the art’s kinda dull and there’s no real plot or yuri. But - wait - then why do I like it so much? The characters are wonderful and the emotion is so real and breathtaking and painful and there’s so much catharsis involved in the watching of this. I love this series so much, but it’s not one you watch a second time. It’s a rent-this-because-it’s-the-best-thing-you’ll-ever-see-but-don’t-buy-it-because-you’ll-never-watch-it-again anime.

4. Gunslinger Girl
Taking away the fourth place is an anime I watched this past August - Gunslinger Girl! Despite the really westerny name, this anime takes place in Italy and it’s about teenage girl assassins in the government. Except they’re not really human anymore, since they’ve been given so many implants and conditioning. But it’s not all fun-and-games-let’s-kill-people - in fact, it’s never all fun-and-games-let’s-kill-people, since the entire story revolves around the characters and how they feel about doing these terrible things - “It’s okay if the one I love tells me to.” and “If he didn’t love me, I wouldn’t hesistste to do this -” as she brings her gun up so the barrel is pointing at her face.

3. Ergo Proxy
I watched this series this past October. It was so moving, I immediately started watching it a second time, and then realized I didn’t have time to do so. Anyway, it’s another futuristic negative utopian post-annihilation anime. Um, yeah. It’s actually very very character driven, so not so much focus on the annihilating. Anyway, the real draw to this anime is the beautiful gothic art. Re-l’s character design is simply fantastic, and Vincent’s is great too (though I’m more of a fan of the women, as you’ve probably guessed by now, so I’m more partial towards Re-l). The autoreivs (androids) are given colours of dull grey and brown, and they don’t attempt to look pretty, just functional. It’s a dreary world outside, one so dark, they protect us from seeing it.

2. Mai-HiME
Hey, same spot for Mai-HiME as last year! I really can’t get enough of ShizNat (Shizuru and Natsuki). In fact, I wrote a fanfic about them, and then I started another one (that will never be finished) because I love them so much. I also love the second half of the series, but not the first half. There’s just something about emotional death scenes that get me. That and lots and lots of yuri. But - hey - that’s why this blog exists, really.

1. MADLAX
Again, same spot and for the same reasons. Tight plot, good ending, great art, great music, fantastic plot (did I say that already? Whoops). There’s just something about an anime with so many layers like this that I like - in fact, Ergo Proxy reminded me of MADLAX, even though they’re really not similar at all. It’s just how deep the storyline goes if you’re willing to think about it that much. Oh, hell yes, I am. Shall we talk about the economic gains of war? Or about how true motives of war get lost over time? Or about how comfortable it is to have both friends and enemies? Or how about you watch the series for yourself and make your own opinions?

I have a new website!

http://l145.isgreat.org is the page, soon to be filled with reviews of anime, movies, music, and video games!

The title - Midnight Reviews - came from the fact that most of these reviews will be written at midnight. Ugh. I need a better sleep pattern.

Anywayanyway, I'd like to get this linked/directorized/etc but I'm not sure what category this goes in or what audience to target. And in all actuality, I don't think the review database is big enough... yet. With the oath I forced myself to take, I don't think it'll take too long for it to simply explode...

...Especially since I did all my homework today and only have to work 6 hours tomorrow. This is what I plan on doing for 8 hours in the afternoon and evening - write quality biased reviews. ;-)

Review of the After Forever concert last night!

Oct 13, 2007 - Station 4 - St. Paul, MN, USA

I went to my first ever metal concert and my first concert in six years last night for After Forever! It was a 2 hour drive each way, but it was totally worth it. There were two opening bands, but I had never heard of either of them, so for the first half of the first band’s set, I went outside to talk to Andre, who was really nice. When After Forever was set to go onstage, and pulled my friend with me up front (who had never heard of After Forever before the night before the concert!) and I stood right in front of Floor the whole time. ...And I think I was the only person in the venue who knew all the words to every song.

Anyway, this was the setlist:

Discord
Transitory
My Pledge of Allegiance - Part One
Monolith of Doubt
Energize Me
Face Your Demons
Digital Deceit
Lonely
De-energized
Being Everyone
For Whom the Bell Tolls
Equally Destructive
Dreamflight
Forlorn Hope
Follow in the Cry

The whole band was extremely nice, too! I got everyone’s autograph except Sander’s afterwards, and had conversations with everyone but him and Floor, too! I would definitely see the band again not only because of the great music, but because they all seem like such great people as well.

My only complaint about the concert was one that I’ve heard from other reviews of concerts at Station 4 - that the quality of the vocals through the speakers aren’t very good. I know Floor’s amazing - and she sounded amazing - but there were times that I couldn’t even hear her, and I couldn’t understand any of the words when she was talking between songs.

What Final Fantasy Character are you?

Which Final Fantasy Character Are You?



This test was fun because I got an awesome result. :-D Take it, everybody!

Want to do a Tifa-only FF7 challenge? Read on!

I have written a walkthrough and it's been put on NeoSeeker already! The formatting's horrid, but find it http://www.neoseeker.com/resourcelink.html?rlid=154620&rid=143269

Any comments/questions/complaints? Comment here or email me with FF7 as the subject.

There is always something about depresssing anime that I like...

Which means I was not disappointed by watching all 13 episodes of Gunslinger Girl in between working these past two days. The series was one of the saddest, most depressing things I have ever seen. And it was absolutely amazing. I would highly recommend it.

The basic premise of it is that young girls with life-threatening hospital cases are taken to a government agency where they are given machine implants to make them stronger and faster, then they are brainwashed and given conditioning to grow to protect their supervisor - whom they are paired with - at all costs. Their training turns them into deadly assassins, doing the government's dirty work.

All in all, then, it's obvious why it may seem a bit sad to see girls from the ages of 8-12 killing things blindly, but they bring in many issues over the episodes, including how some of the girls came to the agency. One of the girls' parents tried to run her over with a car and abandoned her, leaving her for the government to take her and turn into a killing machine.

13 episodes, 3 DVD box set... I want it! But I watched the whole thing on this great site called Veoh, so I'm not too upset about not having a hard copy.

Oh - the intro animation enough made me cry. How's that for depressing?

http://youtube.com/watch?v=xEMjq9VpBSE

Beginning thoughts on Final Fantasy XII, plus opinions on all the games!

I purchased XII on Friday, and now have updated my gameplay from I to X-2 plus Tactics Advance, Mystic Quest, Legends I, II, III, and Adventures. Here are my opinions on all of the above, though I'll start with my thoughts so far on XII.

Final Fantasy XII is a great game, I'll admit. As far as RPGs go, I'm completely immersed and don't find leveling up to be too much of a chore. That being said, it's because of the battle/leveling system that makes me say that it's good as a game, just not a Final Fantasy game. By eliminating the random encounters and creating an entire new battle system, the game is more similar to PC games like Divine Divinity (my favourite PC game!) and many others. I do rather like the concept, though.

Another change is the license board which I kind of like. I really enjoyed the sphere grid in Final Fantasy X, and I think I'd enjoy the license board more in XII if it weren't for the equip parts and having espers and quickenings on the board. I like the augments, though - smart idea - but that's pretty much it. I'll probably be able to fill the stupid thing up by the end of the game, though, with the rate I'm going already at my main party of Balthier, Fran, and Ashe at level 20.

The storyline's rather weak, I think, and not as philosophical or scientific as previous games, such as X and VII respectively. But that's only about 15 hours into gameplay too - I've just entered Raithwall's Tomb. We'll see how things end up.

Now, to touch on the other games, starting with the non-numericals:

>Tactics Advance
I hated this game. Hated the battle system, hated the leveling system, hated the story progression, hated the map, hated pretty much everything. I only played about four hours, got completely stuck, and gave the game back to my friend.

>Mystic Quest
I kind of liked this one. I'd say it's a cross between IV and XII, with seeing the enemies and then the poor graphics and stuff. It's all about the crystals, which is nice since many of the old games revolved around crystals (V and IX come to mind). However only having one main party member with a guest (right? It's been awhile) got annoying, especially because the battle system was so... primitive.

>Legends series, Adventure
It is Legends that's the series, not Adventure, right? Anyway, I didn't care for these either. I couldn't figure out how to make all my characters attack, or somethign like that. Story seemed dumb as well. Whatever!

>I
Yaye for numericals! Yaye for greating things like Garland (reappearing in IX), Bahamut (reappearing EVERYWHERE!), BlkMage, WhtMage, etc. I played this first on my calculator - funfun! Hint!-- on the calculator, pressing 2nd (which selects and goes through the menu, etc) counts as movement, so if you hold down 2nd for a reallyreallyreally long time, you'll level up forever since your HP fills when you level. Just a hint. :-) Anyway, afterwards I began it on the WSC and have yet to complete it.

>II
I got to some snowy part and then I decided the whole thing was stupid and I quit. Whatever. I hate the leveling system on here so much because I manipulated it like crazy. The storyline appeared to be interesting, but I didn't get far enough into it to really care. I'll finish it someday. Wait - maybe not.

>III
Yaye for creating changeable character classes! Wheeeee! I love character classes! Anyway, I actually have yet to finish this one, since I got stuck. I played it to some part and now I have a ship and I've looted some castle and am supposed to get an airship, but I tried to play it last week after over 6 months of time and I've completely forgotton where I am. Whoops. It's on WSC now, right? Maybe I'll play that one instead of the NES one, anyway. Graphics are better!

>IV
I've finished this one twice - once in easytype, and one in a hack (Celes/Terra, story only) for hardtype. Hardtype was difficult, goshdarnit! I think in easytype I leveled to only 30 or 40 or so to finish - as was common for the old SNES games, wasn't it? I liked Rydia and her summons a lot. She made me smile. Same with the twin mages. Oh-! And I hated that Rosa equipped the bow and arrow since it did almost no damage at all. Yaye for FuSoYa and his cool name! Not yaye for going to the moon - I hated that place. And why a whale? Why on earth would you go to the moon on a whale? And infiltrate a robot and go through it's body parts (because the game is nice enough to tell you, like, "chest cavity" and whatnot). Anyway, I really enjoyed this game, though it's not my favourite. But the real gem of this game: Who are you calling a "spoony bard"?

>V
My faaaaavourite Final Fantasy! Yaye so much for awesome character classes! My favourites were the Samurai and the Mystic Knight. I was disappointed that Summoner class was rather weak here, and the flexibility made magic almost obsolete. Oh well. I did like the three worlds on earth thing, because that rocked. I cried at Galuf's death and Cara's taking over. That was so sad! You can't have a Final Fantasy game without someone dying at some point, can we? Nope! But I'm not complaining - it makes the game so much better! I think this was the first Final Fantasy game to mix character with gameplay, as usually the odds are about gameplay and the evens about story and characters. Yupyup! I can't go on about how much I love this one. Beat it twice - once at level 30something, once at level 50something

>VI
I like the translation online for this one, not Woolsey's. "Son of a submariner" and... and... and... well, a lot of stuff. Anyway, I love Celes so much because she makes me so warm and fuzzy and depressed inside. Poor Celes. The opera! I love the opera! Actually, all the music in this game is so cool! Dancing Mad - especially the Black Mages's version of it! Gameplay is cool with each character's specific attacks, like Tools and Blitz and Rage and SwrdTech and Mimic and Dance and Runic and Sketh and Lore and... and... okay. I like them. And I like the magic learning system, too, since it helped all the characters have some similarities through their diversity. Beat this game twice, too!

>VII
In my opinion, VII has the greatest storyline of them all! With Aerith, the last remaining Cetra and JENOVA, Sephiroth's mother and (how cool of a name is Sephiroth? So totally awesome! and) the whole deal with Cloud in SOLDIER and all that stuff. And let's not forget the music - One Winged Angel, especially Advent Children's version, rocks so amazingly hard. Materia was fun stuff, too, though it took forever to learn stuff. I hacked Aerith back into my party after she died, too, to make the game easier with her limit breaks. Aerith + Cover + Great Gospel = Invincible. Just thought I'd let you know. I'm gonna write a Tifa-only challenge, though, one of these months. After I finish XII for the second time after I finish it for the first time (and not ruin my chances of getting a Zodiac Spear this time!!!) I will. Advent Children was a great movie, too, though kind of shallow compared to the game. I was slightly disappointed by the story but very impressed by the graphics. Beat this game twice as well.

>VIII
I really loved this game, mostly because Quistis is so amazingly cool and I have the hugest of all huge crushes on her. That being said, the parts of the game without her aren't so cool. That's mostly because Squall is an anti-social idiot and Rinoa is an annoying bitch. Yup. I love the music here, though, like Liberi Fatali. And I like the Junction system so much since it makes the low-level challenge I did really simple. On a very similar note, I enjoyed Triple Triad so much I downloaded the standalone game for it on my PC. Yeah! Beat this game - ready for this? - four times. Don't ask why. It's all because of Quistis.

>IX
This game was very annoying, especially with the "!" and "?" stuff. But the storyline with Vivi's identity and Garnet's overcoming and Zidane's morality and all that was cool. And Beatrix is sexy. I mean, look at that confidence! *cough* I didn't like the summoning system here at all, but I like the game's focus on it. I really enjoyed the ability learning idea from equips, it was super cool. I didn't like the final boss and it's area. I think I beat the game around level 70 without even realizing it - that's how stupidly easy the final boss is. I might play it again with hacking Beatrix in, but we'll see.

>X
I've beaten this one twice, too, and got halfway through a Lulu-only challenge but then I got XII and got distracted. Haha! I so love the issues of sacrifice and death and religion that dominate this game. It's so completely philosophical and the script is great too, but I'm so very disappointed in the voice acting at times, especially Yuna's actress. The "Were they all in vain?" line would make me completely riveted, but the acting makes me laugh. Oh, well. I love the Sphere Grid so much! I wish there was more where that came from! Magus Sisters = ownage. I beat Omega Weapon with them in, like, two hits. It was amazing. But I didn't see "Proof of Omega" in my inventory. I wonder why.

>X-2
I beat this game once with 98% completion, and got halfway through a New Game+ with doing everything wrong, like giving the sphere to New Yevon, not stopping the Ronso insurrection, etc. But I find the game so tedious that I couldn't manage to go any further a second time. Disappointing, no? The music is horrible, the graphics are so girly, the storyline's shallow, and I wish I hadn't spent money for it.

>XII
Well... we'll see how I continue to like this one!

My fingers hurt a tad from typing this over the past hour as I'm half asleep in bed, so I shall rest up a bit to play more of XII tomorrow!

After Forever released a new album two months ago...

...and to commemorate my finally getting around to buying it and to waste time waiting for it to arrive in the mail, I have written an album review which is as follows:



I don’t usually feel compelled to do album reviews. The only other review I wrote was for Nightwish’s “Once”, which I still find to be an amazing album. However, I think I’ve found an album that is even more of a masterpiece, and pretty damn near perfect. That album is After Forever’s self-titled fifth release, which may not necessarily be better musically than the amazing second album, Decipher, but it is more polished, more full, and overall extremely enjoyable.

It’s also an album that many fans have been waiting for. With the departure of Mark Jansen after Decipher, many people (I’ll admit - myself included) were disappointed in the EP Exordium, and wouldn’t see Invisible Circles as very good if not for the EP’s release. Remagine seemed to be a step in one direction, though whether or not it’s the right one remains unclear (I’ve always been slightly disappointed in Remagine, though I can’t for the life of me discover why). But this - After Forever - is perfect. The band describes this as a mix of the sounds on all their previous releases, and to be honest, I don’t give a damn. The music is perfect. I don’t need to know why. And to be honest, I’d rather I didn’t know why, because it makes me wonder where some of the past elements are that I didn’t like in past albums. Why? Because they’re not there. After Forever has got it right this time - and they’ve made a masterpiece.

Don’t think that I don’t like some of their past CDs at all - in fact, I prefer Exordium over any other band, like Within Temptation or even Nightwish any day. That’s because After Forever is just so good that the standards I have for them are almost impossibly high. But - guess what? They’re not impossible anymore. Because this CD has attempted and succeeded in reaching those standards.

Enough rambling about the history of the CD. I’ll give some overall highlights and then - yes - I’ll do a track by track analysis.

Overall? I think Floor Jansen’s a goddess or something because there is no way any mortal can sing that amazing. She’s got power, she’s got beauty, and she can do them both at the same time. She’s even got it live, which is more than I can say for some bands that try and fail. The orchestras - real ones! - are used just at the right moments, the choir is blended nicely and has wonderful arrangements - it is these reasons why the intro and outro of the album give me shivers constantly. And I really like the overall theme of the album, which Floor says is energy. Positive, negative, dream, atmospheric... But enough of this, onto the more important stuff.

1. Discord - 5/5 - The intro here is wonderfully mixed. I especially like the effect of the orchestra to make the first few measures sound old and cracking - it’s supposed to do that, it’s not my earphones, right? Whatever, I like it. Floor sings a few opera notes from the second chorus on. And - oh, can I say how much I love the dueling vocals? I love them. And what’s not to love about the title? I love stuff that’s discordant. Definite high point of the album - one of many.

2. Evoke - 4.5/5 - I’m not too fond of this song, but it’s still absolutely amazing. That’s AF for you. Okay, so Floor’s vocals are always amazing, but here I’m not too terribly impressed and I think it’s because I’m not fond of the harmony on the chorus. But that’s okay, because the rest of the song is very good.

3. Transitory - 5/5 - This is another high point of the album. It’s easily one of the heaviest on the CD and also very electronic, though it doesn’t detract at all from the overall feel of the song. An interesting use of the speakers during the vocal line of the bridge - not your standard mixing, that’s for sure. I really really like the harmony on the chorus this time. The first line (“Ohhhhhhhhh, transitoooooryyyyy”!) always gives me shivers. Good ones, too!

4. Energize Me - 5/5 - I’m not one for real commercialized songs, but this is damn catchy. And I like the phrases because they’re not too terribly cliche. Floor’s vocal delivery right before the key change is impeccable. And the guitar solo is really fun!

5. Equally Destructive - 5/5 - I really really like the words and the theme for this one. Or I think I would if I knew them. From what I catch, it’s really good. Anyway, the whole song is really tightly done and fast, and I enjoy the intro on this one, too.

6. Withering Time - 5/5 - This song probably has most of the elements that After Forever likes to use - orchestra, choir, opera vocals, grunts... and it’s amazing. I think I overlistened to it, though, because I can’t appreciate as much as I used to. But believe me - it’s another high point.

7. De-Energized - 5/5 - Wheee @ another orchestral intro! And then it gets supersuper heavy and it’s very nice. I like the words to this one, too. “I see a world at war because of pride and might”... yesyesyes, very nice. This isn’t a big highlight for Floor’s vocals (which I’ll admit is my primary reason for listening to AF), but the song is still great. The choir in the middle and end is very nice, too.

8. Cry WIth a Smile - 5/5 - This is one of two real ballads on the album, and the stronger one at first listen (though the two really equalize by the time you’ve heard them a few times). The orchestra on this is really catchy, and Floor’s lower register really shines here. I don’t usually compliment the low vocals because I was always trained as an alto (incorrectly, too - I’m actually a soprano) and am used to hearing lines much lower than what singers in this genre typically sing, but I’ve got to hand it to her here - to be able to sing that without sounding like a clomping elephant is admirable. Anyway, the emotion on this song really shines, too, especially in the last chorus. I don’t usually try to mention emotion in songs not in bands’ native languages, but Floor manages it nice in all the songs on the disc, and this is a highlight of that.

9. Envision - 5/5 - This is my personal favourite on the album. It’s heavy with a nice mix of guitars and vocals, all very powerful. However, the piano in the bridge with the chromatic scale as the key change is very interesting. And the chorus in the new key is very high, a lot higher than it sounds.

10. Who I Am - 5/5 - This is a duet with Doro Pesch, who I’m not terribly fond of. I prefer Floor’s crystal clear vocals and would like to hear the version that’s Floor singing all parts. (I know it exists because the videos of the studio recordings on the official site have a clip of it.) Anyway, I like the structure of the intro, with the rhythm guitar and the really high synth in contrast. And the harmony Floor sings with herself on the “Who I aaaaaaaaam... WHO I aaaaaam” is breathtaking, especially during the chorus after the second verse when the instruments stop. Very nice!

11. Dreamflight - 4.5/5 - You must think I’m crazy. I don’t blame you. I love long songs, but this one seems to drag on for me. The choir here is amazing mixed in with the grunts, though. I don’t know what to really say about this one. It’s After Forever, though, so it’s supersuper good.

12. Empty Memories - 5/5 - The other ballad. It seems odd that a ballad would be placed last, but it really works, especially since the outro is about a minute of choir. But the whole amazing part of this song is Floor’s vocals. Again. They’re not the best on the album and she ends up sliding quite a bit at times, but the moment near the end at the end of the second time through the chorus - “No no no no alone!” or whatever it is - gives me chills. Always.

So overall, 12 X 5 = 60. I subtracted one point, so 59/60. That’s... ummm... 9.83/10.

High Points (this is supersuper hard to narrow it down!): Discord, Transitory, Withering Time, Envision
Low Points: Are you kidding? Bad stuff by After Forever? You must be crazy! Maybe it’s that Lonely and Sweet Enclosure aren’t on the album...

What else? Oh, the artwork! Yes, the cover is stunning. And the website design is amazing too. I’m not talking about good by After Forever standards (because we all know sometimes the artwork is a bit strange), I’m talking good by everyone standards. So, we’ll add the missing points from this.

Overall score = 10/10. Perfect.

So, when people compare After Forever to bands like Nightwish or Within Temptation, I have only one response - switch them around first. Because it’s Nightwish and Within Temptation that need to be compared to a standard like After Forever. And they fall far short of the masterpiece that After Forever has just created.

Mai-Otome ZWEI 3 = AAAAH SUSPENSE! R0X0RS!

*ahem* Spoiler alert!

I love Mai-HiME. Great anime. My second favourite, only to Madlax. Mai-Otome was only okay. So, it's probably understandable that I completely forget that Zwei exists - with one mediocre episode every three months, how should I remember?

Episode 3 completely changed my opinion on the Mai-Otome storyline. Completely. I'll still laugh and be disappointed in everything up to this point, but - well, I'll just spoil it for everyone - the HiME star appeared.

Yes, THE HiME star as in the HiME star that threatened the end of the world in Mai HiME and caused all the HiME to kill each other. Yes, that HiME star. It's in the lab of Garderobe, where they're analyzing the statues, including Shizuru's. Meaning Natsuki knows that Shizuru's been turned into stone. And she quite obviously misses Shizuru too - what's the line - "I can't do things as well as you do, Shizuru" with a very far away look in her eyes. There's another piece of evidence for the subtext searchers. I'm more than convinced.

Then again, Shizuru x Natsuki has held a place in my fandom-insane heart since July, so I suppose that's part of the reason.

And then Fumi appeared. Fumi! You know - that Fumi! Shinso-sama! And then Fuuka appeared out of the water of a lake in the Black Valley! Y'know, this was hinted at when Miyu dove into some pool and activated the HiME system in the last episode or two of Mai-Otome, but they never developed it. Guess what, guys? They have no choice but to develop this one!

My only complaint? The next episode doesn't come out until the end of August. Well, damn!

The return of Bee Train's girls-with-guns trilogy!

Bee Train's doing it again!

First came Madlax, then Noir, now is the masterpiece in the making called El Cazador de la Bruja. Or something like that.

There are two sub groups working on this with two episodes released for each so far (I think). The verdict at this point? WTF!

It's very different from Madlax, more like Noir, I'd say. I'm not sure if that's a good or a bad thing quite yet. One thing for sure? It's sure setting a different tone from the last two.

The last two had a sort of European feel, with Noir in France and part of Madlax in Nafrece. But El Cazador seems to be in an old fashioned American western town and I'm not quite sure I like that.

Worth following, though? With another team of Bee Train and Yuki Kajiura, you can't lose!

Kyoshiro to Towa no Sora is finally over!

Thank GOD! I hated this. I watched it just for the Kaon/Himiko, but that was at least worth it.

Here's my take on anime: I watch it for yuri. However, since I know yuri is in the background, I'm perfectly fine with the standard couples that are the main characters. It was like that with Mai-HiME and Utena and a lot of shows.

Kyoshiro and Kuu had to have been the worst most boring characters EVER. I couldn't stand them as a couple.

Kyoshiro to Towa no Sora is the sequel to Kannazuki no Miko in the same respect that Mai-Otome is the sequel to Mai-HiME. It's AU with the same characters, but new characters take the main places and the ones we know and love get placed behind.

I loved KnM. It was great besides all the mecha crap. My reaction was the complete opposite for KyoSora. It was horrible besides all the mecha crap. I mean - really - how much stupider can something get?

Watch KnM. Don't even bother with KyoSora.

Earbuds that RAWK!

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=7478883&type=product&productCategoryId=cat08352&id=1125466441986

All right, here's my problem with earbuds: I wreck them. Often. So, I had to go out any buy a new pair last week. I went to Best Buy and purchased these on a whim. Never have I been so satisfied with a purchase before!

These earbuds have a jelly like plastic case around the speaker, so they're comfortable in your ears without the mesh cloth thing that usually surrounds the speaker. It has a vent like hole on each earbud that, when you cover it, lowers the quality (so you know the quality normally really rocks). It's so cute in the blud colour! And, um, it's cheap. Really cheap.

It comes in 3 colours: blue, green, and pink, and all three are adorable and work great! Totally worth $10 for these!

And on another note, Happy Pi Day!

Non anime - L Word - Season 1 2 3 4!

What can I say about the L Word?

Lots.

Really, I never really thought any lesbian TV show would be any good. I mean, even South of Nowhere is pretty pitiful in that aspect. When I first heard about The L Word, I kept thinking "I'm too young to watch this" and "All the characters are like 30."

First of all, I'm not THAT young. Second of all, there are characters in their 20s. So there.

But that doesn't matter. What matters is that The L Word has got to be the greatest non-anime TV show for lesbians in existance. And most people will agree with me.

For those of you straight people and those of you gay people under a rock, The L Word is a weekly hour-long drama on Showtime. It airs Sunday at 10PM EST. It has aired for four seasons and has three episodes left (including tonight's). The cast has gone through many changes, but this season has 11ish main characters, an increase from 8ish in season one.

The story takes place in LA (even though it's filmed in Canada) in a very very gay side of town. I'll try not to post spoilers here. The story starts out when Jenny moves in with her boyfriend Tim from someplace in the midwest. Next door is long-time lesbian couple Bette and Tina who are trying to have a baby. They are friends with Alice, who is creating a social network called "The Chart" that shows how everyone is connected romantically, Dana, who is a closeted tennis player without any gaydar (tho she is called the gayest of the whole group), and Shane, who comes from a bad past filled with sex and drugs and is trying to change her ways despite her lack of abiltiy to commit for more than a few hours.

The whole thing is very dramatic. Jenny becomes the most hated character, Alice and Dana the most lovable, and the whole thing rocks.

There are a bunch of great podcasts for recaps, and AfterEllen.com has great, funny, sarcastic-ish recaps that make me smile. A lot.

The L Word = AWESOME!

Stellvia of the Universe! - Yuri? Not quite.

It looks like Simoun-fans only have 1 episode left to fansub. That reminds me that I need to finish getting both it and Stellvia on DVDs. But since I've already reviewed Simoun, let's chat a bit about Stellvia.

I watched Stellvia when I was sick in bed missing a music festival on a weekend. After watching Stellvia, I watched Ikkitousen. But that's not the point. The point is, Stellvia, while it may not be very yuri, is well worth watching.

The whole thing was amazingly technological. While you weren't bombarded with terms and visual representations of concepts like you may otherwise be in a Space Academy, it was all very, well, realistic, or as realistic as a futuristic anime goes.

Following Shima Katase on her journey to become a space pilot was very rewarding. She goes from genious everywhere except in one area to genious in all aspects - and you see a very good transition.

The yuri in this anime is Yayoi/Ayaka (I think). Their relationship (or whatever it is) is very deep with a dark and haunting past. I actually would not of thought of it as yuri if not for already reading a yurified review on it.

That's all I will say. Everyone should see this one, especially people that don't like yuri.

.hack//SIGN - Oh, Bee Train, Yuki Kajiura, how I've missed thee!

Thank god for YouTube, all of the episodes of .hack//SIGN are online. That means I can watch them all for the first time. As of writing, I just finished episode 14. What can I say about the series?

It's so... Bee Train.

And by that I mean it's slow, the backgrounds are cooler than the characters, and there are a lot of flashbacks. But the cool thing about the stuff Bee Train does? Despite all the crappy points, you're STILL hooked on it - now that's something.

By no means can this compare to the masterpiece that is MADLAX or even it's predecessor, Noir, but it's still worth a watch so far.

And, of course, we cannot forget the master of soundtracks herself, Yuki Kajiura. While the songs aren't her best work by far, they still echo of the similar themes that have made it into the MADLAX, Noir, Mai-HiME, and Mai-Otome soundtracks, including the simple soprano duets and the use of violin, as well as a slightly European sound. Though I do prefer Mezame and Canta per Me over any of the stuff I've heard so far.

However, the intro song, Obsession, which is performed by See-Saw (which is composed of Yuki Kajiura and the girl that sings the intro song of Simoun), is absolutely amazing. While the quality of the song is pretty pathetic (the vocals sound awful because of it), it's obvious what a great song it could be if it had been mixed a bit better. It's very Yuki Kajiura, again. I just wish it could have been mixed better.

I'm just spoiled by 'Utsukushi Kereba Sore de Ii', I guess.

So, let's make a link of anime and how they're connected:

Simoun -> .hack//SIGN -> MADLAX and Noir -> Mai-HiME / Mai-Otome -> Strawberry Panic! -> Maria-sama ga Miteru

Ehhh, that's as far as I go. And here's the rationale!!!:

Singer of the OP of Simoun sung in the OP for .hack//SIGN, for which the animation studio is Bee Train, like in MADLAX and Noir, where the soundtrack is composed by Yuki Kajiura, like Mai-HiME and Mai-Otome, who have the same two lead vocal seiyuu (spelling?) as in Strawberry Panic! which was supposedly a rip-off of Maria-sama ga Miteru!!!

I'm tired from all that thinking - goodnight!

Webcomic Reviews!

Here I will review six webcomics that I view everyday! All are yuri, of course, as is a huge point of my blog here at Blogspot (besides the whole technology and politics thing).

El Goonish Shive - http://www.egscomics.com/
My favourite webcomic ever. EVER. It's got all sorts of things to it. It's really into science and technology, personal identity, has interesting fantasy-like storylines, and a really awesome character named Nanase that rocks. The whole thing rocks.

Girly - http://go-girly.com/
I read 400 strips in the archive in one night this past summer and was completely thrilled. It was really good. Unfortunately, the current storyline doesn't interest me all that much. But the past is funny, it's cute, and it's heros are named Otra and Winter. Okay, maybe not the best names, but it's still cool!

Striptease - http://stripteasecomic.com/
I've been following this comic off and on for about two years now, and the problem is that the author takes long hiatuses so I forget to check up. But the artwork has progressed to an amazing level, especially when the strips are colored - wow! And the storyline is complex, there's been a fair amount of action in the past, so I'm hoping this current storyline goes in a good direction as well. My character of choice here is Rachel.

The Lounge - http://thelounge.comicgenesis.com/
This comic follows Italy as she runs a manga/gaming store with a bunch of friends. It's got a lot of funny stuff, especially since there are these sisters from Germany that are at odds with her (but Rain is soooooo hot anyway) and the story is actually pretty R rated, but... it's totally worth it for the nerdy jokes!

YU+ME - http://yume.comicgen.com/
This is one of my more fecent finds, a story about a girl going to a private school who learns about herself. The current storyline is actually quite amusing, as her gay friend is giving her a test on, well, something I'm not going to mention here. Teeheehee!

Flipside - http://www.flipsidecomics.com/
I actually discovered this webcomic while doing debate research on Wal-Mart because I was sick of researching. It's a great find, about a knight named Bernadette and a jester named Maytag in a post-medeival (however the hell you spell that) world. It's long, is more like a manga than anything, and have I mentioned it's awesome? Yup. My second favourite!

Over the past years, I've enjoyed many more webcomics than these, but these are all YURI!! making them awesome. In my opinion. But that's just me :-)

Which Final Fantasy game is the best?

Note that I was born *after* the first FF game came out. I'm writing this as I've played the first 8 games in the past year and a half.


Final Fantasy I - Novelty
When Final Fantasy I came out, it was Square's last hope before Bankruptcy. They were hoping for a miracle, one that they achieved with the release of Final Fantasy I. Never before had the world seen such a game, featuring a unique battle system, storyline, character class, with some things that came to be known as "leveling" and "casting a spell", etc. Even though the characters were nameless without any growth, for its time, it was amazing.


Final Fantasy II - Leveling Up
Following the success of the first game, Square tweaked some things and released Final Fantasy II. The characters have names now, as well as a plot surrounding them. However, the true gem of this game that hasn't been repeated in any Final Fantasy games since is the unique leveling up system - that's very easy to manipulate. Instead of getting XP and leveling up when you get enough, each stat levels up - or down - independently. To increase a character's HP, it has to be injured enough times. To increase a level of a spell, a character has to use it enough times. In the first of these cases, you can attack yourself (which would also increase your attack skill), and in the second, you can select to cast the spell, move on, cancel, reselect, and repeat until you get tired and in both cases, the stats will skyrocket. But putting that aside - it was a great idea that, because of this manipulation, failed miserably.


Final Fantasy III - Magic System
All the Final Fantasy games up until this point had a common thread linking them, and that is the process by which magic was attained. In all three, magic was purchased or found. Final Fantasy III was no exception. Final Fantasy III featured a unique way of categorizing spells by level, and only being able to use that spell a certain number of times rather than using MP, that ended here. In fact, the entire system of purchasing magic ended here. This is a plus in the sense that there may be ways to "learn" magic coming up later that's a lot cheaper, but a downside because not everyone can learn magic later on.


Final Fantasy IV - Characters
Final Fantasy IV was the first Final Fantasy to have named characters that had a significant plot around them. For Final Fantasies I and III, the characters were completely nameless, so no plot centered around them. For Final Fantasy II, the characters had a small plot, trying to find their friend by enlisting various other people as a fourth party member with various skills. But Final Fantasy IV introduced Cecil, a Dark Knight who was in love with Rosa, a White Mage. It introduced Rydia, a summoner whose family was killed, Palom and Porom, twins with contrasting mage abilities, Kain, a backstabbing best friend of Cecil, and a villian who has a much larger role than just "final boss".


Final Fantasy V - Character Development
Final Fantasy III was the first Final Fantasy to have character classes, but the system was awkward in a sense that to go from one class to a similar cost less points than a different, and points were gained during battle and you couldn't have more than 255, etc. Final Fantasy V gives you character classes that level up as you gain points after battles. Each level gains a character a new skill. The character, in any class, has a preset ability given by the class and another ability that can be anything the character has learned. To switch the character to another class is free, and sticks the character where he or she last left off. Due to the infinite combinations of classes and abilities, this is easily the longest Final Fantasy game to play, but also one of the most rewarding.


Final Fantasy VI - Battle System
Whether or not Final Fantasy VI was the first game with the ATB or Final Fantasy V (to be honest, it's been so long since I've played V that I simply cannot remember), it's clear that there were other developments that Final Fantasy VI introduced that stuck around in other forms in all the Final Fantasy games to follow. Final Fantasy VI called them "Desperation Techniques". The following games called them "Limit Breaks". In Final Fantasy VI, each character, in relation to their preset character class, was given a unique Desperation Technique that he or she could use at any point in battle as many times as he or she wished. For Edgar, it was the use of Tools, since he was the King of a Technologically Advanced Kingdom of Figaro. For Cayenne, it was the Sword Technique, because he was a Samurai Warrior. For Gau, it was Rage, because he was a Wild Boy who learned enemy skills. For Relm, it was Sketch, because she drew a copy of the monster that would attack with that monster's skill. This made it very difficult to choose which 4 of the 14 characters would be placed in your party, because each of these skills have great advantages and disadvantages.


Final Fantasy VII - Storyline
Final Fantasy VII has been the most profitable game in Final Fantasy history. It has spun off a movie sequel, a video game prequel, an anime explanation, a video game sequel, and probably quite a bit more things are in the works. Why is this so? Because the storyline allows it to. The scientific background about the creation of Sephiroth from JENOVA, the philosophical thoughts about the Lifestream and Meteor vs Holy, the emotional development of Cloud learning who he really is, all add up to make a thoroughly unique story that will never leave.


Final Fantasy VIII - Music
All Final Fantasy games up to this point have had music composed by the famous Nobuo Uematsu (I think), however, it wasn't until VI that the soundtrack really became amazing, with songs such as Cefca, Tina, and of course the Opera. VII introduced us to the magic of One Winged Angel and the emotion of Aerith's Theme. However, it wasn't until VIII that a full orchestra was used instead of a primitive MIDI system during the game. This allowed songs like Liberi Fatali to become true masterpieces without having to purchase the soundtrack. Even during actual gameplay, songs like Fithos Lusec Wecos Vinosec featured vocals, where in VI, the One Winged Angel battle theme was computer instruments and no vocals.


So what Final Fantasy game is the best?
None. They're all amazing in their own areas of specialty.

ShizNat fanfic: Discovery

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3345090/1/

Weeheehee! Read and review, my friends!

You know what the best 2006 anime release was?

SIMOUN.

(But first let me apologize for lack of posts - I've been sick since Christmas Eve or so and I've been calling in sick to work, staying home from school, etc, so I've just pretty much been playing internet games at Newgrounds for two weeks.)

Yes, Simoun was absolutely amazing. It makes it into the top five on my anime list.

But why? What makes Simoun so amazing? I mean, half the characters in the end turn into guys therefore totally depleting all the yuri potential right?

Wrong.

The characters that turn male are actually surprising. I don't want to spoil anything, but the characters don't always follow what they've through during the beginning of the series on what they're going to choose, since their character development completely changes that. So the yuri-fied characters stay yuri-fied. Isn't that something?

And a semi-happy ending for the yuri-fied characters. That's something too, isn't it?

So Simoun starts yuri, progresses as yuri, and ends yuri. It's amazing.

I think I might start rating the anime I watch on some kind of 100-point scale, but I'm not sure what parts I should focus on.

But no matter - Simoun gets 100 on all of them. Well, except music, where it gets 95. But the opening kicks because it's awesome. Check out the music video on YouTube - it's yuri too! Just search Simoun and it should be on one of the first pages.

End of the year lists!

Everyone has these TOP TEN!!! lists, so I have one for you. Actually, I have a top five list with a bonus top ten list. So, without further ado...



TOP FIVE YURISTUFFS OF 2006!

5. TV show - South of Nowhere season 2
This is actually the only non-anime TV show I watch. I watch it free off of The N every week that it airs. The season finale was on Friday, and the series ended with quite a bang (literally). Finally in this season Spencer comes out to her family, has a huge fight with her family, and gets it mostly resolved. Finally in this season Spencer and Ashley actually kiss more than once. And not-so finally in this season the straight couples get more romantic screentime. Spencer and Ashley talk and smile. The other couples make out. So not fair.

4. Anime - Strawberry Panic!
Parody or not, disappointing or not, this is the very first anime I've ever seen with an entirely female cast. Not just female main cast, but female cast period. It's actually quite nice. And the love polygons were complex and that was enough plot because of that. Even though Amane's a guy to me and it took forever for Shizuma to actually kiss Nagisa once, and then the same amount to kiss her again, the series was a fun watch. And, you know, I think it'll open some interesting doors for yuri anime to come - actual real portrayal of lesbian couples in anime and not beating around the bush (like Marimite).

3. Anime - Kannazuki no Miko
Even though this anime is pathetic, full of mechas and pointless fighting, and laughable, it still has a strong beginning and ending that are full of yuri. In fact, the entire series is yuri. When I watched it, I almost felt the need to skip episodes, but the little things here and there - Chikane's wistful glances, Himeko's subconsious need to be with Chikane - really make the series try and redeem itself. It was licensed this year and just 3 DVDs for the 12 episodes, which is standard, I guess.

2. Movie - V for Vendetta
I love things that make me think. That's probably why The Matrix is my favourite movie, 1984 is my favourite book, and Madlax is my favourite anime. But my star of "things that make me think" this year is V for Vendetta. And not only does it have the most amazing plot and portrayal and (Natalie Porman is HOT and) stuff like that, it has a great middle section with Valerie's letter. The letter is easily one of the most important parts of the film, because while a lot is said by V about the government, Valerie's letter shows it in a timeline by someone who was just an average citizen.

1. Anime - Mai HiME/Mai Otome
Mai HiME was licensed and the DVDs released this year, and Mai Otome finished airing. Both shows have quite a bit of yuri in it - obvious yuri, too - as well as a halfway decent serious portrayal of the overall plot. Mai HiME is clearly the superior series (was I the only person that liked the ending?) while Mai Otome is goofy, funny, but it tries so hard to be serious. For just Shizuru and Natsuki, this is the best yuristuff of 2006. However, when you add in the possibilities for Mai x Mikoto, Aoi x Chie, Haruka x Yukino, Midori x Youko, Arika x Mashiro, Nina x Erstin, and don't forget Tomoe, this series truly shines.




BONUS!

LINDSAY'S TOP TEN ANIME OF ALL TIME
(Note - I just started watching anime 10 months ago, but whatever)

10. Mai Otome
The sequel to Mai Hime had enough Shizuru x Natsuki to hold me over. If anyone just wants to watch a good yuri moment, about halfway through episode nine there's a really good beach scene. But the series isn't too bad overall. It has a plot, that plot ends up tying back to Mai HiME, and it makes about as much since as its prequel. Which doesn't mean much.

9. Yami to Boushi to Hon no Tabibito
I watched this series in between Uta-Kata (which I quit after 4 episodes - manga was good though) and Bakuretsu Tenshi (which is on this list a bit later), so I had trouble focusing on it. Not a good thing, as you may know if you've seen the series. For being based on an H-game, this is an extremely complicated story that goes back and forth more times than I can count. Parts made no sense to me and others did. The whole in-love-with-my-adopted-sister thing may throw some people off, but adoption is not blood relation, so it didn't bother me... too much. If you want to know where the art for Kannazuki no Miko came from and don't mind being confused, download this unlicensed series!

8. Bakuretsu Tenshi
What is it about girls with guns that make me so excited? I can't figure it out. But I do very much so think girls with guns are very HOT. But the problem is I can't make myself like Jo from this series. That's bad because she's the main character. It's not the white hair, because I like the girl she was fighting against in the last couple of episodes with white hair. It's not the artist's style because Meg and Sei are both sexy as hell to me, so... what is it? Who knows. But, the anime overall is hot, it's got a fun plot, and the ending made me sad. Where's the yuri, you might ask? In the last episode between Meg and Jo. Yes, you have to wait. But, yes, it's worth it.

7. Read or Die
This is so far down on my list because of two reasons. First, I haven't watched it in awhile. Second, there's nothing really concrete in this series. I did prefer the OAV and the Nancy/Yomiko pairing, so that made me sad during the anime when Nancy 2 was so childish (but then again she did lose her memory and stuff, so...). I don't know. Great plot, another 1984-ish story, but I'm not too sure about what else. Definite recommendation, though.

6. Strawberry Panic!
See my notes above

5. Revolutionary Girl Utena
This was my very first anime series ever, at a time when I had just gotten over a two-year time of being in love with a good friend, so Juri really spoke to me. I think I've watched those four episodes - 7, 17, 28, 29 - more times than I can count and I still rewatch them. A lot of people talk about Utena x Anthy, but I don't really see that because I'm so distracted by the possibility of Juri x Shiori. Juri's obviously in love with Shiori, and Shiori learns of it, so what exists then? Unfortunately, closure never comes. Disappointing.

4. Kannazuki no Miko
See my notes above

3. Haibane Renmei
Okay, so the yuri's thin. So what? Beautiful series, with a (mostly) hole-free plot. Few complaints with this one. The depth of emotion in this short series is breathtaking. I can't say enough about the emotion in this series and can't seem to say anything about the plot. Watch it!

2. Mai HiME
See my notes above

1. Madlax
Now, I know you're all thinking, "Madlax? What the hell? That series is nothing compared to Noir!" Oh, my friends, I beg to differ. Noir, while it probably would've been 11 on this list, was dark, bloody (if you knew where to look), repetitive, and boring in the art department. Madlax made everything in Noir ten times better, gave it a new fictional setting, 1984ed the plot, and let it run. And the end result was absolutely amazing. The first (and only) piece of anime I've gone out of my way to purchase a volume of. Amazing.

Haibane Renmei is a MUST WATCH!

So, looking at the wikipedia article, one might think that "oh, little kids with wings and halos - so cheesy!" but Haibane Renmei really isn't that cheesy at all. In fact, it's kinda dark after a bit.

I don't want to spoil a bit of it - just say watch it! As far as I know, it's not liscensed (according to the wiki and to animesuki), so go find the torrent somewhere. It's only 13 episodes and will take a day or two on DSL or cable, so it's completely worth the time spent. I watched all 13 episodes in 24 hours even with attending school and work - that good!

If you like really deep anime (think Madlax without a war) then this is the anime for you! And even those people that don't like yuri will enjoy it, but be prepared for some really deep friendships.

:-)

Wal-Mart: The evil retailer

(Beware - this rant is 4 pages long in MS Word)


So, I know, everyone shops at Wal-Mart. They’ve got the lowest prices in town and the most convenience a store could have. But just how good is this big retailer? Not very.

So, let’s just look at things the way they look on first glace. Low prices. The economic firm Global Insight, in a study commissioned by Wal-Mart in 2005, states that consumers save $263 billion total, or $895 per person or $2329 per household. These numbers are huge. So what do we have to say about this?

It’s false. It’s VERY false. Many highly respected economists debate this number, including people such as Arindrajit Dube, Jared Bernstein, and L Scott Bivens. In a June 2006 paper, the latter two write, “A study by the consulting firm Global Insight, which concludes that Wal-Mart’s expansion has saved US consumers $263 billion, is deeply flawed. The statistical analysis generating this widely quoted figure fails the most rudimentary sensitivity checks used in good economic analysis, rendering its conclusions unreliable.”

While Wal-Mart may have insisted on many ways to prevent criticisms like this, they have failed. So, we look at the next largest estimate. A 2002 study by the New England Consulting Group saves consumers a total of $100 billion in a year. That is less than half. And there are further estimates that dwindle all the way down to $16 billion. So how much does Wal-Mart save consumers? It’s hard to tell.

Let’s look at Wal-Mart’s other “good points”

Wal-Mart creates jobs. According to Jason Furman, in “Wal-Mart: A Progressive Success Story” on November 28, 2005, “The one study that was published in a peer-reviewed economics journal found that ‘Wal-mart entry [in a county] increases retail employment by 100 jobs in the year of entry. Half of this gain disappears over the next five years as other retail establishments exit and contract, leaving a long-run statistically significant net gain of 50 jobs’.” Emek Basker in, “The Causes and Consequences of Wal-Mart’s Growth” on November 2006, adds on to this statistic, “The number of wholesale jobs declines by about 30 in the long run, reflecting the fact that Wal-mart is vertically integrated.”

So, looks impressive. But let’s take a look at the real picture here. Kenneth E Stone found in 1997 that during the 10 years after Wal-Mart opens, towns lose about 47% of their retail trade. A more recent study, by David Neumark, Junfu Zhang, and Stephen Ciccarella in October 2006, find “each Wal-Mart worker takes the place of 1.4 retail workers.”

Yet, it just looks like the statistics compete. However, the studies supporting Wal-Mart stop after five year. Kenneth Stone’s study continued through ten years. And then you have to look at Wal-Mart’s high turnover rate. According to “Wal-Mart How Big Can it Grow” from The Economist on April 15, 2004, Wal-Mart has to hire 600,000 people every year because of turnover. This is not job creation, this is job replacement. This cannot be taken into effect.

So what about community benefit? According to an article written by the National Committee for Responsive Philantrhopy, “The Waltons and Wal-mart: Self-Interested Philanthropy” on October 4, 2005, Wal-Mart gives the most among corporations, and increased this giving by 70% from 2002 to 2004, ending at $170 million.

While this may seem impressive, according to a documentary by PBS, “Store Wars: When Wal-Mart Comes to Town”, this is only .4% of their profits. Forbes reports in their “Most Charitable Companies” on November 14, 2005, that Target gives 2.1%, Coca-Cola gives 1.2% Best Buy gives 1.1%, etc. All these companies give so much more.

Another argument is about envirnonmental issues. Wal-Mart has put plans into place about reducing environmental harms, including a $500 million plan according to DNS Retailing Today (which is mostly PR), however, this is a plan. They tried, for example, an eco-friendly store with solar panel lights, etc, and found it unprofitable. They want to increase their profit, that’s all. And other companies may be doing more, so why give Wal-Mart credit for what it doesn’t do?

Now, let’s move to the negative impact Wal-Mart has on this country.

According to various studies by Arindrajit Dube and Steve Wertheim, Wal-Mart’s wages are extremely low. One of their statistis is the average wage for Wal-Mart is $9.68, which is 15% below other large retailers and 30% below unionized grocery workers. Seeing as the dollar amount is from Wal-Mart, it is the average of employees who have worked full-time for a year or more. That includes the high management and CEO positions. This is $4000 below the Federal Poverty line for a family of four, according to 2005 US Census Bureau data.

While those for Wal-Mart argue another statistic in Dube and Wertheim’s study – Wal-Mart’s median wage of $9 is above the median wage of large retailers, $8.34 – note that this estimate is much lower than the average. This puts workers further below the poverty line.

As why the median wage seems to be competitive, there’s a reason for that also: Wal-Mart drives other retailers’ wages down. A study in 2005 by David Newmark, Junfu Zhang, and Stephen Ciccarella, note that there’s 3.5% lower wage earnings when there’s a Wal-Mart around. Arindrajit Dube, Barry Eidlin, and Bill Lester note in “Impact of Wal-Mart Growh on Earnings throughout the Retail Sector in Urban and Rural Counties” on October 2005, that “the total earnings of retail workers nationwide was reduced by $4.7 billion due to Wal-Mart’s presence.”

Now let’s move to another aspect of workers, the benefits they receive. Even in Wal-mart’s own Supplemental Benefits Documentation FY06, the store notes that Wal-Mart pays twice as much out of pocket for healthcare, and that almost half of Wal-Mart workers’ children are on Medicaid programs. Because Wal-Mart wants to cut costs, they propose more efficient ways of providing health care: “A healthier workforce will lead to lower health insurance costs, lower absenteeism through fewer sick days, and higher productivity.” They wish to do this by designing “all jobs to include some physical activity” and offering “benefits that appeal to healthy Associates”.

Don’t let Pro-Wal-Mart people fool you with another “comparable” statistic. Wal-Mart itself is citing these problems and “fixes”.

The last problem with the worker specifically is that the corporation is anti-Union. They have “A Manager’s Toolbox for Remaining Union-Free” which discusses different union policies. According to Christopher Hayes in Symbol of the System on November 6, 2005, “Managers are trained to call a special hotline at the first sign of suspicious behavior, including ‘employees talking in hushed tones to each other’. After the call, the company’s notorious labor relations division headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas, will swing into gear, often dispatching a company jet to the afflicted store, bearing members of its crack team of union busters. Management will convene mandatory meetings with each associate and screen anti-union videos.”

Well, say Wal-Mart supporters, unions are dying out. Only 13% of employees are in unions now, and half are government employees, according to “The Limits of Solidarity” from The Economist on September 21, 2006. This is a decrease from over 20% in the 1980s. And there’d be legal trouble if this was a big deal.

Well, it is a big deal According to a USA Today article by Stephanie Armour in 2003, the National Labor Relations Board has filed 28 complaints against Wal-Mart from 2001 to date of publishing. One of these is about meat cutters in Texas that wanted to organize. Wal-Mart then switched to prepackaged meats because of it.

Even if Wal-Mart’s wages and benefits were at or above par, this anti-Union defeats the purpose. How can they be able to continue earning these without the Union guarantee? One of my first points in this section was that workers get 30% less than unionized workers.

Another argument is about poverty. Wal-Mart supporters will bring up a statistic cited by Jason Furman in “Wal-Mart: A Progressive Success Story” on November 28, 2005, that benefits give a 6.5% increase to income for the bottom quintile. However, this statistic is not only about Wal-Mart, but all big-box grocery stores.

A study by Stephan J Goetz and Hema Swaminathan on October 18, 2004 titled “Wal-mart and County-Wide Poverty” states that “The marginal effect of another Wal-Mart store on the average poverty rate was .204, while that of existing stores was .099 percentage points”, meaning that new Wal-mart stores double the rate of increasing poverty (it’d be negative percents if it was decreasing). This is huge, because it attributes only to Wal-Mart.

Not only these huge disadvantages to workers and to poverty-stricken families, but there are others to all Americans, whether they shop at Wal-Mart or not – tax burden. According to a US House of Representatives report headed by Congressman George Miller on February 16, 2004 (specifically the Democratic staff of the Committee on Education and the Workforce), each Wal-Mart store causes a tax burden of $420,750. Each employee, $2,103. This causes $3 billion in taxes that Americans must pay for their public health plans. Soon we will pay more, as according to an EPI study by Jared Bernstein and L Josh Bivens in June 2006, the president has cut $5 billion over five years for Medicaid and another $5 billion for other programs. There will be a $27 billion in cuts for Medicaid over the next 10 years. That will only increase our tax burden.

Everyone pays taxes. Not everyone shops at Wal-Mart

There have been hundreds of labor violations, including locking workers in the store overnight, having them work overtime with no pay, having students work during school, deleting breaks, cited by many studies, including the one by the US House of Representatives mentioned in the last paragraph.

Wal-Mart is not a good company for anyone by any means.

Does the Matrix have you? A discussion of AI.

Whenever I rewatch the Matrix, I get all sorts of funny ideas. For example, how can Neo get his powers transferred over into the real world? Why do people have white hair when they're totally not that old? Why do the second and third movies suck so much?

But tonight, after watching the movie for at least the 1,316,928,561st time*, I have a new thought:
Is it possible to create AI (artificial intelligence) that could overthrow the entire human race?

From watching the movie, one would be inclined to say 'yes'. A technology junkie like me who goes crazy at the simple sight of the acronym 'AI' would be inclined to say 'yes'. That is why it is shocking when I tell you quite frankly, 'no'.

Here's my (weak and unresearched) argument. What creates "smart" AI? We have AI now. When you play chess against your computer, that is AI. When your computer decides things without asking, that is AI. But I don't see my computer trying to take over the world. It obeys every single command I input. That's what a computer is - an input/output machine. (I could try to make a BIOS joke here, but I don't know any.)

When I make a chess move, say, pawn G4 to G5 (like the Macs from a few years ago, teeheehee!), it moves it and then, through a series of complex equations, determines the "best" move based on the "intelligence" level the user sets. Logically, then, each of its own moves is dictated by you, the user.

Is this what we call "intelligence"? I call it "brainlessness".

The day when AI can finally overthrow us is the day it stops depending on human input. And what day will that be? Never. Even if I tell a computer with my own voice to, say, "wash the dishes", it will simply take its robotic arms through a preset path, calculate distances to the plates that need washing, determine rotation and speed to that plate, grasp it after going through calculations of what force will not break the plate, determine rotation and speed back to the water, use preset time to leave plate in water...

Need I continue? Every action it would go through, no matter how autonomous it would look like, is based on physics and mathematics. Nothing that it would come up with itself.

So, then, if it shows creativity, is it intelligent

Maybe so, maybe not. If by "creativity" you mean creating a piece of original artwork, I would again be inclined to say 'no'. Why? You can use math to create pictures. You can program a style of art into a machine. But the machine would still be incapable of producing something completely original if the user did not preset the boundaries for it.

AI overtaking us? Not likely. Unless we're in the Matrix right now, I doubt we will ever be.


FOOTNOTE:
*13 squared = 169. 169 squared = 28,561. 13 is my favourite number. Go figure.

Currently watching: Devilman Lady

Episodes 1 and 2 down and I think this one might stick with me for a bit. Before Strawberry Panic, I attempted Kurau Phantom Memory and just couldn't get past episode 6. But Devilman Lady looks pretty good.

My only complaints? 1) It's so dark most of the time I can't see anything on my laptop screen and 2) It's just a tad bit too gory. I'm used to the Noir/Madlax way of dealing with blood in anime. It's actually quite nice to not have to see bodily fluids gushing out all over the place. But now... ehhh.

But besides that, Asuka totally has a thing for Jun. Yup. I thought it was adorable in the first episode how she seems so cruel at first, but then when she thought Jun was dead was all worried. It made me go "awww".

Do I recommend this for yuri fans? Not sure quite yet, but as of my opinions at this point, yes.