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Showing posts with label review. Show all posts
Showing posts with label review. Show all posts
This is another anime micro review. Read here for an explanation. This will also be my last anime micro review for the anime I watched when I was really sick a few months ago.
This is a sci-fi anime adaptation of the classic novel The
Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas. This anime impressed me a lot.
The art and writing both seem exceptional. The art style is very unique. It’s
not the character designs that are unusual, but the way they use textures to
color everything instead of solid colors, that makes this anime so eye-catching.
The writing for this anime is very suspenseful. Right from the first episode
we’re presented with mystery and peril. This anime was intriguing, and I would
like to watch more. Being rather dark and so intense, I feel it is an anime I
would have to absorb in small doses, rather than watching it all of the way
through.
Content Advisory: Some sexually suggestive content
(the story begins at a Mardi Gras-type celebration). Some PG13 language. The
first two episodes of this anime had no blood or graphic violence of any kind
(I mention this because the first episode does have a public execution, which I
was worried would get graphic, but it didn’t.)
This anime was ridiculous, in a boring kind of way. In the
far future two girls in absurd outfits fight interstellar crime for the
galactic equivalent of the United Nations. One of them gains super strength and
invulnerability from her lipstick, and the other one can control computers with
her mind. In the first episode it’s like they run a bulldozer over every
obstacle in their path, even taking out an entire space armada single-handedly.
The second episode was a bit more interesting because it did focus more on a
side character who is a bit of an enigma. It also had a couple of twists and
turns in the plot. Overall, though, it was not much more interesting than the
first. I wouldn’t bother watching a third episode of this.
Content Advisory: Only minor language and fan service
(from what I can recall).
This is another anime micro review. Read here for an explanation.
A sci-fi western, this anime follows a master swordsman
named Van and a young girl named Wendy as they search for a man with a claw on
his left hand. This villain murdered Van’s bride on their wedding day and
kidnapped Wendy’s brother. The art is very crisp and colorful. The character
designs are very distinctive, and Van’s sword is awesome. Its long blade can go
limp and act like a whip. Van has a kind of neat personality. He doesn’t really
want to get involved in anything except his personal revenge, but he gets upset
when people mistreat women and kids and ends up kicking somebody’s butt. Also,
he has a giant mecha that falls from the sky when he really needs some heavy
firepower. Altogether, this was a fairly entertaining anime. It had a lot of
action, a good bit of plot, some likable characters, and a smattering of humor.
Content Advisory: Some PG13 language. Some blood in
the action scenes, but nothing more graphic than that.
This is another anime micro review. Read here for an explanation.
This anime is a sci-fi western, and it tells the story of
Vash the Stampede. Vash has a huge bounty on his head for destroying an entire
city. He leaves a trail of destruction wherever he goes, but as it turns out
most of this chaos is the result of the bounty hunters that come after him. In
truth, Vash is a rather comical character, and the other two main characters –
two women from the insurance agency that’s had to pay for all the destruction
being attributed to Vash – don’t even believe he’s the real Vash. This anime
has quite a bit of action in it, but it’s really rather lighthearted and
comical. It is an older anime, so the animation isn’t great, but it’s adequate.
Vash is a super likable guy.
Content Advisory: Some PG13 language. Some blood in
the action scenes, but nothing more graphic than that. Even the action scenes
are mostly cartoon slapstick, really.
This is another anime micro review. Read here for an explanation.
In this Asian fantasy story, a brave warrior woman becomes
the bodyguard to a young prince whose father is intent on having him killed.
The woman’s history is a bit mysterious, but apparently she’s become a bodyguard
to atone for having wrongfully killed some people in the past. The boy’s
situation is a mystery as well. He seems to have gained some kind of water
magic that protects him. The king’s advisers believe him to be possessed, so it
has been decided he must be killed to protect the sanctity of the royal family.
The boy is a bit of a whiner, but he’s not too bad. The woman seems very smart
and down to earth. The animation in this series is very well done. Everything
is very crisp and vibrant looking.
Content Advisory: There may be some language. (Can’t
quite recall now. It was definitely less than in other series I’ve seen
recently.) There was no blood or gore of any kind in the first two episodes,
but it hadn’t really gotten into any serious action, so I don’t know how
representative this is of the series as a whole.
The premise for this series sounded very cool. Apparently, a
group of alchemists unlocked the secret of immortality hundreds of years ago,
but this story focuses on their involvement in the American mafia in the 1930s.
I like the idea of stories about immortals, and there aren’t too many anime
based in 1930s America.
The animation in this series also looked pretty good from the images I’d seen.
Unfortunately, this anime is extremely gory, I guess to emphasize that the main
characters are immortal. They can be dismembered or even decapitated, and they
just come right back together and keep going. I only watched about ten minutes
of the first episode before I decided I couldn’t watch any more. I’ll post the
intro here, since that was clean and kind of neat.
Content Advisory: Some PG13 language. Lots of blood
and gore. Definitely not recommended.
This is an interesting little fairy tale. It is about a duck
that falls in love with a prince and is transformed into a magical girl called
Princess Tutu. The setting for the story is a dance school, but a brave prince
and an evil crow have escaped from a story book and broke the barrier between
reality and fantasy in this town. Princess Tutu has to battle sort-of-villains
that aren’t really evil in order to help the prince. The anime seems like it
would be a very nice story for young girls. That isn’t an insult either, it’s just
the audience I think this anime is aimed at. I found some aspects of the story
interesting, but when your heroine is using moves based on ballet to fight/save
her enemies it feels a little silly. The art was nothing groundbreaking, but I
thought it was very nice.
Content Advisory: Can’t really say anything here.
Very G-rated content. There is magic, if you find that offensive, but the fact
that it’s a fairy tale should make that obvious.
This is another anime micro review. Read here for an explanation.
The newest extreme sports gear is Air Treks – two-wheeled,
motorized, inline roller skates. The main character in this story is a 13
year-old boy who thinks he’s a street tough until he gets beat up by a gang of
teens who use Air Treks in their street fighting. Afterwards, the boy decides
to get some Air Treks himself and becomes immersed in the world of Air
Trek-using street gangs and their battle/racing
sub-culture. This is another variation on the typical
boy-is-introduce-to-some-new-competitive-activity-and-turns-out-to-be-a-prodigy-but-must-prove-he’s-the-best
plotline that is popular in many shonen anime. The Air-Treks are actually a
pretty cool idea, but story-wise this anime doesn’t seem to really offer
anything new. There was this one creepy girl who made these creepy dolls and
recited this creepy rhyme while she sewed them. I’ll post a clip of that
because I loved it.
Content Advisory: PG13 language. I was surprised that
there was some very brief partial nudity. I wish I had known that ahead of
time. Not recommended.
This is another anime micro review. Read here for an explanation.
The world is full of Mushi – strange life forms that defy
definition. In the anime they are described as the purest form of life –
creatures that can’t be categorized as plant, animal, or any other off-shoot of
life. They seem a bit like spirits, but they aren’t actually called spirits in
the anime. They are invisible to most people, but when they can be seen they
take a variety of forms. Some look like strange bugs and some look like humans.
If fact, apparently, on rare occasions, humans can become Mushi. This anime
follows the travels of a mysterious man who is studying Mushi. He has somehow
learned to master Mushi and harness their powers. In each of the two episodes I
saw, he comes to the aid of an individual who is suffering some problem due to
the activity of a Mushi. The stories are a bit on the “strange” side. They’re
even a tad creepy at times, but not what I would call horror. You never get the
impression that the Mushi are inherently evil or malicious. Also, just to
clarify, this anime has a very personal/investigative feel to it. Even though
the main character sometimes uses Mushi he’s mastered in order to solve
problems, this isn’t a “gotta’ catch ‘em all” kind of show. Overall, I found it
interesting. The main character seems very kind, but he’s a bit mysterious, and
it is hinted that he’s made some considerable sacrifices in his quest to master
these Mushi. I’d like to watch more episodes so that I can learn more about the
main character and the Mushi.
Content Advisory: There are some scenes with the
Mushi that are a little bit creepy. If strange and mysterious
creatures/scenarios scare you easily you might want to skip this one.
This is a gag anime. Meaning: this anime has absolutely zero
plot or character development. It is strictly a series of jokes and visual
gags. It starts out with, what I thought was, a pretty funny gag. The main
character comes skipping out of her high school and skips blindly into the
street, in front of a speeding truck. Brakes squeal, but she ends up getting
hit. The crowd that gathers around are saying stuff like “Oh my! She’s really
dead!”, “That totally ruins the plot!”, and “What were the writers thinking!?”
I found that kind of funny. Of course, they arbitrarily resurrect the character
and the story continues. In fact, her getting killed doing stupid stuff becomes
a running gag in the first episode. I only watched the first episode because
this anime became very stupid very fast. Perhaps I just can’t appreciate this
brand of humor. It was all I could do to sit through the first episode.
Content Advisory: Some PG13 language. The main
character gets killed multiple times, but I wouldn’t really call this anime
“violent”. It’s really just absurd slapstick comedy.
Anime Micro Review: Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
2 comments Posted by Catalyst at 8:00 AM
This is another anime micro review. Read here for an explanation.
This anime takes place in the not-too-distant future and
focuses on an elite police squad that uses the latest technology to deal with
crimes committed using the latest technology. Ghost in the Shell was a movie
first, and if I understand things correctly, this series is a prequel to the
movie. The show seems very episodic in the first two episodes. Each episode had
the team dealing with a different crime, which did not seem to be connected in
any way. Both situations were interesting. The first was more of a mystery,
while the second was more straightforward but had more action. One of the cool
things about this anime is the technology portrayed in it. Several of the main
characters are cyborgs, and it seems like in this world it isn’t unusual for
your average person to have at least one or two cybernetic enhancements. Of
course, there are also anti-cyborg activists, but that was only alluded to in
these episodes. The animation was pretty good, and the plots were interesting.
In the first two episodes the characters weren’t developed very much, but they
might get more attention as the show progresses. Overall, I’d say this show is
more mentally engaging than emotionally engaging.
Content Advisory: Some PG13 language. The first
episode had one scene with some brief gore when the main character shoots off a
guy’s foot as he’s trying to escape. It also had a scene where the police blow
off the heads of three androids. It wasn’t exactly “gory”, but the heads (which
looked rather human on the surface) do explode with some sort of black fluid
spraying up from the necks. Again, not exactly “gory”, since they were machines, but still kind of disturbing looking. Interestingly, the second episode
had nothing like either of those scenes, so I don’t know how I would rate the
series as a whole, content-wise.
This is another anime micro review. Read here for an explanation.
 |
| From left to right: Kamina, Yoko and Simon - the three main characters. Kamina is awesome. |
This anime was pretty awesome. It is a bit hard to describe.
Or, at least, it is hard to describe why it is so awesome. The story is about
two guys, Simon and Kamina. Simon is about 12 or 13, and lacking in
self-confidence. Kamina is older - maybe late teens - and is very boisterous
and self-assured. They both grew up in this isolated underground village. Simon
works with some other villagers to dig tunnels and expand the village. Kamina
is a delinquent who dreams of traveling to the surface, a place he saw as a
very young child. Their lives change when Simon discovers a robot while
digging. Shortly thereafter, a big robot comes crashing through the roof of the
underground village. A girl from the surface, named Yoko, is trying to fight it
with only a giant laser rifle, and things aren’t going well. Kamina urges Simon
to take up the fight, piloting the robot he found earlier while digging, and he
quickly defeats the attacking robot. Together, they go to the surface where
they discover that some evil people called the beastmen have been keeping
humans oppressed for centuries. Kamina decides to take the fight to the
beastmen using the robot Simon dug up, and another one that Kamina commandeers
from the bad guys.
This anime seems like a simple enough action series at first
glance, but there are some very personal dramatic moments in it. The characters
are very likeable. Simon seems a little pathetic, but it’s obvious that he has
untapped potential. Kamina is a hot head, but he’s got courage in spades.
Yoko’s character isn’t really explored much in the first two episodes, but she
seems OK. The action in this show is waaaaay over the top, which is so very fun
in a juvenile male kind of way. And there are just so many great lines – most
of them coming from Kamina. ^_^
Content Advisory: Some language. I think there may
have been a little bit of blood in some of the action scenes, but it wasn’t
much. Most of the action is robot vs. robot. There was a certain amount of
so-called “fan service” (Yoko wears a pretty skimpy outfit) but I didn’t find
it as annoying as in most anime that has it. Perhaps because the rest of the
anime is so cool, it doesn’t feel like a desperate attempt to draw in viewers.
This is another anime micro review. Read here for an explanation.
This anime takes place in a universe that resembles the
modern day world, but where magic is practiced openly, and there are families
of magic-users who have gained notoriety for their mastery of different types
of magic. The two main characters are a teenage girl and a slightly older guy
who both come from the most accomplished family of fire magic-users (they’re
cousins, if I remember correctly). The girl is an accomplished fire magic-user
herself, and the heir to the family head. The guy never could pick up on fire
magic, so he was ostracized at a young age. The story begins when he returns to
town and demonstrates a mastery of wind magic. In fact, it seems as though he
may have become the most powerful wind magic-user in the world. When members of
the fire magic family start getting killed off by means of wind magic, people
assume that he’s looking for vengeance against the family that ostracized him,
but in reality there is someone else behind it. This whole situation pits the
two main characters against each other. The first two episodes didn’t reveal
what was really going on. I would be curious to watch more and find out. The
two main characters were both pretty interesting. The guy, especially, seemed
like an interesting person with a variety of motivations.
Content Advisory: Some minor language. (Maybe? Can’t
remember for sure.) There is some fighting, and people die, but there is
nothing graphic. You might object to the basic premise of a story about magic
users, though honestly it felt more like superpowers here.
This is another anime micro review. Read here for an explanation.
In the world of Last Exile people live life above the
clouds. It is a little unclear if people are living on floating islands, or
just on the tops of mountains, but airplanes and airships are the primary means
of traveling the vast oceans of sky between settlements. Nations command vast
fleets of massive airships and carryout so-called “honorable” warfare, sticking
to some kind of code of chivalry that isn’t quite explained in the first two
episodes. Meanwhile, the two main characters – a young pilot/navigator duo
named Claus and Lavie – work as sky carriers. In the first two episodes they
are hired to deliver a letter to an admiral of their nation’s sky navy. The
mission puts them in the middle of a battle, where it becomes obvious that the
enemy isn’t using honorable tactics. What’s more, the organization that’s
supposed to police battlefield etiquette refuses to interfere. So, obviously
there is some kind of conspiracy going on. Honestly, the story and characters
weren’t especially engaging in the first two episodes, but the artwork was
pretty high quality, and the world had a very interesting look. There was
enough there to make me slightly curious to see more.
Content Advisory: Some blood in the action scenes.
Some mild language.
A little over a month ago, I got so sick I was pretty much house-bound for a little over a week. During that time I decided to use my sickbed time to enjoy a massive anime simpler via the streaming service from Netflix.com. I watched fourteen different anime, but only two episodes (at most) of each. The idea was to get just a sample of a bunch of different shows that had been sitting in my Netflix queue for a while. Afterwards, I would know which ones might be worth seeing more of, and which ones I could forget about. So, after watching these I decided to write what I'm calling a "micro review" for each anime. It's "micro" because the reviews themselves are only going to be a couple of paragraphs each, and they're based on only a small portion of the anime. I'll be posting one of these each Saturday until I've posted all fourteen. So, here is the first one. I hope you enjoy!
Sengoku Basara
Hot-headed samurai guys are fighting over… I’m not really
sure. If there is a story here it doesn’t seem to be very important. I only
watched the first episode of this. The art was pretty decent, but nothing
exceptional. For an action anime, this was very boring.
Content Advisory: Some blood in the action scenes.
Maybe some PG13 language. I don’t really remember because I wasn’t paying that
much attention.
OK, so that first one is very brief and a little disappointing. There will be some better ones, though. I promise! ^_^
I'm happy to say that I've reached my goal this year of reading 52 books this year. That's roughly 1 book each week for the entire year. In truth, that's only how it averaged out. Some weeks I read 2 books and other weeks I read none. But I still read 52 books in total. Now, I really don't have a lot of time for reading, so the only way I was able to accomplish this is that most of the books I read were manga volumes or graphic novels. I did slip some meatier books in there as well though. I thought I might share a few of the books I
enjoyed this year with you.
1. Sooner Dead by Mel Odom
Sooner Dead is novel set in the universe of Gamma World, a post-apocalyptic sci-fi role-playing game. For those unfamiliar with role-playing games, the general idea of a game like Gamma World is to give the players a detailed and interesting setting, and to let them create their own characters and stories in that setting. So I found it interesting to read what an established author had come up with given the same resources as the common gamer.
The novel itself was pretty straightforward, but it had a few surprises. The characters were entertaining, but not too complex. It was fast paced and featured plenty of action. I think one of the things I enjoyed the most were some of the author's descriptions. Just the opening chapter contains a really cool description of the way that lightning illuminates a dark landscape, and really goes a long ways in building tension.
2. Mouse Guard: Legends of the Guard, Volume 1Legends of the Guard is a spinoff of the excellent Mouse Guard series by David Petersen. Legends is a collection of short stories set in the Mouse Guard world and framed as a bunch of tales told around the table in a tavern one night. Each story is written and illustrated by a different writer and artist, making for an interesting variety in themes and presentations. I'm looking forward to getting back to the main Mouse Guard story with the publication of The Black Axe within the next year, but Legends of the Guard made for an entertaining diversion in the meantime.
3. Dr. Horrible and Other Horrible StoriesThe awesome musical tragicomedy webseries, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, from creator Joss Whedon, was something of an origin story in itself. It artfully portrayed the rise of Dr. Horrible from a hapless do-badder to evil criminal genius. Interestingly, this graphic novel goes back even further, showing the origin of Horrible's grudge against the world, the beginning of his rivalry with Captain Hammer, the origin of the Freeze Ray, and other details. This graphic novel is really a collection of short stories, but the way they are woven together is delightful and funny. Though not written by Joss Whedon himself, this tale definitely has the Whedon flair and style.
4. Legend of the Five Rings Roleplaying Game, 4th EditionThis core book for the Legend of the Five Rings Roleplaying Game is one of the most masterfully written roleplaying game books that I've read. The rules for the game are straight forward and do a great job of invoking the flavor of the setting. The setting, a sort of fantasy version of ancient Japan mixed with elements of other Asian cultures, is very compelling and artfully conveyed. Nearly every other page or so of this 400 page book contained some detail that sparked an idea for a story or character that could exist in this setting. The book is also beautifully illustrated throughout, and stands as one of the most well put-together roleplaying books I've read.
5. Bunny Drop, Volume 1A cute an endearing manga series by Yumi Unita, Bunny Drop tells the story of Daikichi, a 30-year-old bachelor who, through a strange set of circumstances, ends up raising Rin, his 6-year-old aunt. It's touching to see how these two strangers gradually take to each other, and the sacrifices Daikichi makes to adjust to his new role as parent. The artwork is pretty good throughout. Rin, especially, is adorable. Not that I have any real experience with the subject, but this story struck me as a fairly realistic depiction of the challenges and joys that might come with suddenly being a single parent.
6. Kamikaze Girls (manga adaptation)Having already read the original novel and having seen the movie adaptation, I wasn't sure what I might get out of this manga adaptation of the story. The artwork was pretty good, but it was rather typical of shojo manga. The way Ichigo was drawn she really looked like a boy, which was kind of odd. The story itself was considerably abridged. It wasn't bad, but for me it didn't really add anything to the novel and movie, which already compliment each other so well. The real charm of this manga volume was Ichigo's Case, a short sequel to Kamikaze Girls that portrays a budding romance of Ichigo's. This story was a nice addition. The book also contains The Pinky-Ring Princess and The Middle-Finger Princess, two parts of a short story written by the artist of the Kamikaze Girls manga. These stories are somewhat entertaining, but have no real connection to Kamikaze Girls. It seemed like they were put in there either to pad out the volume because of the short length of the main story. Or, it could be that Kamikaze Girls was simply being used as a hook to promote the artists own story.
7. Amulet: The Stonekeeper, Book 1I read the first few pages of this full-color graphic novel on amazon.com and was immediately hooked. The opening pages of this book are just gripping. It seems surprisingly dramatic for a book aimed at younger readers. Overall, this is a sci-fi/fantasy adventure story about a couple of kids who journey into a fantastic world in order to rescue their mother, who has been kidnapped by monsters. The older child, Emily, becomes the keeper of an amulet that grants incredible power to its wearer. The story conveys a sense of wonder and excitement, but there also seems to be something more sinister going on in the background. It's hard to tell if Emily should really trust the power of the amulet. This was a fun and fast read, and I'm really looking forward to picking up book 2.
8. Dengeki Daisy, Volume 1Dengeki Daisy is not quite like any of the other shojo manga I've read. At its core, it is a pretty simple relationship story with the added complication of a secret identity, but surrounding that is a much darker story involving a conspiracy and some pretty ruthless people who seem desperate to get their hands on something the main character may or may-not have.
Basically, Teru is a high-school girl who's left alone in the world after the death of her older brother. Her brother left her with a cellphone, however and the email address of a mysterious person called "Daisy". Teru and "Daisy" communicate through email and "Daisy" becomes Teru's protector and confidante. Meanwhile, Teru breaks a window at school and ends up working off the debt incurred by the damages doing chores for the Kurosaki, the school's custodian. Kurosaki is a relentless bully who Teru quickly grows to hate. Of course, it should be no surprise to anyone that Kurosaki and "Daisy" are actually the same person.
The real intrigue begins when it begins to become apparent that Teru's brother was a computer software engineer and was involved with some rather shady people before he died. Now those people are after whatever project her brother was working on before he died, and they think Teru must have it. Excitement and action ensues.
So, those are a few samples of the books I read this year. I'm looking forward to reading another 52 books next year. I've already begun making a list of a few I intend to read, but I'm always open to recommendations. Feel free to sound off in the comments. ^_^
I recently discovered a manga published online by a friend of mine (Arcadia is her pen name). The manga's title is Mascara, and it has to be one of the most original manga I've read in a while. The manga's webpage sums up the premise nicely when it says:
As the smartest boy in school and a prodigy, everyone expects Ian to be a high achiever - a future Nobel Prize winning genius. But he doesn't want to be the next Einstein. He just wants to be a makeup artist.
The story is very well writen and filled with great comedy and drama. It centers around the main character Ian, who is living a double life. At school, and pretty much everywhere else, he is a nerdy bookworm. But secretly, he works a part time job as a makeup artist at the mall. In order to accomplish this, he developes a flashy, stylish, sauve, and confident alterego named "Dimitri". The thing is, "Dimitri" is actually more of the person Ian really is underneath his nerdy facade, and he's worried that his neighbor Addison will figure out his secret. See, Ian has had a huge crush on Addison for a while now, but Addison hates makeup, vanity, and "pretty boys". The story really does a great job of building the tension in this situation and keeps you clicking "next page" over and over.
While the art in the beginning of the manga is rather amateur, the story is well writen throughout. The heart of this manga is the characters. All of them are very well developed and believable in their motivations and reactions. Ian's insecurities and attitudes are realistic and make him a very relatable character.
If you like manga or highschool dramedy, check out Mascara. b(^_^)d
(Start at the first page by clicking the link in the top-left corner.)
So, I’ve done something I haven’t done in quite a while. I’ve played a computer game! (*Gasp!*, *Shocked!*) And it is horribly addictive, but wonderfully fun.
Recettear is an item-shop-focused role-playing game. It was independently produced by a small software company in Japan North America by another small company in the USA
In this game, you play a girl named Recette who runs an item shop with the help of a fairy named Tear. She’s trying to pay off a massive debt that her father racked up just before he went off adventuring. If she can’t pay off the debt, she’ll lose the item shop, which is also her house. The characters are very appealing, the game has quite a bit of story in it, and the artwork is fantastic.
Game play revolves around to activities. The first one is managing your store. You can buy some items at wholesale prices from the local merchants guild and marketplace and then resell them at a profit in your store. As your profits grow you can even expand and remodel your shop. Do you hate how, in most RPGs, shop owners only pay you 50% of an item’s value when you sell it to them, and then turn around and sell it at full price? In Recettear you can be that shop owner! Yay! I love that the adorable Recette’s catchphrase is “Capitalism, ho!”
The second main activity in Recettear is dungeon delving. Recette is just a simple girl who runs an item shop, and wouldn’t stand a chance against dangerous monsters, but she can hire adventurers to go into dungeons for her and collect items. When she does, you take control of the adventurer and explore the dungeon. There are no random battles in Recette, at least not in the typical sense. Dungeon delving plays like a classic Zelda or Mana game. Fighting monsters requires skill and timing in addition to strategy. The great thing about dungeons is that any items you pick up here can be sold at 100% profit in your store (though you may have to spend some money on your adventurer to make sure he is well equipped).
In addition to these two main aspects of game play, there are also plenty of colorful characters that you can meet and interact with in town. The loan payments that you have to make each week keep you challenged. Overall, it’s a fun and rewarding game with lots of personality.
I enjoyed the free demo so much, that I purchased the full game for $20 and am waiting right now while it downloads. ^_^
You can learn more about Recettear, and download the free demo, by visiting their website here.
Have you played any new computer or video games recently? Please tell me about them by leaving a comment on this post!
A little while ago I picked up some songs by an English folk band called Mumford and Sons. Their music has a nice acoustic sound, but their lyrics are what really capture my interest. They are very insightful and thought provoking. I'll share 3 songs here from their album "Sigh no More" that I find particularly cool. You can click on the links below to listen to them on lala.com. I find them pleasantly uplifting to listen to.
Sigh No More
After the Storm
Timshel
Star Trek is a 2009 film that offers a new take on the classic series. The film features time-traveling Romulans from the future causing events that create an alternate timeline. This allows the movie to go back and explore the early adventures of the original show’s characters without facing continuity restraints. The film focuses primarily on Kirk and Spock, showing bits of their early lives and how each of them ended up joining Starfleet. Things quickly escalate when Starfleet is called on to aid the planet Vulcan – a mission that goes sour quickly, leaving many Starfleet vessels destroyed and the enterprise without a captain. The fledgling crew of the enterprise, most of whom are still cadets, must pull together to overcome the Romulan threat.
This film was very well written. It captured a sense of epic adventure and heroism that Star Trek often seems to lack. They also did a good job writing and casting the characters. I felt like I could be watching younger versions of the original cast. This film actually made me like Kirk. I didn’t much care for him in the original series and movies. It also gave a new perspective on Spock, my favorite character from the original show, which only made him more intriguing. I like how they made Spock’s repressed emotions an actual plot point, rather than just a minor background element.
This film definitely revived the franchise for me. I’m looking forward to a sequel.
Roleplaying
Because of my obsession with roleplaying games, I tend to watch most movies and shows with an eye for what I could take from it and apply to gaming. Here are some ideas from Star Trek.
Space Exploration Adventures: This movie got me excited for the idea of playing an RPG about space exploration adventures. I’ve been working on an RPG of my own for a while now that would essentially be Star Trek with the branding removed. Some of the things I like about Star Trek that could make for interesting roleplaying are the galactic politics, the alien cultures, and the random encounters made while exploring new regions of space.
Character Driven Plot: To a large extent, the plot of Star Trek is tied very closely to the characters involved. I think the film did a great job of making the characters matter to the overall story. This could/should be done in any RPG, but this film made me a little more alert to strive for that kind of character involvement in RPGs.
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