Fierce Muffin

I would like to take this moment to say i have a ps3 I'm currently not using and he is completely free to borrow it, though he would have to trade me his xbox controller since I use the ps3 controller with my PC

You don't know the awesomeness of a puppy's paw pads?
 
Some of the things the guys on Mother Base say are just too much. Too much.

^
 
The things Kojima does in his games. As an art student and the kind of person you are, Metal Gear is probably [the] game series you would get the most enjoyment out of playing. And you'd get that from [every] single title in the franchise. (Actual titles, not stuff like Acid or Babel, but I've heard good things about both, so I'm not saying they're bad, just not as relevant.)
And I mean this literally, figuratively, metaphorically, and canonically. You would love Metal Gear, you just need to play it. Buy a PS3, buy The Legacy Collection, and enjoy this wonderful series.

You don't know the awesomeness of a puppy's paw pads?
 
Some of the things the guys on Mother Base say are just too much. Too much.

PHEO.
 
PLAY SOME GODDAMN METAL GEAR.

please don't represent my content as your own just because I don't have internet gosh
 
Also, Pheonix, basically none of what you stated about the plot is actually in the plot of any of the games, at all.

If the game series were just that, it wouldn't be as revered as it is. Maybe you should play the games, then you can have an informed opinion.
 
It is so loved because of the little things Kojima puts into every game, even since the original Metal Gear 1 (Not Solid) as well as the interesting stories and characters he's conceived.

You don't know the awesomeness of a puppy's paw pads?
 
Some of the things the guys on Mother Base say are just too much. Too much.

[22:25:04] <@Nabe> When I was 3, my sister made banana muffins
[22:25:19] <@Nabe> I had a nightmare that night that a giant muffin was trying to eat me
[22:25:24] <%Fierce_Muffin> Ahahahaha
[22:25:28] <%Fierce_Muffin> No wonder you hate me
[22:25:43] <@Nabe> Yeah, that is basically a microcosm of my whole existence

[22:25:04] <@Nabe> When I was 3, my sister made banana muffins
[22:25:19] <@Nabe> I had a nightmare that night that a giant muffin was trying to eat me
[22:25:24] <%Fierce_Muffin> Ahahahaha
[22:25:28] <%Fierce_Muffin> No wonder you hate me
[22:25:43] <@Nabe> Yeah, that is basically a microcosm of my whole existence

This is a pretty interesting look into how Hamada Yoshikazu creates his manga, Tsugumomo. Apparently, whenever there's a recurring background, he builds it up in a 3D modeler with all the little details and then imports it into a program and starts drawing over it. A pretty neat technique that comes out wonderful, but I feel like it consumes an immense amount of time. I'm sure it makes up for it in that after he's done modeling it, since the next set of chapters would go a lot faster and would always be on-model.
I was thinking just now about how Miura (Berserk) and Murata (One Punch Man) create their manga as well and then I remembered Murata just streams himself drawing every so often on Ustream and also does push-ups. He might've stopped streaming though, I feel like I saw that at some point. Too bad about Miura though, I bet he'd get a bunch of views, especially if he took Idolm@ster breaks on-stream and obviously streamed himself playing it. The dissonance would be hilarious.

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Anticipating art college, where I might stand to potentially go into animation or illustration (with a module on comic books), I've been thinking about character building. Leading off from my renewed BoJack Horseman hype, I've been doing deeper thought into characters, and I've put that energy back into thinking about Ping Pong. Ping Pong is one of the rare shows that I feel I can really be able to appreciate. The Tatami Galaxy is great, but I care a lot more about the characters in it than TTG. TTG is pretty much a story about character depth, rather than a story about deep characters, so it's similar yet different.
 
I started writing up with Peco, and while going through it I feel like I'm actually starting to get how insecure he really is. Having never really done much character study before, I wouldn't have been able to notice this kind of thing before. I've taken things at face value for so long.
 
Peco is the 'hero'. Since a young age success has come readily to him, such that he expects it of himself. When he's defeated first by Kong, and then by Sakuma, he is disillusioned. He sees the limit of sheer talent alone, and it scares him. Sakuma, who he could so easily defeat in his younger days, defeats him with intense training, and it grounds Peco. He's stripped of the warmth of his delusion, and is shocked horribly by the cold reality that life isn't as easy as he expected it to be. His confidence depended for so long on his proficiency in ping pong, and suddenly that security is at serious risk. Peco's other source of self worth is his relationship with Smile, whose dependence and lack of confidence helped Peco to feel better about himself. Smile's emotional dependence gave Peco that needed boost, but when he sees Smile excell under the supervision of Koizumi, he gets bitter. He remarks in a way that reveals how little he respected Smile. He never ever expected Smile to be a threat to him, which is part of what made Smile such a comfort to him in the first place. He becomes bitter and resentful, and spirals into depression. He quits ping pong, he acts out, and he gains a lot of weight through overindulging in sweets and not doing any exercise. It's only after a long time does he remember his dream, and then remembers what he meant to Smile, having seen the way that Koizumi's training warped Smile's outlook on life and other people. He saw that Smile needed him, and that was enough to get him back in the game. He knew that if he could get to that stage where he could play a good game with Smile again, he would be able to be the hero Smile always thought he was. And that dream was what got him out, what sent him to training, and got him to where he was in the end. In the end his self worth still relied on near-universal acceptance, but at the same time, Smile's admiration could be enough for him to feel stronger. It's an unhealthy dependence, but it's a co-dependence so it works.
 
 
I feel like I could speak just as much about any other character. Breaking down the series' four young players; Peco, Smile, Sakuma, and Kazama, into the themes of Inherent Talent, Work, and Motivation, you can get a lot out of studying their character.
 
Peco to begin with is all talent, no work, and riding on the ego which winning maintains.
 
Smile is talent, no work, and motivated by the acceptance of Peco.
 
Sakuma lacks the inherent talent, having poor eyesight himself, and compensates for it with work. His motivation is to overcome his own weakness, and this causes him to be a bitter rival to Peco and Smile. Being defeated though, he sees his limitations, and gives up fighting his lack of talent. He becomes a markedly more pleasant person after this.
 
Kazama is very talented, and works very hard, and so he's the most advanced player at the beginning of the game. His problem is in his motivation. I'm not sure what happened to his father, but to be it seemed that suicide was suggested. Standing on the ledge, speaking about flying, and then the shame that it brought on his family, which he used his talent to try and counteract. He bore family pride on his shoulders, refusing to grieve properly for his father. When Peco battles him, his persona is stripped away, and it allows him to remember the joy playing the game again, which came first from his dad, who I imagined was unhappy enough that his father's smile while playing made a large impression on him growing up.
 
 
Taking the impact of the final matches further, there are other players besides Smile and Kazama who were effected positively by Peco's joy for the game. Imagine the intensity of all the other matches; people with hard motivations, suffering with bitterness and resentment in their matches, and then for Peco to bring joy to the field. It would be a very refreshing change from all the serious players to go before. The guy who wanders around aimlessly looking for a purpose is great. I see him as being a kind of lost character in an identity crisis. Ping Pong was his thing before, and it was torn town in a very brutal way while Smile was going through his own dark path, and it sent him spiraling out into the world to find something else that can make him feel as comfortable and at home. He suffered a major rejection in that loss, and it wasn't for a long time that he realised what it was that made him feel at home. To me he seemed like a symbol for the hobbyist, for whom the pursuit of success isn't as important as just playing the game. In the air terminal he gets briefly interviewed about why he's back in the country, and he puts all his effort into it to seem enthusiastic, and then scoffs to himself that they'll never use it. He preempts that rejection in a cynical way, quick to doubt the intentions of others. "No matter how nice I am to this interviewer, it wont matter to him", you know? He took Smile's rejection hard, and the guy carried that weight with him wherever he went. I really like this character.

 
Tasty Genos. Doesn't really show much of the action, but there's a little bit. It seems alright, I guess.

DETAILS YOU WERE WRONG ABOUT. GET CORRECTED

10:05:37 AM - Steve: what do you do if a blonde throws a thing online at you?
10:05:49 AM - Steve: cough
 
Welcome to the chat, venerable Steve.

Samurai Flamenco is truly an experience. It's definitely not perfect, but everything about it is so charming, it just becomes great.
 
Also, yeah, the super sentai parts in the middly area were really mediocre and I also considered dropping it at that point (but not really, since I don't really drop things), but pretty much every other arc was hilarious and stupid and amazing.
 
Like you, it's not my favorite anime, but it's got a special place in my heart for managing to do everything it did while still being an enjoyable experience. It's like what something would be if the directors of a show read crazy theories about their show on the internet while it's airing and actually making those theories come true and I love it for that.

So, I finished Samurai Flamenco a couple days ago.
 
Well, that certainly lived up to being the twisty crazy-ride I was promised. While the middle third-ish of the show sagged in quality, I thoroughly enjoyed the initial slow-build and the serious, introspective turn the show took near the end. I never would have expected that the Kamen Rider and Super Sentai inspired parts of Samumenco would be my least favorite parts, but the way they bounced back and forth between being deadly serious and outright parody rubbed me the wrong way half the time. Especially since, from what I've seen and heard, Akibarangers does a way better job parodying sentai than Samumenco ever does.On the plus side, the initial Kick-Ass-esque storyline and the way things eventually came back around to it made me a lot happier, especially since the core cast of the show is pretty strong. Even the characters who were introduced to round out the Flamenger team got better when that arc was done. I was definitely not expecting a lot of things in this show, not the least of which being

Everything seemed too arbitrary for a while there, but once the revelations dropped after the vaguely Metal Gear storyline, it all felt a lot more cohesive.
 
I wasn't sure Flamenco would be worth it when I was around the halfway point, but it pulled itself back together. If I could change one thing about the show, I would have LOVED to have seen this story done as a live-action tokusatsu series. The variety of effects and number of suits needed for that might be impractical, but this story just screams to be in the same medium as its inspirations. Not one of my favorite anime, but it was definitely good.Thanks for the recommend, Muffin and Dub

Brotherhood has always been one of those anime that I feel is objectively amazing. In 64 episodes, it develops and characterizes dozens of lovable characters well, establishes an intriguing world and mysterious plot, and has really good action throughout, all with an underlying element of alchemy that is always done in a way that makes sense and has risk and reward that feels right. Oh, and there's also the added bonus of a good artstyle, good character designs, amazing animation, and all the detail put into that animation.
 
It's just done so well. Even the original that goes off the rails, since the manga wasn't finished, still has a good air to it. Even though Brotherhood is top tier, I feel like the old quality of the original anime has a certain charm to it. Brotherhood comes out on top for me though. Both endings were banana though.
 
 
Samurai Flamenco is a roller coaster ride without any breaks, Zako. There's no time to stop and enjoy the scenery.

Brotherhood has always been one of those anime that I feel is objectively amazing. In 64 episodes, it develops and characterizes dozens of lovable characters well, establishes an intriguing world and mysterious plot, and has really good action throughout, all with an underlying element of alchemy that is always done in a way that makes sense and has risk and reward that feels right. Oh, and there's also the added bonus of a good artstyle, good character designs, amazing animation, and all the detail put into that animation.
 
It's just done so well. Even the original that goes off the rails, since the manga wasn't finished, still has a good air to it. Even though Brotherhood is top tier, I feel like the old quality of the original anime has a certain charm to it. Brotherhood comes out on top for me though. Both endings were banana though.
 
 
Samurai Flamenco is a roller coaster ride without any breaks, Zako. There's no time to stop and enjoy the scenery.

The new Gundam has finally been revealed after that small countdown. There's a trailer for the new Gundam half-way through the video if you want to skip to it. It reveals that the new Gundam will be airing this fall on October 4th.
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y--SbNecHQI
 
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2015-07-15/gundam-iron-blooded-orphans-anime-announcement-video-english-subtitled/.90475
 
Seems it'll be about orphans doing the ol' Gundam tradition of trying to stop the bad characters, who probably aren't objectively bad, from controlling the universe. The character designs look good, as does the Gundam itself. The trailer also looks pretty nice.
 
The only gripe I have with it is a petty subjective one, which is with the setting being on Mars or at least somewhat set on Mars with there being a conflict between it and Earth. Aldnoah Zero is set on Mars. Aldnoah Zero S2, Mars. Classroom Crisis? Also on Mars. And Terra Formers started a few years back, but it's also on Mars. There are probably more I'm forgetting, but let's just assume that every anime airing right now is also set on Mars. So, if I see one more anime set on Mars...
 
Besides that, this seems solid. Like a robot. Hopefully I don't stop watching anime halfway through the season like during Reconguista's airing.

Here's a nice video to lighten the emotional load. It's an episode of Game Center CX where they had Iwata come in and sort of co-host where he talks about how he got into the game industry and why old games are hard. The content is hilarious, but also sad knowing that he's gone.
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63mG4k-VIyY
 
Rest in peace, Iwata.

Here's a nice video to lighten the emotional load. It's an episode of Game Center CX where they had Iwata come in and sort of co-host where he talks about how he got into the game industry and why old games are hard. The content is hilarious, but also sad knowing that he's gone.
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63mG4k-VIyY
 
Rest in peace, Iwata.

Here's a nice video to lighten the emotional load. It's an episode of Game Center CX where they had Iwata come in and sort of co-host where he talks about how he got into the game industry and why old games are hard. The content is hilarious, but also sad knowing that he's gone.
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63mG4k-VIyY
 
Rest in peace, Iwata.