Resonance – The Man Hiding in Plain Sight

Resonance is a point-and-click adventure game released a couple of months back by Wadjet Eye Games, the makers of Gemini Rue. It’s a solid play for you point-and-click fans: the puzzles are solid (and occasionally frustrating, which, of course, is part of the experience), and the story is cool, with some nice twists and turns. My one complaint is that only a couple of characters feel truly fleshed out in any way, though that’s neither here nor there for the purposes of this post.

There’s one twist in Resonance I caught onto just before the big reveal and the devastation that occurs afterward. Even though I caught it before it happened, I thought the twist was well executed; actually, the realization of the twist made me appreciate it all the more because the writers had manipulated the story in just the right way to give the twist the proper impact. Then just before I finished the game, I read an articled retweeted by mefloraine that made me appreciate the build to the twist on a different, more interesting level.

I’ll link the article after the jump, because the nature of the anecdote shared in the article hints rather strongly at the thrust of the twist in Resonance. If you have any interest in playing the game and don’t want to be spoiled, then don’t read any further.

Nothing to See Here Except a Loser Hanging On Another Year

Does it count if this blog shut down just shy of three years but I’m still plugging away elsewhere? Maybe we should say I am like one of those Death Row inmates with an eternal stay of execution.

Today is my three-year anniversary doing this nonsense. I would make this announcement at The Cart Driver, except I don’t have anything particularly interesting to go along with it. I’d rather not subject The Readers to me jerking myself off about silly milestones. Why do that when I can subject them to me jerking myself off with stupid anime metafiction? Clearly that is far superior.

So here I am! It’s been fun. Honestly, I’m thankful to Scamp for bringing me aboard his Code Geass worship site (that is secretly loaded with LelouchxSuzaku fanart; you just gotta look in the right places). It takes a peculiar kind of person to keep plugging away all alone for a few years with such small expectations. I mean, let’s face it — Scamp has a big site compared to anime blogs, but compared to actual Big Sites on the Internet? It’s still relatively tiny. So what does that make this joint? I’ll leave that question hanging. Suffice to say, if I kept at it on my own, I probably would have burned out or become indecipherable eventually. Maybe both.

But, yes, it does feel nice working with other people in both Japanimation-related things I do on the good ol’ Interwebs. It’s especially nice when I’m trusted to do whatever and it’s cool. How many people would let their colleague debut with this? It doesn’t really tell the reader anything except that I like to fuck around at their expense. This is what happens when you give me any semblance of power.

Anyway, uh, I guess I’ll still keep going since it’s still fun and all. I don’t have any particularly big plans except that I want to hit multiple conventions this year. I was pretty jealous reading about all the good fun time fun people had at Otakon. Don’t know if I’ll make it there, especially since it’s so close to Anime Expo, but I do want to go through with the Sakura Con plans that I had to abort earlier this year. So if you live in the Seattle area, then you might see me next year! Don’t let that scare you away from the convention, please. Maybe I’ll hit up other places, too. All depends on how well I can juggle my vacation days. I think I get a bump since this is my third year at the ol’ place of work. Fingers crossed!

That’s about it. This is the last post here until I have some other stupid announcement to make. See you jerks later.

Bitchin’ Space Pirates 26 – Quartz Christie Is a Shit Pirate (END)

Curse you, Marika, and your ability to execute basic strategies using a force of pirates against a single ship!

As expected, Quartz Christie is the shittiest pirate. Disrupting communications and positioning a ship to intercept the Grand Cross when it escapes the chaff field?????? That is clearly some Lelouch Lamperouge-level tactics going on there. How could Quartz Christie possibly see any of that coming?! She’s only one of the original pirates jumping around the galaxy.

Man, Remember Rio? Shit Was Awesome

Later.

Hunter x Hunter 36 – Hisoka Is a Moe Fan

Good, sweet Christ, that camera angle. Hisoka is such a fucking pedophile.

I’ve finally become used to Daisuke Namikawa’s performance as Hisoka. At first it didn’t seem like the right fit because Namikawa’s is so cool, deep and smooth. It’s a good villain voice, but the traits that make Hisoka a good villain are a bit different than the normal villainous traits. Doesn’t help that the man who voiced Hisoka in the ’99 series, Hiroki Takahashi, made such a distinct mark on the demented clown. (Fun fact: Takahashi also voices Harima in School Rumble, which is such a different voice that it’s almost creepy.)

Bitchin’ Space Pirates 25 – NINJA PIRATES

It’s not a party without Strider, yo. Also, bonus points for the vampirate who shows up during the montage at the end. He might have appeared earlier in the episode, but I wasn’t paying close enough attention . . .

Speaking of being confused, all my blather about the Kanedroid last week was a result of being confused about just what the hell went on last week with all the robots and sneaking around and whatnot. This episode shows what a dope I am for speaking out of confusion and making assumptions.

Hunter x Hunter 35 – Hisoka’s Hypnotic Crotch

If you didn’t think I would lead off with this image, then you definitely have not been reading this blog long enough.

The points where the Hunter x Hunter remake has outdone the original have been few and far between, even though the remake is a solid show in its own right. This week’s episode, however, is a clear case of the remake utterly destroying the original. It’s not even close, actually. In wrestling terms, think of it as Hulk Hogan (the remake) against the Brooklyn Brawler (the original). That’s the gulf between the two depictions of the battle between Hisoka and Gon.

Bitchin’ Space Pirates 24 – Best Crossover Ever?

This Pirate Hunter is Blue Rose from Tiger and Bunny. Prove me wrong.

So lots of stuff happening in this episode! Let’s start with Blue Rose up here since her screenshot is up there and everything. In the grand tradition of Mouretsu Pirates villains, she’s an arrogant fucking idiot. She’s basically toying with the Bettenmaru, because she has so many advantages that she could crush the ship any time she wants. What we know: 1) Her ship can zig zag like a mofo, although Marika has apparently figured out some sort of trick to avoiding bombardment. Maybe this is one of those dumb ships that can fire only from the bottom. 2) She has stealth and is skilled enough to sneak wherever she wants. She proceeds to use this power for taunting. Very imaginative. And 3) She has a stupid name (Quartz Christie).

Bitchin’ Space Pirates 23 – The Password Is: Moe

Haha, OK, I have to hand it to the show for the silly handwaving this week regarding the Parabellum and its silly, theatrical technology. First off we find out that the image of the captain, who goes by Ironbeard, is actually a hologram. The thing that perplexes me is why the episode went out of its way to hide that at the end. Obviously if you think about it, Ironbeard isn’t actually standing on top of his ship in the middle of space and shouting. The image at the end of the previous episode is clearly different than the image we see here, however. I suppose it’s to make Ironbeard seem even more larger than life; really, though, it made me realize more how silly this show is that I actually thought for a moment it would have a pirate standing on his ship exposed to space and shouting.

Popee the Performer – Logical Lunacy

There exists a clown who plays with knives and swords. So dexterous and fearless is he that he can swallow these tools of death with nary an injury. But one day the clown becomes too cocky. He tosses a claymore skyward and swallows it whole. The massive blade runs through the clown, emerging from his backside. He is stuck to the ground.

The clown’s friend, a wolf, panics. He sees the fear in the clown’s eyes. The music in the background swells beautifully, highly appropriate for the harrowing situation. No matter how hard the wolf tugs on the sword, he cannot pull it from the clown’s body. Clearly there is only one solution: tie the clown’s legs to poles hammered into the ground, tie the sword to a truck’s bumper and rip it out with sheer horsepower. Unfortunately, this brilliant plot goes awry. The clown is dragged all around the circus until finally the truck crashes. The sword is magically loosened from the clown’s body, but he is furious.

The clown must have vengeance.

He chases the wolf around the circus grounds, fretfully hacking away, hoping to lop off a limb or two. The wolf desperately leaps into the air, hoping to get away, but it is then that the clown sees his opportunity. He opens his mouth wide and positions himself under the wolf, who tries to flail out of the way but is sucked into the clown’s gaping maw. Inside the clown’s stomach is a lonely pit of despair. The clown’s mouth is the only source of light, the tiniest sliver of salvation.

The wolf tries to climb out, but this serves only to infuriate the clown. He tosses the sword into the air once again and drives it through his mouth and into his stomach, piercing it through the wolf as well. The clown is stuck in place again, but he is satisfied with his bloody revenge.