God Only Knows
May. 13th, 2013 05:16 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
primitiveradiogoddessI'm stuck at home with a sore throat and my lungs feel like they're on fire. What better time to sum up my recent adventures in media?
That's all for right now then!
TV Shows/Movies:
Neon Genesis Evangelion
A 90's anime with inside jokes I saw everywhere but never started catching on until recently. Man I was missing out. This anime is often referred to as the 'pioneer of modern animes' and I can see where a lot of people got that saying.
I honestly wish I could accurately describe my experience with it, particularly with the movie finale End of Evangelion, but if you haven't experienced this treat of an anime and it's clusterfuck of a movie ending I highly recommend you rectify that immediately.
Rebuild of Evangelion
Currently the director of the original Evangelion series is working on the last movie in this line of remakes, giving me plenty of time to catch up with the current three. The first one is a beautiful HD facelift of the first six Eva episodes, the second is a glorious plot deviation from the original anime with new characters, new plot twists and interesting interactions. The third is a timeskip about 14 years into the future and an explosion of HD animation and colors and big gay awakenings. The second would have to be my favorite out of these three so far. Make sure you watch the original 1995 anime before tackling these!
Little Witch Academia
Wow
No really if you have not watched this half hour OVA of gorgeous animation, bright colors, and excellent world-building of a witches school with all kinds of individualistic characters, I highly suggest you do so right now. Literally perfect in every way.
Ookami Kodomo Ame to Yuki
Something that seems like a standard Deviantart romance idea but becomes incredibly touching and beautiful regardless. By the director of Summer Wars and Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo it's a fairy tale of a woman falling in love with a wolfman and raising their two children after losing him to an accident.
I believe my only complaint about this movie was the direction the second child, Ame, went in. While his sister came to accept that she was both a wolf and a human, he simply rejected his humanity altogether. Maybe I missed a deeper message in this, but that was what I got. :/
Regardless, another recommendation!
Motorcity
I finally got around to the finale. And while some of the episodes of the latter half were not as good as the first couple (though they did some focus on characters that needed some focusing on, which was excellent!), I greatly enjoyed finishing the last of this wonderful cartoon's only season.
Wreck-It Ralph
Everything I ever wanted in a video game movie and more. To date my favorite movie of 2012.
Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei
A story of a teacher who can't help but see everything in a negative light, a student who's optimistic about everything, and her classmates with all different kinds of mental disorders. An anime poking fun about everything that is Japan and what people BELIEVE to be about Japan, at that. Brilliant and witty and rich with black comedy. A must, without a doubt.
Video Games:
OFF
Of all the popular RPGMaker games in the spotlight right now OFF has got to be one of the best. It has a high amount of original content, turn-based combat with creepy and almost depressing enemies, a gorgeous and eerie soundtrack and a good deal of vagueness surrounding it's ending, and unforgettable characters. Rather saddening, too, and makes you think a lot about whether or not the protagonist of ANY game you're playing is in the right.
Bioshock Infinite
In high contrast to the horror and gruesomeness of the first Bioshock, this is a swashbuckling adventure in the sky with a brilliant A.I partner that might as well be escorting the main character instead and fantastic scenery. The gameplay was smooth and fun and there was never a moment I was bored, very akin to that of the original Bioshock save the setting, and a complicated, almost perfect ending that's interactable.
I suppose my only complaints would be about the Vigors. Whereas the Plasmids in the first game were the groundwork for the plot and setting, the Vigors just seemed to be there with very little explanation. At times, the game seems to be up it's own ass a lot, but I still enjoyed it immensely regardless.
Fleshchild
A game still being developed, I had the chance to test it out, and for a Yume Nikki fangame, it's wonderfully original and stands up well on it's own. It follows the Yume Nikki formula, you dream and collect Effects, but when you are awake, you're a blob of meat stealing different human body parts each time, unlocking new areas of the dream world and new access to Effects. I look forward to see where this is going!
Sword & Sworcery
A tale of a Scythian warrior, her woeful errand and the adventures in-between. Featuring an unforgettable soundtrack by Jim Gurtie and beautiful beautiful beautiful backgrounds and scenery. Another game that made me shed tears of sadness and play all over again. The game itself is snarky, gorgeous, and simply memorable all at once. Play this game and use the Twitter feature for hints and advice if you get stuck.
Borderlands
I've been playing this with my brother, and we have had a blast doing so. A bit like Bioshock in it's RPG/FPS fusion but wonky and cell-shaded and simply an all around fun time. You take control of one of four treasure hunters of your choice and set out on the planet Pandora in search of a vault of countless riches, fighting your way through scores of bandits and savage native creatures and insane mutants with hundreds of different kinds of weapons and powers. Tons of fun all around.
Webcomics:
Cucumber Quest
Easily the best thing I've read in a long time. A play on old school RPG games, this story follows Cucumber and his reluctantly accepted quest to save the land from the Nightmare Knight. The artwork is simple but the colors and world-building are just to die for. Read this when you get the chance!
Ava's Demon
I read it when it first launched, but forgot about it until recently. This beautiful comic of single panels is Homestuck inspired but in a way done right and not simply copying. A tense story, incredible shading and coloring, and overall magnificent characters (What few have been introduced so far), this is also a must read.
Unsounded
A story of the daughter of the head of a crime ring and her zombie companion. Gorgeous coloring and an interesting premise with great, 3 dimensional main characters and side characters, but it barely slows down to explain the terminology or do some world-building, and the over-complicated artwork didn't take long to give me a headache. Read it if politics and such are your thing, but I think I won't be reading much else of it.
Neon Genesis Evangelion
A 90's anime with inside jokes I saw everywhere but never started catching on until recently. Man I was missing out. This anime is often referred to as the 'pioneer of modern animes' and I can see where a lot of people got that saying.
I honestly wish I could accurately describe my experience with it, particularly with the movie finale End of Evangelion, but if you haven't experienced this treat of an anime and it's clusterfuck of a movie ending I highly recommend you rectify that immediately.
Rebuild of Evangelion
Currently the director of the original Evangelion series is working on the last movie in this line of remakes, giving me plenty of time to catch up with the current three. The first one is a beautiful HD facelift of the first six Eva episodes, the second is a glorious plot deviation from the original anime with new characters, new plot twists and interesting interactions. The third is a timeskip about 14 years into the future and an explosion of HD animation and colors and big gay awakenings. The second would have to be my favorite out of these three so far. Make sure you watch the original 1995 anime before tackling these!
Little Witch Academia
Wow
No really if you have not watched this half hour OVA of gorgeous animation, bright colors, and excellent world-building of a witches school with all kinds of individualistic characters, I highly suggest you do so right now. Literally perfect in every way.
Ookami Kodomo Ame to Yuki
Something that seems like a standard Deviantart romance idea but becomes incredibly touching and beautiful regardless. By the director of Summer Wars and Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo it's a fairy tale of a woman falling in love with a wolfman and raising their two children after losing him to an accident.
I believe my only complaint about this movie was the direction the second child, Ame, went in. While his sister came to accept that she was both a wolf and a human, he simply rejected his humanity altogether. Maybe I missed a deeper message in this, but that was what I got. :/
Regardless, another recommendation!
Motorcity
I finally got around to the finale. And while some of the episodes of the latter half were not as good as the first couple (though they did some focus on characters that needed some focusing on, which was excellent!), I greatly enjoyed finishing the last of this wonderful cartoon's only season.
Wreck-It Ralph
Everything I ever wanted in a video game movie and more. To date my favorite movie of 2012.
Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei
A story of a teacher who can't help but see everything in a negative light, a student who's optimistic about everything, and her classmates with all different kinds of mental disorders. An anime poking fun about everything that is Japan and what people BELIEVE to be about Japan, at that. Brilliant and witty and rich with black comedy. A must, without a doubt.
Video Games:
OFF
Of all the popular RPGMaker games in the spotlight right now OFF has got to be one of the best. It has a high amount of original content, turn-based combat with creepy and almost depressing enemies, a gorgeous and eerie soundtrack and a good deal of vagueness surrounding it's ending, and unforgettable characters. Rather saddening, too, and makes you think a lot about whether or not the protagonist of ANY game you're playing is in the right.
Bioshock Infinite
In high contrast to the horror and gruesomeness of the first Bioshock, this is a swashbuckling adventure in the sky with a brilliant A.I partner that might as well be escorting the main character instead and fantastic scenery. The gameplay was smooth and fun and there was never a moment I was bored, very akin to that of the original Bioshock save the setting, and a complicated, almost perfect ending that's interactable.
I suppose my only complaints would be about the Vigors. Whereas the Plasmids in the first game were the groundwork for the plot and setting, the Vigors just seemed to be there with very little explanation. At times, the game seems to be up it's own ass a lot, but I still enjoyed it immensely regardless.
Fleshchild
A game still being developed, I had the chance to test it out, and for a Yume Nikki fangame, it's wonderfully original and stands up well on it's own. It follows the Yume Nikki formula, you dream and collect Effects, but when you are awake, you're a blob of meat stealing different human body parts each time, unlocking new areas of the dream world and new access to Effects. I look forward to see where this is going!
Sword & Sworcery
A tale of a Scythian warrior, her woeful errand and the adventures in-between. Featuring an unforgettable soundtrack by Jim Gurtie and beautiful beautiful beautiful backgrounds and scenery. Another game that made me shed tears of sadness and play all over again. The game itself is snarky, gorgeous, and simply memorable all at once. Play this game and use the Twitter feature for hints and advice if you get stuck.
Borderlands
I've been playing this with my brother, and we have had a blast doing so. A bit like Bioshock in it's RPG/FPS fusion but wonky and cell-shaded and simply an all around fun time. You take control of one of four treasure hunters of your choice and set out on the planet Pandora in search of a vault of countless riches, fighting your way through scores of bandits and savage native creatures and insane mutants with hundreds of different kinds of weapons and powers. Tons of fun all around.
Webcomics:
Cucumber Quest
Easily the best thing I've read in a long time. A play on old school RPG games, this story follows Cucumber and his reluctantly accepted quest to save the land from the Nightmare Knight. The artwork is simple but the colors and world-building are just to die for. Read this when you get the chance!
Ava's Demon
I read it when it first launched, but forgot about it until recently. This beautiful comic of single panels is Homestuck inspired but in a way done right and not simply copying. A tense story, incredible shading and coloring, and overall magnificent characters (What few have been introduced so far), this is also a must read.
Unsounded
A story of the daughter of the head of a crime ring and her zombie companion. Gorgeous coloring and an interesting premise with great, 3 dimensional main characters and side characters, but it barely slows down to explain the terminology or do some world-building, and the over-complicated artwork didn't take long to give me a headache. Read it if politics and such are your thing, but I think I won't be reading much else of it.
That's all for right now then!
