We’ve talked about Shadows of the Empire – let’s talk about the book about how it was made, and also discuss the fate of West End Games.
Where I Play Final Fantasy XVI Part 70: Guarded Flowers
Where I Play Final Fantasy XVI Part 69: Odd Jobs
Anime Explorations Episode 34: Ghost in the Shell (1995)
This month, we take a look at Mamoru Oshii’s Cyberpunk masterpiece, Ghost in the Shell (from 1995), along with giving some thoughts on the live-action adaptation from 2017, joined by Blaine Dowler.
Next month, we take a look at Macross II.
Blaine can be found on the Babylon 5 30 Years Later Podcast (https://shows.acast.com/babylon-5-30-years-later), and the 99 Years 100 Films Podcast (https://shows.acast.com/99-years-100-films)
Read moreWhere I Play Final Fantasy XVI Part 68: …Best Served Chilled
Film Review: War of the Gargantuas
When faced with the film War of the Gargantuas, you might find yourself facing two questions. The first being “What’s a Gargantua?” and the second being “Is there a movie I need to watch before this?” The answers are “It’s a giant hairy man, which is technically called a ‘Frankenstein’” and “Technically this is a sequel to ‘Frankenstein Versus Barugon’ but nothing from that really matters”.
Read moreWhere I Play Final Fantasy XVI Part 67: Revenge Is A Dish…
Where I Play Final Fantasy XVI Part 66: Hot Foot
Where I Play Final Fantasy XVI Part 65: (*Presents Altoids*)
Nintendo Power Retrospectives: Part 140
Where I Play Final Fantasy XVI Part 64: Wyvern Season
Where I Play Final Fantasy XVI Part 63: A Hunting We Will Go
Anime Review: Your Forma
In the past few years of anime streaming, we have had escalating forms of “Streaming Jail”. First, there was Netflix Jail, where a show would sit on TV in Japan but was licensed for streaming in English on Netflix, so you had to wait until the show was done. Then there was Disney+ Jail, where the show was licensed on Disney+ internationally, and you had to wait and see if it went on that service in your region. Now, with Your Forma, we have Smart-device Specific Jail, where a series is only licensed for streaming to a service that’s locked to a specific company’s smart devices. Good news for me – I have a Samsung smartphone and tablet. Bad news for Your Forma – it can’t make it to viewers who don’t.
Read moreWhere I Play Final Fantasy XVI Part 62: How Blackthorne Got His Groove Back
Anime Review: Mobile Suit Gundam Quuuux
Gundam Quuuux is a bit of a tricky series to recommend. First, it has the continuation of a problem that appears to have started with Witch From Mercury of series that just didn’t have enough time for their plot and characters to breathe, and not (as was the case with First Gundam) because it was cut short due to poor ratings or sponsors bailing. Second, it’s an alternative universe take on the Universal Century that doesn’t provide a lot of hooks for people who are new to that timeline. I enjoyed it, but I wonder how much of that is due to my own familiarity with the events and characters it’s playing with.
Read moreWhere I Play Final Fantasy XVI Part 61: Blacksmith’s Fae Mood
Where I Play Final Fantasy XVI Part 60: Dungeon Cuisine
Where I Play Final Fantasy XVI Part 59: Back From The Dead
Why NAMI Matters To Me
For Disability Awareness Month, I talk about my experiences organizing various support groups for people with the Autism Spectrum, and how NAMI helped me organize one of those.
Donate to NAMI: https://www.nami.org/get-involved/donate-to-nami/
Read moreWhere I Play Final Fantasy XVI Part 58: Resistance
Where I Play Final Fantasy XVI Part 57: Closed Borders
Anime Review: Wind Breaker Season 2
Wind Breaker’s second season, at first glance, seems like it’s characterization is weaker than the series first season, with protagonist Haruka Sakura taking a backseat to some of the supporting cast. Instead I’d say the characterization of Sakura moves in a different direction, though we do get more development for one of the members of Bofurin’s Four Kings.
Read moreWhere I Play Final Fantasy XVI Part 56: Genocidal Douchebags
Anime Review: Please Put Them On, Takamine-San!
Ghu Bless the Reiwa-era rom-com! We have, with Please Put Them On, Takamine-San!, which I’m just going to call Takamine-san going forward, a fanservice comedy that generally nails the character dynamics. This includes sexual slapstick that has consent (except one bit in the first episode)! This isn’t a bar that you’d think would need to be cleared, but it is, and it has, though its head did strike the bar.
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