Hard Sell

Puella Magi Madoka Magica is a mouthful. It's also a deceptively good magical girl anime series and a hard sell.

I mean, how do you convince a non-anime enthusiast that PMMM is worth watching when it's promotional materials look like this:

It's understandable for a person to see that and write off the show as some girly crap that isn't up their alley. But that would mean they miss out on the creepy awesomeness that is Puella Magi Madoka Magica:

The plot gets rolling when the titular Madoka and her close friend Sayaka encounter a strange cat like creature called Kyubey who offers to grant a wish in exchange for becoming a magical girl. The catch is that magical girls have to fight witches, monsters that secretly prey on humanity, causing accidents and suicides. Rounding out the initial cast there's also Mami, a veteran MG who shows the newbies the ropes, and Homura, an enigmatic MG who is opposed to Madoka forming a contract.

Don't trust anything that doesn't blink

At 12 episodes PMMM is light on filler. Revelations and plot twists keep the pace up and the viewer (sample size: 1) interested. Characters die, choices are made and idealistic people find out they are not in the right series.

Of particular note is the visuals. The character designs are simplistic allowing fluid motion, and the backgrounds are elaborate and lavish or austere and bleak. But the witches, their familiars and the labyrinths they inhabit are the high point. They have different, sometimes rather jarring, animation styles which emphasis their alien nature.

As much as I like this series, it's not perfect. Madoka and Sayaka are painfully naive and idealistic, and the former also has a saccharine and squeaky voice. I was also a little down on the ending, but that's because I'd seen something similar in another anime where it felt more right. But these are minor quibbles (and ones whose presence I can understand even if I don't like) in an otherwise fine piece of media.

 (this one's just here for the Facebook thumbnail (which then stopped working after I added it, sigh))

Temperamental

It's been almost a year since my last published post. That's terrible. But I've also been in full time employment for almost a year, which cuts down on my free time, and writing a blog that no one reads isn't exactly a high priority in comparison to dealing with my backlog of games and shows.

But there's nothing that's really grabbing my attention right now, so I guess it's blogging time.

Anyway yesterday at work I was looking up the four temperaments in TV Tropes to help myself create better characters (after the the plot central 2 or 3 the rest tend to be either devices or just flat characters filling roles). I followed a link promising more detail and bloody hell did it deliver.

You see I had been just thinking of the temperaments as an outdated pseudo-psychology and a means of writing inspiration, but I kept encountering phrases that so eloquently described how I think and feel. Whether or not everyone falls into one of these classifications I don't know, but I'm fairly sure I do.

I am melancholic/phlegmatic, or possibly phlegmatic/melancholic. I think the former is more likely, but that just be because I want it to be so.

...hmmm there's really not much else I can say about this. Personal insights/discoveries really aren't that interesting to anyone not involved. So I guess that's it. Perhaps in the near future I'll write something worth reading and promoting.

Wherein I talk about prequels, remakes and why FF8 probably shouldn't have one

People who have had to put up with my complaining over the years are probably aware of my dislike of prequels, which I see as self indulgent and unnecessary.

We already know how it's already going to turn out so there's no tension and how the pieces got into that position is generally not interesting enough to warrant a direct telling. One of the things I like about A Song of Ice and Fire is that the rebellion before the first novel is slowly filled in through dialogue as characters bring up various events. We get the key notes for a story without actually having to go through the entire thing (and given that this is George RR Martin it would be a doorstopper).

Furthermore prequels can't meaningfully add to the world, as any new characters and places have to be gone in some way or another by the end otherwise we'll be left with plot holes when we get to the original work. So you really can't meaningfully expand the world, merely stretch what's already there.

Remakes are very similar. Instead of new content that is largely irrelevant, it's just the original content again, and so we know what's going to happen (probably). Seriously was there any good reason for the American remakes of Let the Right One In or Funny Games (did we even need the original Funny Games)?

But remakes are not without merit, if the intent isn't just to use the work as an easy source of already created material. They can be used as a reinterpretation, taking the source material in a different direction (eg the Rebuild of Evangelion series) or style/tone (The Thing). The intent could also be to improve accessibility of the source material, bringing the advances of time into past fiction. Of course this doesn't always work, just look at Night of the Living Dead and it's two remakes that most zombie movie fans probably don't know of.

This works better for video games as the march of progress is a lot more significant for them than films, as the player's direct involvement can be improved. Look at Ocarina of Time 3D, it's got everything the original had as well as better polish, handling improvements and additional content.

And now we sorta get to my initial idea when I started this an hour or so ago: Final Fantasy 8 (also I'm over hyperlinking things). Now Sony has been making HD remakes of popular game series', but so far they've been sticking with PS2 games cause it's comparatively little effort for a lot of profit. But if they every decided to rehaul some PS1 games I sincerely hope they don't do FF8.

As a PS1 it really couldn't do both free camera 3d space and good detail, so to have a pretty pre-rendered background we had to make do with still camera angles which could be rather awkward (but atmospheric) in games like Resident Evil or Silent Hill.

As I've been replaying FF8 recently, I've had a chance to notice things that are foreshadowed earlier on. One such thing is the moon, which becomes a plot point of sorts later on. As with much nonrealistic Japanese stuff, the moon is freaking huge, so naturally a player will notice it from time to time, but maybe not just how frequently it pops up.

The reason for how the hell this is related to my above ramblings is that if hypothetically FF8 every became proper 3D, I fear the moon would lose some of it's mystique if you could just look up and the thing would be right there looming over you (don't get me wrong it'd look excellent), kind of like how monsters often lose some of their terror once you see them for what they are.

Now here's some pictures to distract from this unsatisfying ending.

It starts off tame.

Maybe it's just the angle...

...or not.

But not matter where you go...

...there it is.

To be fair, you'd expect it to be visible at the Lunar Gate.

I'm not sure if those are just clouds.

Also Lunatic Pandora (best gibberish name ever)

Ruckus and Nonsense

Good news there's something that bothers me enough to blog: Durarara!! and all it's failings in comparison to its predecessor, Bacanno!
First some brief details on Bacanno! (which I'm surprised I haven't blog about before).
It's set in the prohabition era of America and follows three plot lines (set in 1930, 1931 and 1932) simultaneously, with a large roster of interconnected characters, many whom are gangsters, immortals and/or dangerous psychos. In 1930 we watch as a couple bottles of immortality elixir swap hands while the owners try to track them down; in 1931 several gangs try to take the same train hostage with messy results; in 1932 nothing happens in a way that can be interestingly summarised.
Baccano! is an enjoyable experience of over the top action, eccentric characters and gratuitous violence, and I recommend it to anyone who might be interested.

All this makes Durarara!!'s flaws all the more annoying. You see both series were originally light novels by the same author, both are animated by the same studio, and it seems that both somehow inhabit the same universe.

Durarara!! once again follows a diverse cast but this time is set in modern Japan. There is a supernatural element, a headless rider, as well as a 'normal' character who none the less performs superhuman feats. I can't really sum up the plot because despite having more episodes than Baccano! Durarara!! manages to have less happen, which brings me to my first compliant:

• Nothing Fucking Happens: okay that's a slight exaggeration, there are story arcs, but in the time it takes to complete the first one, Baccano! has almost completed its three arcs at once. 'But Durarara!! is a different show with a different tone,' a hypothetical fan might say which suspiciously leads into my next point;

• The Tone Is Shit: discarding the ruckus of its predecessor Durarara!! adopts a slower, more philosophical tone. Who needs gun fights and fun when you can have teenagers angsting and stuff. Now I like me some philosophy and can sink my literary teeth into a weighty and ponderous sci fi novel if it's done well but as you can probably guess I don't think that's the case with this show. After all I didn't even realise it was supposed to be slower and more thoughtful at first, what with the scythe wielding rider and the Anonymous-style gang. I just assumed it was action or maybe a thriller, and if your audience doesn't know what it is supposed to be then you are doing it wrong;
  

• Terrible Narration: sometimes I dream of a world where 'show, not tell' is enforced as law, if nothing else it'd put a stop to lazy storytelling like narration. While Baccano! had some narration, it took place within the story as one character explained things to another. But Durarara!! just has several omniscient disembodied voices directly talking to the audience. And even there is some justification coming later (I haven't finished the the last arc yet) it doesn't excuse the quality. The narration is that awful kind that tells us all the things that it shouldn't be used for eg what the characters are thinking or feeling, or worse, things the audience can work out for themselves;

• Weak Characters: despite having alot more time dedicated to explaining their backstory, many of the characters are noticably flatter than Baccano!'s, feeling more like devices than people. The audience surrogate is bland even for the standards of audience surrogate characters but the biggest offender is the closest thing the series has to antagonist is worse. He's supposed to be this cunning information broker who trolls people and manipulates events just to cause chaos for the sake of it and yet I don't buy it. He's this way because that's his personality, it's just because that's what the plot requires;

• Undeserved Popularity: yeah I know this is subjective, but it's also what I feel strongest about (and actually is the cause for this entire post). Durarara!! was better received than Baccano! and that just makes me mad. You know how people talk about stuff being dumbed down to the masses, well here it is. The simultaneous plots have been removed cause people don't want to have to keep up, the violence is removed cause people are squeamish (okay fair enough on that point, not everyone likes faces grinded or fingers bitten off) , and the setting has moved to teenagers in modern Japan because people can't relate to things that are slightly different.

I'm never sure how to finish so I'll just make this bitter generalisation: the masses don't deserve good entertainment. Now I'm going go find something better to watch.

Thursday Night, Kinda Bored

Ever forgotten about something you really liked? Just had it slip your mind one day, only to suddenly recall it later in all it's glory? I had just this happen to me recently, when I realised I had forgotten about something that had been very enjoyable many months ago. No I'm not talking about this blog (stupid), I'm talking about possibly the best series based on unlicensed use of copyrighted material. I'm talking about:
For the uninformed, Dead Fantasy is a 5 part (at the moment) series of web videos that pits characters from Final Fantasy against ones from Dead or Alive. But don't let the premise fool you, this isn't just some stupid internet video that exists for the purpose of fanservice. No, DF is a very skilfully created story full of technical skill and good choreography that exists for the purpose of fanservice.

But I don't want to just gush about how awesome I think DF is; I want to talk about an element of the series that I only noticed upon rewatching it. It could be my imagination but it seems to that the creator Monty Oum put alot of thought into how the series would unfold. Okay I can't articulate exactly what I mean so I'll give a quick summary to hopefully demonstrate what I mean.

Part 1 starts off comparatively tamely with only 3 fighters. It establishes the capabilities of some of the cast and the general tone of the series. A couple more fighters jump in and the whole thing is a fun few minutes, the perfect intro to pull in new viewers.

Part 2 is much like Part 1 only...more. We see some interesting team combos, and to keep things fresh there is either a change in the environment or a new character ever couple minutes. Part 2 demonstrates that the action of DF is diverse and flexible, not just girls whaling on each other. It ends with all fighters being teleported away in pairs, with the promise that we 'haven't seen anything yet'.

Part 3 goes in the opposite direction to Part 2; it's a 1 on 1 within a single building. It is also one of my favourite fight scenes in any visual media and the one of the reasons for this blog post. Part 3 is a fast-paced, well choreographed duel that shows that DF isn't just mindless spectacle but has some thought behind what happens. The episode ends with one character getting bloodied (a shocking first) and then a short scene setting up Part 4 as well as hinting that there may actually be some sort of plot.

Part 4 has a much different tone and style to Part 3 (and 5 but I'll get to that). It's full of colour and explosions, lulling the viewer into thinking that Part 3 was just the odd one out, and that everything is just fun and superficial.

Part 5 follows on from Part 3 and is intent to shock the viewer. Not only there bloody, but now there is death (presumably), with faceless ninjas getting sliced up. There is also more plot, indicating that there's a reason to what's happening.

And that's all there currently is (Parts 6, 7 and 8 are all under development). As I was attempting to communicate above, I like to think that the way Monty Oum has paced the Parts is intentional. That he has a good story in mind and is telling it in a way to avoid alienating viewers. It's a lot easier to get people to watch a cool 4 minute fight than a video that is the beginnings of a story featuring game characters and multiple worlds.

So....here's a cool 4 minute fight.

No seriously, there will be spoilers

While it's fresh in my mind, I'm going to discuss (laughably implying that you the reader have some degree of input) the movie Sucker Punch, which I only just saw.
Now while it should always be assumed that there are going to be spoilers I would like to stress this point more than usual, as in my usual egotistical style I'm going to talk about what bothered me and how it could have been fixed. After all who else knows what's objectively the best choices for a film than a 22 year old with no experience at anything commercially creative?

Don't answer that.

One of the things I liked about the first third or so was the ambiguity of it all. As the reality shifted I was initially unsure of what was happening exactly and so was forming various theories. At the time of the samurai fight I was wondering if every major event would shift to a different locale/style and maybe by the end everything would just suddenly fall neatly into place and be awesome in retrospect (like what Darker than Black did for me).
But then we go back to the brothel and you see the three layers and where they fit. So then I was hoping for something surreal to happen, that would throw a spanner in theory by being outside of the previously established rules. Hell, Total Recall had me less sure than SP.
Also I'm not counting the angel at the end, that was established in the opening monologue.

And then there's the end message. Having been denied some twist at around the lobotomy scene, I was hoping for some clever meaning behind everything. Instead SP ended with the conflicting message of 'you have what you need so fight' and the last two girls not having what they need so one has to be sacrificed.
Now one could argue that the point is that ultimately Babydoll will be happier this way, retreating into fantasy (maybe) from a world where everyone she loves is dead. But that's docilely accepting one's fate; fighting would be more of carving a new better place in the world. Instead Sweet Pea escapes because apparently she was the protagonist all along.

That's another point that really pisses me off. It's just so pretentious to be like 'haha you idiot viewers thought Babydoll was the protagonist, shows what you know, isn't this film clever and deep'. Regardless of what the film may claim, she is the protagonist. The plot follows her and her personal problems, the realities are fabricated by around her, and she is the one who gets the plan from the freaking angel.

I'm getting tired now so I'll wrap things up with the last main point I can think of. The action needs some work in my mind. The girls are an unstoppable fighting force, which is perfectly acceptable it's a fantasy, but that also means that there's no tension in the scene.
As the scenes are abstractions there is also a lack of emotion to the scenes (your mileage may vary). Except for that one time, there aren't any hardships or personal triumphs or whatever because it's not really happening, and only Babydoll is privy to them anyway.
So what's left is just spectacle. Don't get me wrong, it's good spectacle, but without any threat to the characters or emotional weight it losses a lot.

And that's an incomprehensive post about what I didn't like about Sucker Punch.

PS: Too much slow motion while overly loud music plays.

Chaos

Like usual I haven't updated this blog in ages and so I'm starting this post talking about how I haven't updated. And now I'm talking about how I usually talk about it, which sadly isn't the first time it's happened. Before things more recursively meta let's just get to the point.

I had no idea in mind when I started this, no well thought out thesis about why something sucks and how everyone should listen to me. No this post is just going to be another one where I have several topics with no coherent train of thought between them. They're just stuff that I've been thinking about (and hopefully someone else wants to hear about).

(Like last time, some of you may have already heard me prattle on about these already)

First off: Just Cause 2, in particular the end.

JC2 is a sandbox, third person shooter with vehicles. If that sounds familiar to you it's because it's one of the most frequently used combination of genres in games at the moment. It's like unnecessary sequels for films in that they are both ridiculously common and hopefully in a decade we'll all shake our heads and laugh at how things were.

But I digress. You play as Rico Rodriguez, an unstoppable god-like action hero who works for the CIA the Agency. Rico is sent into the fictional Asian island nation of Panau which is run by an oppressive regime, to locate your fellow operative/mentor Tom Sheldon who has gone dark and possibly rogue. To track him down you must generate chaos to weaken the governments hold and win the trust of various terrorist factions.

Pictured: espionage

A couple story missions in and you find Sheldon who tells you that he had to go as deep undercover as possible as things are serious; you're just told to keep doing what your doing (fun enjoyable sandbox-based destruction).

Fast forward to the end and it's time to take down the dictator Panay and hopefully replace him with a US-friendly puppet. You seemingly take down Panay and then it turns out that it was all about oil. That's right oil (admittedly it's a lot of oil). Without Panay suddenly Russia, Japan and China are all making their move to try to get control before the US.

And then Panay (whose somehow still alive) launches a nuke at each of the four countries. For the last mission you must grapple onto and disable the nukes. For the last one Rico reprograms it (apparently that's possible) and sends it crashing into Panau's oilfield, destroying it so now one gets it. Rico, Sheldon and associates sit back content that there won't be a world war and I bang my head on the desk at the stupid third act.

There are several things that really irk me, and hopefully you too. The developers had all the pieces to make a coherent, adequately logic end story and then they sudden;y drank paint thinner and put it together wrong.
You'd think that since Sheldon had to go dark for big important information gathering it would be because he was trying to track down where the nukes were. That's reasonable, nuclear weapons are high stakes and anyone would be secretive about them. But no, he was just trying to track down Panay or something, and the nukes caught him and EVERYONE ELSE by surprise.

And then there's Rico taking out the oilfield. This pisses me off on every level, to the extent that if we added another level I would pissed off on that too. But enough tortured metaphors, there's a bad climax to criticise.
Firstly there's the obvious safety concern. Nuking an offshore oilfield (one with more oil than the rest of the world combined!) is not going to end well. Rico and co end the game sitting on a boat with their backs to a huge mushroom cloud, discussing what to do now. They figure that the Agency will be rather mad that Rico destroyed more than 50% of the world's oil but they've got this nice tropical paradise to retire to or something. Except that they don't as any of the following might now befall Panau: nuclear fallout, tidal waves, poisoned water, oil fires, economic depression, collapse of government and order.

About the only disaster that won't befall Panau

And then there's Rico's reasoning. Sure any of the four countries involved getting control of all that oil would shift the balance of power and could quite possibly result in war. But Rico isn't allowed to gain any good karma points from this. You see when generating chaos not everything you do is destroying military bases and propaganda, this also things like water towers and transformers for tiny little villages. So Rico isn't allowed to do anything redeeming. He's a horrible person with the facade of a good guy. I suppose in retrospect his final act is perfectly in character, causing destruction for a weakly justified goal.

So remember way back at the start when I said I'd cover several things. Yeah well...I'm not.