Lately I’ve been doing so much consuming of various forms of media, I thought I’d just list some of it and hopefully delve into my thoughts on a couple of them. I’ll post a more cohesive blog update later this week, which will most likely be my review of the English otome game X-Note (I’m going to review that game by the end of the week, I swear).
Film
So, Shaun and I went to see Rise of the Planet of the Apes on Saturday. Besides having an unnecessarily long title, it was actually pretty good! Even if you could care less about Planet of the Apes (which is pretty much me), the film is a fun Sci-Fi flick with a strong emphasis on characters, and it’s probably the first of the “summer blockbusters” that I’d say is worth going to see.
Besides having a pretty uninspiring female girlfriend character, that is. When all the characters are actually rather thoughtfully rendered, including an ape doctor who almost instantaneously becomes the “grounding girlfriend” is a little disappointing. I suppose you can’t have everyone be the star, but I suppose you’re also going to have to have me pick on a film when it can’t have any well-developed female characters (what can I say, it’s my nature). Either way, it’s still heaps better than that awful Tim Burton rendition of a few years back… Plus, the animation is gorgeous, and any film that can make you care for a character that is 100% animated deserves some respect.
Also, Shaun and I both agree that we like James Franco, so having him in the film was a plus (I’m not sure why we do… are we the only ones?)… I liked him as the son of the Green Goblin, anyway.
We’re also going to watch Dinner for Schmucks on DVD, which comes very highly recommended from my parents! I hope it’s good.
Manga
I don’t talk about manga very often here, but I finally picked up a few volumes of Loveless at the library the other day because the art is, in my opinion, pretty gorgeous.
The story is a little weird, though, which has kept me away from it until now, and though I’m enjoying it well enough, I think the only reason I’ve really stuck with it for 4 volumes is the art and the way it plays with gender norms, but even then I’m not sure where it’s going with that. I probably won’t seek out the rest of the volumes now that Tokyopop, the English distributor, has gone under, unless my library happens to have them already.
Games
I always have a weird relationship with games: I seem to write more about them than I actually play them!
I did start Patapon the other day, because Shaun was playing Battlefield: Bad Company 2 on the PS3, and it’s been sitting expectantly on the shelf for a couple of weeks now
The gameplay is fun, but I’m finding that it’s getting a little repetitive to tell my troops to move forward over and over again, especially when you were fighting an enemy who just ran away. But I’ve still only played a couple of missions so far, so I hope things change up a bit after I play a couple more. I’m not that rhythmically inclined, though, so I have to focus all my energy in playing the game and not getting distracted by whatever Shaun’s doing beside me. Hah!
So, what are you all playing/reading/watching these days? I’m all ears!
Patapon always looked like a fun game, but I’ve never sat down to play it. I don’t really have that much of a natural rhythm myself, so I think that’s part of the reason why I’ve been hesitant! Plus, you know, a hojillion other PSP games to play first…
*ahem* Anyway, you’re aware of my recent 3DS acquisition, so I’m still in the honeymoon phase with that console. I actually spent quite a bit of time messing around with Miis and AR cards and all the other built-in stuff, which surprised me. Usually I don’t bother with that kind of thing and jump straight into the games.
Speaking of games, Ocarina of Time 3D is both technically impressive and yet difficult for me to commit to playing for long lengths of time. I played it SO.MANY.TIMES. on the N64 that it’s tough for it to keep my attention for long. I really wish I could’ve started out on the Master Quest mode instead. Still, things are bound to pick up eventually! I’m headed up to Death Mountain right now, where it starts to get a bit more interesting.
I’m also exploring my DSiWare options on the 3DS, namely Dragon Quest Wars and Shantae. Loving both so far!
Even though I was forced to sit through the entirety of Gravitation, my fiancee hasn’t seemed all that interested in Loveless. Of course, I’m speaking of the anime here, so I’m not sure how different the manga would be. She only watched one episode, perhaps it picks up more after that?
Thanks for the super comment, Kamiwoo!
Patapon is pretty tough for me because it’s not actually telling you when to push what, but rather you need to remember the combinations for “advance,” “attack,” “defend” etc. yourself and decide when you need to employ them and then seamlessly execute the 4 button pattern needed to make the command. It’s a bit stressful for me, actually! Haha.
Glad you’re having so much fun with your 3DS! Have you gotten any StreetPass hits yet? There’s something really exciting when you get your first Mii out in the wild. I’m actually hosting another StreetPass meet here in Brisbane on Sept. 3rd–it’s too bad you don’t live here! 😉
And believe it or not, in all my years I have NEVER played Ocarina of Time. I’ve only recently become a Nintendo nerd, I guess, so I never had an N64 or Gamecube. To this day, all my Nintendo consoles are handhelds! (my mom has the Wii, grr) That said, I really want to play OoT 3D since it’s such an influential game. That sucks that you can’t start Master Quest right from the get-go, though… So you need to beat the game first to unlock it?
I hear Shantae is great, too! I really need to check that out sometime (but when we get those 20 free games I’m going to be inundated with stuff to play! how will I fit it all in)
And actually, I have the Loveless anime as well, since the library had it too. I’ve watch 2 episodes so far and I’m really not liking it. When I first heard about the series I watched one ep. of the anime and decided it was too boring, but I think the manga at least makes up for the weird/slightly slow story with really great art, which the anime just doesn’t emulate very well. To this day I’ve never watch all of Gravitation, but I think it’s quite a bit different from Loveless because it’s all about the male/male relationship, whereas Loveless is certainly about weird “relationships,” but not really a romance. I’d be curious what your fiancee thinks of it if she ever decides to watch it!
I don’t know why the word watched and I were on such difficult terms in that last paragraph, sorry! >_>
Patapon does sound kind of stressful! But, it is cute. I am willing to give any cute-looking game a try, regardless of what it does to my blood pressure ;D
I haven’t gotten a Streetpass yet, but I’m hoping I’ll run into one randomly. I’ve been keeping my baby 3DS at home until the protective cover arrives in the mail, then we might go out venturing to find one!
I think you’ll enjoy OoT3D, even if you never played the original. Well, okay. You have no choice BUT to enjoy OoT due to its status among the gaming community! It’ll be interesting to see what your take on the game is, though.
And yeah, Master Quest unlocks once you beat the game, so that’s when my real interest will probably set in. I’m looking forward to it.
I’ve played… probably all of the NES games we’ll get offered, and likely most of the GBA ones, too. It’s been a while since I’ve played the original LoZ, though, and if it eventually gets upgraded to “3D” status, I’d be all over that. Still, freebies-on-the-go are irresistible. I’d much rather play these NES games when bored in some doctor’s office than random games on my phone, if nothing else.
We’re currently entangled in several anime series, so I’m not sure when (or if) we’ll get back to Loveless. She’s currently enamored with a show called “No. 6” which is… well, not explicitly showing male/male relationships, but it’s about as close as you can possibly get to that without it being official. I’m sure you know what I mean! She’s watching that one on her own, though. Not sure quite what that implies, but oh well xD
Hey! Just checkin’ in to let you know I’m still her reading all your fancy posts :3. It just seems harder to find time to crank out replies! Ah well…
My mother really enjoyed Rise of the Planet of the Apes but I’m still not sure about watching it. I tend to skip over most hollywood blockbusters at least until some of them end up getting academy award noms, then I go crazy! It’s too bad about lack of well-developed female character… that sort of thing always bothers me when it seems women are always there only to support the main man who is doing whatever. I want more female-driven stories!
You know, I’ve never read the Loveless manga but I did watch the show when it came out. I didn’t really like it but I did enjoy these lesbian characters who came up for a while. Have you seen the show? I’m just curious how close it is to the source material.
I still have Patapon sitting on my shelf all shrink-wrapped up. 🙁 it looks so cute but still can’t get to playing it.
Oh man, I’ve gone and got myself re-addicted to The Sims 2. I might make a post about it later or maybe even have a side blog or tumblr or something just to rant about the lives of my sims :P. Although I assume that would be mostly for me since why would someone reading about another person’s sim stories when they can just play it themselves?
Hi Marcus! Glad to hear you’re still reading, and don’t worry about commenting, I know how hard it is to make time for some things D: I’m not even updating this blog as much as I’d like, as various things have been coming up for me over the past couple of weeks.
Rise of the Planet of the Apes was definitely fun, but I don’t even really think it’s a must-see in the theater, unless you’re really stumped for something to do and just want to get out of the house. But that’s what I say about most movies–unless they’re the best film I’ve seen in a long time, I wouldn’t push anyone to go see it immediately in the theaters, since it’s so much cheaper to rent.
I’ve been watching the Loveless anime as well, actually, since the library also happened to have it. So far (I’ve only seen 3 eps) its been pretty much exactly the same as the first volume of the manga, but there’s something about watching it vs. reading it that kind of takes away some of its charm, I think. The art in the manga is so divine, and I think the anime falls flat in that regard. Also, the weirdness of the relationships and the story is somehow made like 10x more awkward when you’re watching it (like how Ritsuka and Soubi meet up and everything, I thought it flowed a lot better in the manga than it does in the anime), so for now I’d say I much prefer the manga.
Sims 2, huh? I’d be interested in seeing your pictures, since I don’t actually play the Sims anymore! I always thought it was fun to download mods so that I could play around with my favorite anime characters, haha
Yeah, I’ve been super lacking with updates for my game blog but I’m getting back into the groove of writing so hopefully more stuff gets posted agaaaain.
Hmm, suppose I’ll wait on the film then. I’m so bad with watching recent movies though anyway. Even when there’s something in theaters I’m dying to watch I almost never will end up actually doing it. D: For the longest time, the last movie I had gone and seen in the theaters that wasn’t an Oscar nom was Silent Hill (which came out in 2006!). I think I’ve seen something in theaters since then, but barely lol.
Ahhhhh, I’ll probably check out the manga. I like the art I’ve seen so far and it’s definitely better than the anime. It always makes me sad when a gorgeous manga ends up with nearly a cookie cutter-looking show. I guess it can’t be helped though since they have to animate the stuff.
Yup, yup! I tried Sims 3 around when it came out but it was really awkward so I’m completely happy to continue playing the 2nd game. Yesssss downloading characters is awesome! I’d like to also try learning how to create my own meshes, items, or outfits sometime too. I did put up a new blog but when I started writing content and posting pictures it became weirdly personal. So I am not sure if I want to share XD but I’ll probably make a little post on my regular blog later still.