Letter I wrote to my local senator regarding S3804

 Sorry I haven't been posting in the last few months, semesters been a total time eater. Good News is that the beta for Shira Oka second chances is done, and will most likely be released quite soon, updates to come on their facebook. I wrote a bit about the game HERE

ANYWAY! I came across a potential bill in congress that grabbed my attention more than the legalization of pot over here in Cali, and decided to write a letter to my local congressperson, in order to take part in ye democratic process...

(I put my address here, but you can't has it)

Hon. Sen. Dianne Feinstein

RE: S.3804

Hello, I am writing to you as a concerned citizen and web writer regarding the bill (S.3804, “Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act, COICA”) heading up to congress this week. While I understand that the intent of this bill is to make things difficult for pirates and other copyright violators, I feel that it would come with unintended consequences.

This bill makes it so that the Department of Justice can maintain a blacklist of websites that are to be blocked from web service providers, along with a second list that web service providers are encouraged to block, along with offering immunity for providers that do block these websites. However, this leaves little for judicial review, which is where I find issue with the bill.

While I do agree that piracy has run rampant on the internet, the solution is not to just blacklist sites without due process. People who run websites should be able to defend themselves before being put on a blacklist, in order to prevent the ability to blacklist sites from being abused. As the bill currently stands, the definitions available in the bill make it possible for the Department of Justice to take down sites it doesn’t like whether they be a political campaign, or a service frequently used that has potential for piracy. Creators and artists may have rights to their work, but people posting controversial things on the internet should have their first amendment rights protected, not infringed.

In closing, I strongly encourage you as a concerned citizen and potentially affected web writer to prevent central government from taking control over what can be posted on the internet, and reconsider bill S3804.

Sources:

https://www.eff.org/files/filenode/coica_files/Joint%20Letter%20re%20S3804%20%5BCOICA%5D.pdf

http://demandprogress.org/

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Anime in focus: School days episode 12

 <- The only thing being exaggerated is the character's expressions

<-Previous Episode 

AHHHHH!

Ugh!

AHHHHH!

*shuddering* I heard about this on the internet. But seeing it is totally different. After watching these characters for 11 episodes, and seeing an ending like this is a totally different experience. I mean AHHH.

*sitting on coach at therapists office*

Oh right, of course doctor, what happened. Uhm well, it was Christmas time, and Saionji had made Itou a nice dinner to celebrate with him. She appears stressed out, but moderately exited to be carrying Itou’s baby.

Unfortunately, he cancels on their dinner. After an intense grilling, she finds out that he’s with Katsura, his first love, once again. Yes, apparently Itou has “feelings” for Katsura, and he wants to come back to her. This is, of course, after he slept with almost every girl in the school, and even got one pregnant.

He comes back home to find the dinner Saionji prepared, smashed on the floor. He seems mostly indifferent to this, seeing the complete monster he’s become. I couldn’t tell if he was trying to get back with Katsura because he wanted her, or just because she was the only one left that hasn’t slept with him (Saionji wasn’t registering on his radar apparently.)

After declaring his undying love for Katsura (BLECH) he texts Saionji telling her about an abortion clinic Katsura knew of. The next day, Saionji asks to see him at his house.

What ensued? I believe it was the most delightful melodramatic mess that I’ve ever seen in an anime. It stuck with me for a couple days, and afterwards I just sat staring at the screen with my jaw ajar. I felt like vomiting immediately after viewing. AWESOME ending, really, beats the crap out of the usual climax in this type of anime.

I seriously doubt I could recreate that here though, hehehe. Nice Boat indeed.

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Maid: The RPG overview

I found this RPG supplement on TV Tropes, and just went… “Wow, this has to be the weirdest looking core rule book I’ve ever seen” Seeing that I haven’t written about any pen and paper RPG’s for a while, and that this might be fun to investigate, since the heavy anime influences make it quite suitable for this site. (What’s that? Articles about Ancient Greece have nothing to do with anime? SHUT UP!)

This forced me to acquire it immediately. I could tell this was going to be interesting when in the “things required to play” section, it lists that you probably should leave your shame at home.

Also, it uses the term “roll 1d666,” or roll three 6 sided dice.

My first impression is that this looks like a great game to bring to an anime convention or a forum meet up (Play with my regular Dungeons and Dragons/ World of Darkness Group? HA!) for a possible play-by-post or something. Obviously, I’d be willing to do a LARP (Live-Action Role Play… a bunch of people in costumes playing a game like this) with a bunch of sexy females in maid outfits calling me master.

I do like the table for determining special qualities for your character. These are things that set you apart from your peers, such as wearing giant glasses, being an albino, or being a dude (!!) Other fun qualities include having a weird fetish, a weird accent, always wear sunglasses (even at night) or have a strange tendency to enjoy stabbing people. All of these traits are rolled randomly, ensuring that this game is as much of an improv act as it is an RP

Rules for this game are relatively simple, and can be kept on about one page. You have a bunch of attributes, you roll a dice and multiply it by that attribute, and your enemy (or obstacle) makes an opposed roll. Whoever gets a higher roll wins. The loser takes damage (or stress in this case) until they reach there limit and have a breakdown (they player is then forced to act in a specific manner, such as binge drinking or being a jerk for an amount of time, in minutes based around the damage they took) I presume that rules were kept light for the sole purpose of keeping the game playable while drunk.

In order to increase insanity, the dungeon master has stats and is subject to insanity to. Also, to make things easier, there is a rather large table detailing random encounters. It requires you to improvise, but any dungeon master worth his salt can do that. This table includes all the staples you’d need to get the creative juices flowing such as rolling the dice to find out the mansion has had a zombie outbreak, or if Cthuhlu has decided to make a quick visit.

Although I do not believe that this book is very suitable for a serious role play,(Hey, if you want to do a game with a bunch of killer maids, almost any system will do.) it looks like it would satisfy boredom for a night. The majority of rules take about 10 minutes to learn, and are incredibly easy to teach to a newcomer. Most importantly, it appears that if your adventures don't turn into a chaotic mess where hilarity ensues, your probably playing the game wrong. Simplicity works for and against this book in that regard. The real meat in the book is the flavor text and the random tables, which are top notch. I may wind up using some of the random event tables in my next Dungeons and Dragons game, just to give it a shot. Unfortunately, I haven’t field tested this book yet, so I would need to do a follow up report on how the actual game plays…. I’d be willing to do a play by post, or I’m willing to meet a group at any major convention I attend...

Oh yeah, the book isn’t available on Amazon, so you have to order it from the company website. Seven dollars for the PDF is pretty nice, but the physical book would be necessary to use it at conventions.

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Batman: Under the Red Hood REVIEW

I decided to watch this title because it was at my local Red Box and because I happened to have read this story arc in the comics. Due to reading the story arc, I was piqued at how they could make a story that relied on reading so many books and required such a great deal of knowledge of continuity to understand.

Thankfully, they decided to take out most of the convoluted stuff that plagues comics these days and kept it to the batman universe. While knowledge of the comics is helpful, it is not nearly as important as it was while reading the book.

While the details in the story are drastically different from those shown in the comics, the major twists are mostly the same. Unfortunately, while I knew the identity of the Red Hood from the get go, it is very obvious who he is throughout the movie, so I’d know about it 10 minutes in. This wouldn’t be an issue if the commercials didn’t make it look like it was a big mystery.

For the uninitiated, what is the plot of this movie? Batman, 5 years after the trauma of having the second Robin (Jason Todd, not Dick Grayson, who grew up and got his own spin off series) beaten to death by the Joker. This side plot is told mostly in flashbacks, where we see Batman’s relationship to Jason. The main plot revolves around the new vigilante in town, The Red Hood, who is trying to stop organized crime by both regulating it and blowing the heads off of people who disagree with him. This pisses off the current head of crime in town, “The Black Mask” who seems to serve the purpose of having a comic relief villain that isn’t nearly as awesome as the Joker. As seen in the nearby picture, The Joker wasn’t amused by his antics.

I'm sorry, this bag of chips is more interesting than you

I can’t really decide whether my favorite part of the movie was the fight scenes or the scenes of the Joker being a jerkwad. While during the first half of the movie Mistah Jay doesn’t do much exiting stuff, in the second half he really shines. I love it when the Black Mask tries to deal with him. Plus, the way he likes to remind Bats about what he did to Jason reminds just how much of a sadistic bastard he is. On the other side of things, the fight scenes are fast paced, and manage to recreate a lot of the parts shown in the comics. We get lots of awesome bro fights, including a fight where Batman and Nightwing team up and a fight where bats and the Red Hood fight some of the Black Mask’s thugs. The presence of Nightwing in this movie amuses me, seeing how he’s my second favorite DC character outside of Hal Jordan.

One thing that miffed me was that during this movie, I had a lot of trouble believing that the characters were not super powered. During one fight scene, bats and the red hood are slamming each other into walls hard enough to smash the ceramic tiles or to bust through a sink and neither of them gets a scratch. During this I was going “wait, WHAT?” since I know that any person would at LEAST have their face smashed up, but these guys actually shrug it off and keep going. It separated me from the movie a bit, since Batman is taking hits like Superman.

Voice acting is good in the movie, although Nightwing has some cringeworthy moments and gets a bit annoying. Mark Hamil is still the Joker, despite how much the current cast tries, but the guy who plays him does a solid job delivering lines.

The movie is worth a rent, but not nearly as great as other Batman animated movies such as “Return of the Joker” While the plot lacks mystery like the commercials say it has, it makes up for it with nice fight scenes and the Joker providing some twisted jokes to keep the mood dark. While it works for the PG-13 rating, I really wish it upped the gore factor, especially in scenes where a person is BEING BEAT TO DEATH WITH A CROWBAR, or when somebody is being slammed through the kitchen sink. Although nitpicks like this exist, it is a fun ride, and that easily makes it worth a rent, especially if you’re a fan of the Bat.

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Merits of the dating sim genre

Well, I write about what’s on my mind, and since I’ve been playing a dating sim a lot, guess what’s on my mind?

What is a dating sim? The best way to describe it would be an RPG without all the violence. Instead of leveling up stats like attack and defense, you level up stuff like intelligence and charisma (although being buff is helpful, it’s not nearly as important) and the goal is (usually) not to save the world, but instead win the affection (well, some NC-17 versions exist, but I don’t really play those) of some (or all, for the pimp machines out there) person in the game. While this is not as action oriented as a lot of games out there, it plays quite similarly to the talking portions of games from Bioware (Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Neverwinter Nights, Baldur’s Gate, e.t.c.) or like the non combat portions of Persona 3 or 4. It should be noted that a well crafted game in the genre should top sitting around and chatting in those games, because you usually can’t take out a longsword and bash some skulls in because you’re bored. If you feel that desire in most dating sims, that’s a strong sign that game isn’t very good.

Anyways, there are a lot of things that make the genre unique. Most importantly, it’s the blend of anime and video game elements into a unique experience. While the story telling is similar in style to an anime, the video game elements allow a bit of interactivity, preventing the mind from stagnating and just letting the screen do all the talking (not that I object to that, that is what makes anime fun) while not being too demanding on the reflexes.

This makes the genre great for non gamers as well as beginning games, as the play style does not actively demand knowledge of how to play video games or tons of technical ability, as many video games do (Alright, I’ll admit, I remember learning to play video games as well as I remember learning to walk, but some n00b gamers I’ve met have trouble with some of the most basic things…) meaning that a new person can pick one up and know what their doing quite quickly. Most of them require the reading ability and comprehension of an online chat room anyway.

This is not to say that advanced games cannot have fun with the genre. I know that although I’ve survived some of the most hardcore games and told tales about them, the lack of difficulty doesn’t bother me.  This is due to the anime esque aspects, which take focus away from the gameplay which might not be very challenging. From this perspective, the genre becomes more like an anime you have some control over.

Well, if you’re interested, this site has a link to download a lot of freeware to try the genre out. If you want to commit to something, professional companies work on games with higher production values. I wanted to write at one point (Well, it was going to be less of a dating sim, and more of a Captain Kirk sim) but am actually being a beta tester for one at the moment… Pretty fun, I posted a review HERE.

Note: Ren’nai is just the Japanese word for visual novel, dating sim, or whatever. I feel that the English terms suffice and are easier for my tongue to pronounce.

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The Big Review: The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Season 2

<-This has nothing to do with this season at all. I just like gothic lolita a lot. 

Ugh, this will definitely go down as the low point in Haruhi’s history. I’d say they couldn’t do worse if they tried, but the problem is I know they TRIED to do a bad job with this. (more on that later) I’m going to assume you’ve seen the first season of this series and are familiar with the characters because this one is not going to attract any new fans.

This season consists of approximately 3 arcs, two of which are good, and one that is so horrible that somebody needs to be fired for green lighting it. The season starts out nicely with an episode where Kyon winds up being sent into the past in order assist Haruhi in a prank she pulled at the school 3 years ago, which for some reason affects the time space continuum in a way that Mikuru (from the future) approves of. This is a nice episode that shows promise for the season, and had me exited for the next ones…

I highly recommend you just watch the first episode (Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody) then go watch the movie, since it discusses critical plot points in the movie. When people discuss the rest of the season, I suggest you cover your ears and go “LALALALALA I’M NOT LISTENING” until they shut up.

The next eight episodes consist of an endless time loop known as “Endless Eight.” They don’t call it endless eight for nothing. This is an entire eight episodes of the cast being stuck in an infinite time loop doing the same thing again and again. 

The next eight episodes consist of an endless time loop known as “Endless Eight.” They don’t call it endless eight for nothing. This is an entire eight episodes of the cast being stuck in an infinite time loop doing the same thing again and again. 

The next eight episodes consist of an endless time loop known as “Endless Eight.” They don’t call it endless eight for nothing. This is an entire eight episodes of the cast being stuck in an infinite time loop doing the same thing again and again. 

The next eight episodes consist of an endless time loop known as “Endless Eight.” They don’t call it endless eight for nothing. This is an entire eight episodes of the cast being stuck in an infinite time loop doing the same thing again and again. 

The next eight episodes consist of an endless time loop known as “Endless Eight.” They don’t call it endless eight for nothing. This is an entire eight episodes of the cast being stuck in an infinite time loop doing the same thing again and again. 

The next eight episodes consist of an endless time loop known as “Endless Eight.” They don’t call it endless eight for nothing. This is an entire eight episodes of the cast being stuck in an infinite time loop doing the same thing again and again. 

The next eight episodes consist of an endless time loop known as “Endless Eight.” They don’t call it endless eight for nothing. This is an entire eight episodes of the cast being stuck in an infinite time loop doing the same thing again and again. 

The next eight episodes consist of an endless time loop known as “Endless Eight.” They don’t call it endless eight for nothing. This is an entire eight episodes of the cast being stuck in an infinite time loop doing the same thing again and again, until Kyon figures out how to break the loop. For some strange reason, the studio decided that they would blow most of the budget on this, by taking the time to re-animate every episode with extraneous detail, even thought it’s the same plot and events over and over.

Anyway, after the studio established that they have enough money to smoke their top grade weed in rolled up hundred dollar bills, (No really, think of the animation costs, production costs, and network backlash… that took serious spine to pull off) they get to a few episodes regarding the creation of the movie shown during the first episode. The first couple of these are boring as hell and not much happens. The last three have some back stage drama and philosophical lectures that flesh out some characters. Some of this is quite interesting to watch, and almost made up for the rest of the season. Almost. The plot doesn’t get advanced that much though. Overall, there are about 4 good episodes in this season, making it an overall disappointment.

Oh yeah, I should probably mention that the ending and opening songs for this season pale before the ones in the first season. I’m probably biased because I actually know how to do the Hare Hare Yukai, but it’s a noticeable downgrade. Thankfully, they wised up and used “Bouken Desho Desho” for the opening credits to the movie. Animation quality is very high throughout this season, even during episodes that really don’t deserve it.

Should you watch this season? No, probably not. If you really insist, watch the first episode and the last five, and if you’re really hardcore, the first and last episodes of Endless Eight. The only good part about this season was that it laid some groundwork for the movie…

Speaking of which, the movie manages to prove that the people behind this project still have their artistic talent that made the first season good, they were just holding out on us this season.

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Anime in Focus: The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya Season 2 episode 14

<- The last episode of a season is always a great time to introduce a talking cat

<-Previous Episode

Well, we end this season of Haruhi by having the characters discuss philosophy and the finishing touches on that movie plot that’s been going for the last few episodes.

This episode starts with Haruhi picking up a cat to be Yuki’s familiar in the movie project the SOS brigade is working on. Unfortunately, Haruhi’s powers cause the cat to talk, leading the cat to engage in conversations about philosophy, kind of like Brian from Family Guy. It’s rather interesting as we attempt to see Kyon try to convince the cat that it’s special that he can talk, and that he isn’t just creating an illusion of language.

Like a lot of philosophical lectures, neither side is really convinced, so they just wander off and buy cat food. Kyon explains to the cat that cats say “meow” and wonders home. We then learn that Mikuru’s and Nagato’s factions both hold theories that oppose Itsuki’s, creating a aura of tension among the SOS brigade members. Furthermore, Itsuki explains that the movie is creating issues with the space time continuum, causing reality and fiction to meld. This leads to Itsuki suggesting that they do something to ensure that Haruhi KNOWS that this is a movie, and prevent her from subconsciously causing the movie’s reality to meld with the real world.

Then there’s a montage of the character’s finishing off the movie, which is the least exiting part of the episode. The interesting part about this ep. is that if you pay attention to Kyon’s mannerisms you’ll notice he doesn’t really seem to care about the reality warping as much as everybody else. While everybody else is panicking, he seems to just take everything as it happens, not seeming to care, as long as Haruhi lays off of Mikuru. This is really interesting, as the mindset is what leads into the movie’s plot, where we see some actual growth in Kyon’s character.

Although a good episode, this is a very weak climax to a weak season. If more episodes are produced, I certainly hope their better than this seasons. If I hear anything about it, I’ll report it here as soon as possible.

Although this is the end of the show as of now, there's still The movie

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