I sure hope so.

IMPLICATIONS, IMPLICATIONS, IMPLICATIONS

One thing that stories of the 21st century have in abundance, are implications. Little things that are unconfirmable to the viewers/readers of the story, which all have to with the background.

When you go to wikipedia or book review site and look at the story summary, they are often shown like:

“Since the Italian government in Gunslinger Girl is implied to be corrupt, support for the PRF is considerable, ranging from civilians and businessmen to government officials and elite special forces units.” (PrintPage – older Gunslinger Girl wikipedia revision )

It is implied that genetic engineering has been used extensively to manipulate human beings so that they are all colorblind, and physically conform with Sameness.
(Gradesaver – The Giver wikipedia summary)

Even extra information for stories dates probably further than the Star Wars expanded universe books. The trope for that is All There in the Manual. For books and movies these implications are all apparent based on the amount of detail the story has. Videogames do this through exploration. We are just talking about implications, because videogames do implications the best. The reason I’m writing this, is because someone finally pointed out the fact that Valve (a game studio that you are likely all somewhat familiar with) uses this storytelling method quite often.

[The grafitti left behind in the safe rooms of Left 4 Dead] essentially tells the story of the game, without showing the player through things such as cinematics. A similar approach was used in one of their earlier game series. (Left 4 Dead wiki)

Whilst the Halo game series fall back on the novels for extra information. Valve games usually rely on fake-websites or very specific game details for such info.

In Half-Life 2, as you travel across the highway you see huge shoreline as well as grounded ships. I personally did not pay attention to this detail, but later a fan-made timeline surmised that this was the result of the Combine (the aliens of the series) draining the oceans.

In the finale of Portal, you see a red phone disconnected. You can imagine there nay have been lots of discussion about this phone. However, the Orange Box came equipped with developer commentary and it was explained that this phone was originally installed for the scientists to contact each other in the case that a certain AI got very upset and started killing people.

I actually don’t have very many examples of this sort of thing. But I’m hoping more games (whether or not they are by Valve) will continue to implement this. Games with large universes and lore are quite nice, and this is simply part of that.

That tagline is a bit misleading...

I have talked about my anger concerning 3D movies, and movies that gain popularity due to the “revolutionary” peripherals of 3D. Here we have a movie that would not benefit from 3D, and manages to be most entertaining.

But I’m not going to talk about that.

The Setting

The setting is never fully described, but can best be called “the near future.” We are simply made to accept the existence of dream-accessing technology. We are never told how it works, we are only told how the dreams behave.

Ultimately though, not even the physics of the dreams are fully described. This is both good and bad, some audiences will take this confusion, others of course will create their own ideas surrounding the technology and the physics.

The Production

The movie plays out like a heist film that involves elements of dystopia and existentialism.
The terminology is well incorporated, in that it is clearly set up and described to the viewer. But there are even some ideas that are never even used in the film (such as the practical uses for the dream technology and the reliability of the totems).

Plot vs Characters

What becomes striking once you finish this movie is the revelation that it does not rely on its characters too much. The acting is nothing to complain about, but far too many problems have arisen with movies focusing on relationship dynamics rather than awesome events that unfold.

This is perhaps signature part of what Nolan achieved with his last film (The Dark Knight). Aside from Inception I have only seen three of Nolan’s films.

The Prestige used romance as the driving force between two rivals and demonstrate the issue of trust in their profession.
Batman Begins utilized kindness in character in order to demonstrate that there was hope in Gotham City.
The Dark Knight only used character romance as a way of demonstrating how much attachment the heroes (Bruce and Harvey) had to Rachel. Other characters were only used to forward the story, explain the philosophy of the film, or scare the hell out of people.

But the characters of Inception are not badly used. They are just not relied on.

Acting

To follow up on the characters, I would just like to point out something. Leonardo Dicaprio (obviously playing our protagonist), I cannot get my head around him. I can’t tell if his acting is over dramatic or not, his acting is very distinctive. He is not a bad actor, he just confuses me.

Yet, that’s what made him perfect for this role. The movie is hard to grasp, so why shouldn’t he be?

SFX

I find that the best special effects are the ones that don’t create some fictional/fantastical creatures. Inception’s special effects play on weird physics and the craziness of dreams.

In the last half of the movie there is a fight scene that I’m sure everyone will simply refer to as “the corridor fight”, this sequence has some of the best fight choreography I’ve seen in a long time.

Calling it good, may be confusing. You know how in the Matrix some of the fights were legitimately good (you could feel the heat of the moment) while others had nice special effects but simply average in that the fighting proceeded almost too well for either side?

Well this corridor fight is legitimately good part, but manages to include the special effects with some nice camera angles.

Conclusion

As you can see. I love movies that make people think. Please comment if you want to argue against anything I’ve said.

I call this a good show. Spoilers for the final episodes below.

Tatami Galaxy is a show that talks about something in life that is quite important, it is about understanding the elements of your personal life as cherish-able and not trying to go farther than that.

Throughout these 11 episodes, we begin to see the problem with our main character (“Watashi”). He has aspirations for a perfect life, but of course fails to see the opportunities granted toward him.

The Rise

Eventually the consistent parallel worlds we see in the show manifest themselves into probably the funniest/scariest way. In the scenario where he chooses not to involve himself on the campus, Watashi sleeps in the 4.5 Tatami room that he has always been in and he wakes up to find that he is trapped in the same room. Like so:

You cannot escape

You get the idea, each room is the corresponding room from those parallel worlds. Now of course, he doesn’t realize this immediately. It takes time to notice the slight differences after all.

There is of course symbolism in this moment. But it really is just a visualization of the situation that our narrator is in (I talked about this last time). He is trapped in the same cycle of repetition.

And then of course there’s the fact that he can never seem to give that Mochiguma to Akashi.

The Climax

(my words do not do this part justice)

As the narrator begins to look on these other worlds. He learns of the people he has missed in the current one. Including Higuchi, Jougasaki, Hanuki, and Ozu.

In a moment of dramatic irony he notes that Ozu would have made his campus life fun (I had to rewatch this to understand it), and it seem like Ozu is indeed his only friend throughout the parallel worlds (what we have been seeing no doubt).

He then ends up in the original room (or is it?) and remembers Akashi, recalling that even in this world he fell in love with her and also has the goddamn Mochiguma.

Suddenly the moths (that have collected over the rooms of parallel worlds) flush out towards Watashi. He jumps out the window of the room and………….he has the left the Tatami world and has ended up on the night of the Gozan Ceremony (the same ceremony as the first episode, and the same one Ozu was trying to steal an airship for).

In a sequence that follows with dramatic music and and symbolizes that Watashi has the combined himself into everyone persona from the parallel worlds, he attempts saves Ozu (lacking his youkai face) from a crowd of angry people (Jougasaki is part of the crowd, and the onlookers include Akashi, Hanuki, and Higuchi). The moths from before overwhelm everyone and the two guys fall into the rapid water of the nearby river and are hanging on for dear life

Higuchi prevents the crowd from further violence, Jougasaki saves the two, and Hanuki leaves with Ozu toward the hospital. Watashi then meets with Akashi (scared to half to death by the moths) finally returns the goddamn mochiguma and he suggests they leave for neko ramen, something she has been (understandingly) wanting to hear for a while.

The Epilogue

Everything is resolved in the end. Which is plainly excellent for a series with such morose atmosphere.There is one particularly awesome moment. Throughout this strange turn of events, Watashi and Ozu have switched roles, with Watashi flashing the youkai face as he teases Ozu about Ozu’s girlfriend.

The series then ends the opening credits (making sense as it opened with ending credits) feeling me with joy cause I love the opening song to death.

Concluding thoughts

The bizarre presentation of the show made me skeptical at first, but it began to grow on me when I saw that it had very serious themes. With such a depressed protagonist, I imagine the author probably had some emotional issues that he put into the story (as is common with much Japanese media).

I’m still not sure if I love the show (well as much I love Bakemonogatari that is). But it really is one of the best shows of this year. It’s amusing, it’s trippy, and it’s about accepting your life for what it is.

Reading the original novel would be a pleasure

couldn't resist some photoshop

Don’t worry. I have nothing but good things to say about this man.

For those who don’t know. Zero Punctuation is a weekly videogame review series by a guy who calls himself Yatzhee. His style of reviewing is notable for a few things. Such as: fast-talking, long analogies/metaphors/similes, funny pictures, and negativity.

I’m not here to talk about how good/bad/crazy Zero Punctuation is. Rather I’m going to rant about how I feel about Yahtzee’s style of reviewing.

I actually have not been too familiar with how the community generally reacts to his reviews. So excuse me if I do some research as a write this.

What Yahtzee does

Whilst many think Yahtzee just simply criticizes a game until his review bleeds out the good parts, I think of it differently. Yahtzee uses his criticism of the game as a base to find what is good about it….Admittedly thats sort of the same thing, but that does not change it from being a legitimate style.

In a conversation with my friend about this interpretation, I did kind of feel it was possible that I was giving him perhaps too much credit. But then again, people have interpreted some Bugs Bunnies cartoons as analogies for cruel and angry gods, so I’m not going to dwell on that idea too much.

I’ve found that Yahtzee does a good job of pointing out how newer game compares to recent ones. In his Jericho review, he points out that all levels have a shade of brown which compares to how the Quake game series looked. I found this kind of funny and amusing, but then I showed the same video to my older brother (who was quite an avid gamer around the time of Quake) and that was actually the part he laughed hardest at.

My favorite bits

Perhaps the part that I enjoy the most out of his reviews is how he points out the flaws that many games of this generation have (though I still have goddamn idea how he missed and other reviewers missed the unskippable cutscenes in Assassin’s Creed). He consistently points out the the tediousness of repetitive gameplay.

His elongated analogies are perhaps what I consider the most distinctive of his reviews. Other than just overstating his feelings they provide colorful and insane imagery to what would normally be a bland review.

One bit that he has only touched upon now and then is his opinion of Japanese culture. He has stated that doesn’t exactly hate anime, but considers it “mindless twaddle.” He has mentioned visual novels atleast twice, I can only wonder if he will review one in the future to mess with the mainstream gamers.

Internet reactions and my feelings

I did say that I was not too familiar with the impressions many had gotten from his reviews, though this is partly untrue. I have only seen the ultra-negative impressions.

As much as Tv Tropes (and it’s community) is what I consider the holy grail of story information and opinion sharing, I am very shocked (and somewhat disappointed) at the amount of complaints level at Yahtzee (seen here) for dissing a game they liked. Furthermore some of those people are complaining about the level of crude humor in his reviews, I happen to hate crude humor with a passion but I’ll have to say to them is “Welcome to the internet you blind buffoons”.

The problems with Zero Punctuation and people are:
1. People take his reviews too seriously
2. People don’t take his reviews seriously enough

Massive paraphrasing and exaggeration below
Now this is just my opinion. But when Yahtzee makes a long winded rant about how JRPGs are oddly designed or how FPSs are trying too much to be like Halo, it does not give anyone the right to just post his argument and claim victory. People who think his word is the law are just latching onto something and trying to be in the “right”.

On the other end, even if he bashes a game he is not calling it all bad. He is pointing out flaws that had issue with and would like to see corrected in games that he plays. I recall seeing someone post a comment for his MGS4 review: “For once, I disagree with Yahtzee. This game is amazing”, which I feel kind of cheapens the idea of his reviewing it to just “he doesn’t like it”.

The thing is. Whether or not I like the game he reviews or see something off in what he says, most of the time I agree with what he says or understand what he dislikes. My favorite game of this year, Mass Effect 2, was reviewed by him. I felt he perhaps was a little harsh on the idea of the characters looking lifeless, but other than that I agreed with nearly everything else.

Maybe I’m just full of hatred (blame Highschool), which allows me to get into the mood of his review. But I rather enjoy the idea of accepting an agree views of a game and putting aside any sense of sympathy for the videogame industry (whilst respecting the fact that developers work hard). I would like to see him review some games that I really like (Odin Sphere), have him analyze it, and then have the honor of laughing at his complaints.

Conclusion

Too long, didn’t read? Yahtzee is a cool guy who makes me laugh. Leaving aside your personal feelings, you will like him, or not care. He is of particular notability to me, as I have moved quite far from the mainstream videogame industry due to my fascination with anime/manga and other Japanese things.

Keep going Yahtzee, you’ve already cemented yourself as a legend.

Yes, I know this is the french cover.

Rather than this being something I like, I consider it legitimately amazing.

Mamoru Oshii is best known for directing Ghost in the Shell (released in 1995); four years later Jin-Roh was released, part of the “Kerberos Saga”, which was his own creation (dating back to 1987).

What is the Kerberos Saga?

The Kerberos Saga has one of the most complicated plots I’ve read about. Jin-Roh (which I finished last week) is the only actual part of the saga I’ve seen.

The general story of the saga goes as such. Japan loses a very different version of World War II (they lose to Germany). After Japan recovers it is met with internal conflict and terrorism that threatens to destabilize the nation. To combat this, the nation’s police force is restructured to separate the Self-Police (regular police) from a Capital Metropolitan Police Division which holds control over the “Special Unit” (aka Kerberos Unit).

The Kerberos Unit becomes well-known for using awesome skill, heavy technology, and brutally efficient tactics to combat terrorism. For reasons never fully explained, they become disliked by the Self-Police and are put under pressure by the government that created them. As such, the Kerberos Saga focuses on the turmoil of the Unit as it becomes increasingly hard for them to survive.

The Opening of Jin-Roh

Jin-Roh sets the mood instantly by showing us that there is no real “good” in the conflict. The Self-Police not once use brutal tactics against a riot (full of napalm filled molotov cocktails) and are instead blown half to smithereens by a satchel charge.

The Kerberos Unit, without permission from the Self-Police authority, run into the sewer and confronts the terrorists. There are maybe eight terrorist, and at least fifteen Kerberos.

Here we see the how the unit inflicts fear on the terrorists, the red eyes and gas-mask show no humanity. These are “good” guys, though they are brutal, they are just as brutal as the terrorists they fight.The Unit gives one warning. There is a long pause right before one terrorist panics and the Unit then responds by opening fire with their MG42s and killing everything.

As a young female terrorist tries to escape, she is met with one Kerberos who orders her to stop. She refuses and begins to pull the bomb on her satchel charge. The Kerberos, despite shouts from his nearby comrades, refuses to shoot her, and instead asks “Why….?” The bomb goes off, yet the Unit is unharmed.

The remainder of the film focuses on the aftermath of this incident, which is used to try and bury the Unit for “incompetence.” Our protagonist becomes the Kerberos from above, Fuse Kazuki, I’m tempted to say more, but since it’s such a great film I recommend you see it yourself.

Themes

The core theme of Jin-Roh is the question of humanity, Fuse is emotionless for most of the film, and when asked why he joined the Unit, he replies with “I just felt comfortable there.” His existence as a “wolf” remains resolute, though throughout the film he has many opportunities to just leave the military/police and become “human” once again.

What is… and yet isn’t touched upon much, is the nature of how the terrorists are treated in terms of humanity. There is clear implication that they aren’t treated as human. The warning that the Unit gives the terrorists in the opening is thrown into question when it was revealed the soldiers were given orders to eliminate the terrorists, showing that perhaps they knew the terrorists wouldn’t surrender.

I really love how the film does not take sides, of course we are intended to root for the Kerberos (I do at least), but since it is never made clear what the terrorists are fighting for, we can not judge the righteousness of their cause.

Concluding Thoughts

The atmosphere of this film is thoroughly depressing and dark, but if you can bear that, it serves as an excellent introduction to the Kerberos Saga. I’ve been trying to find anime that can be considered more artistic, and I am happy to add this to my collection.

Love this anime or hate it. You have to admit it’s has a presentation that many anime do not. The original light novel is by Nisio Isin, also the creator of Bakemonogatari. The similarity is apparent from the use of wordplay, crazy characters, self-referencial humor, and lots of conversation. I’m not gonna post a summary, cause that’s easy to find anywhere.

Katanagatari uses a plot that many would describe as “shounen-esque”, as it has a “We have to collect all A of the B” type story (A is number, B is a special artifact). In this case, the main characters must collect all 12 of Shikizaki Kiki’s deviant blades.

However, this shounen feeling is kind of overshadowed by the philosophies introduced in each chapter as well as the general seriousness of the story that is reflected by the violence of post-Sengoku era Japan.

Presentation

A lot of people have a problem with the amount of talking in the series. Whilst I understand that, I rather like the talking because it separates the it from other action anime. When the fighting does happen, it is well animated.

The story features a narrator to comment on some aspects of the story, though this generally does break the flow in any way.

Characters

The relationship between Togame and Shichika is probably the most intriguing part of the story in terms of character dynamics.

Togame is surprisingly open with her feelings most of the time, but other times she hides them when factoring logic into her strategies (best seen in episode five). Shichika is dense, but not dense to people’s feelings which is a funny twist on his character type.

The fact that they are working together despite knowledge of their ancestry (Shichika’s father killed Togame’s father) demonstrates a attractive bond, or perhaps rather intentional ignorance on their part. Either way it shows that they don’t care about the past when confronting their enemies and continue to move forward.

Other than Shichika and Togame who make the main cast. Each chapter features a character wielding one of the twelve blades as well as the Maniwa Corps. Almost none of these characters are portrayed as 100% villainous.

Episode 1 has Maniwa Koumori who is arguably the most “evil” character shown, but he does nothing evil enough to be hated. He rather just serves as an introductory antagonist.

Episode 2′s Ginkaku is shown as reasonably angry for the lack of support that the Shogunate shows to his land.

The Maniwa Ninja here (Shirasagi) is killed off so fast that we don’t get to know anything about him except that he talks backwards.

Episode 3′s Meisai is the first good natured blade-wielder, as she is using her blades to help heal orphaned girls. Her death is most chilling, because it shows us that while Shichika can be good natured, he feels almost nothing when killing Meisai.

The Maniwa Ninja here (Kuizame) is once again killed off fast, but remains likeable because of his shark teeth and willingness to enjoy the nickname that Shichika has given the Maniwani. Though earlier he is shown killing indiscriminate people without hesitation.

Episode 4 does not show us the battle with the blade wielder, but everything we know about Sabi Hakuhei shows that he would be a reasonably badass stoic protagonist (SPINOFF NOVEL PLEASE)

The three Maniwa (Kamakiri, Chouchou, and Mitsubachi) are more sympathetic than Nanami who slaughters them like…..bugs (they’re named after bugs after all).

Episode 5′s Kanara is likeable and has a tragic background. Hell, I was praying for him to survive this episode (which he does). His novel illustration is above.

No Maniwa are killed here. But we are introduced to their de facto leader Houou who manages to be most polite, funny, and morbidly obsessed with agreements.

Episode 6 has Konayuki who is just plain adorable and ends up being saved by Shichika after killing perhaps the only remaining unlikeable Maniwani. Houou is still morbidly obsessed with agreements and kills off another Maniwani in order to settle an agreement (much to Togame’s horror)

Music

The music is funny. Part of it can be quite anachronistic, featuring slow beat rap style songs. This is actually rather fitting with the style of the series which features similar anachronisms such as cigaretts or puns that wouldn’t make sense in the feudal time period. Other times the music shifts between being simply dramatic or actually fitting the time period.

My favorite track is Bahasa Palus which is composed of chanting and rap, though I think I prefer thetrailer version of the song. You can find samples here.

Concluding thoughts

Despite being skeptical about Nisio Isin because I had only heard of his Death Note and xxxHOLiC novels (both are series I feel are lacking). The anime of Bakemonogatari and Katanagatari have increased my desire to read his works (though to date I have read exactly none so far).

I will see Katanagatari through to the end. I have been given a few spoilers, but the presentation will likely still surprise me.

P.S.

I graduated from Highschool today. Woot.