Mai Otome S.fir

February 25th, 2008

Now that’s what Zwei should have been.

Sunrise has redeemed themselves, albeit with new girls so it takes the wind out of my theory, but hey, I’ll gladly take over the top action and lesbian innuendo over their previous snoozefesti. The first five minutes alone were better than most of Zwei…

My god… they’ve actually made be buy into the Otome franchise haven’t they?

Strawberry Starlight

February 3rd, 2008

Best. Present. Ever.

Kawaii~!

Starlight Actor Interview!

January 5th, 2008

Wow! The response to Starlight has been phenomenal! I’ve received a lot of attention directly on this blog and not just on the Ren’Py forums, which was completely unexpected! I apologize for not responding sooner (holidays don’cha’know) but I’ve asked the stars of Starlight to help me respond to the comments now that we are all back and ready to work in the new year!

Hmmm… now that I check my mail bag it seems the majority are bug reports… orz

Actually, I am very grateful! They are super helpful and they will all be addressed in the imminent (and hopefully final) 1.1 release. That said, onto the letters!

Author
The strangest thing for me is how all the characters look off-camera. This is the first ren-ai game I ever played, and so I cannot know if this is an aestetic and visual language of the genre, or a creative trick to let them talk to each other and the player without turning, or something else entirely. But it definitely stands out.

Jade Hapy I’ll answer that! Author, you’re quite right. Visual Novels in general use a limited number of poses so you want each graphic to be as flexible as possible. That means usually they either always look at the camera and never at each other, or sometimes look at the camera when speaking directly at the player, and just somewhere off into space if they’re speaking to each other.
Violet Irrate “Off into space?”

Jade Hapy-1 Ah, ha, ha! Um… Moving right along… why don’t you answer this next one?

Author
When played full-screen (which is the default), the picture is stretched to fit the widescreen dislplay. It should have been letterboxed off the sides at the minimum. Although it may be better to produce the whole thing 16:9, it’s 2007 after all.

Violet Irrate-1 Duh! Widescreen would be much cooler for our debut! If only Rocket wasn’t so lazy! Maybe for our next mission…
Jade Hapy-2 Right then… thanks for that… um… interesting reply. Rose, quick the next letter!

Ellume
Very well done! Heck, I would buy a game like this with a full story. I look forward to seeing more.

Rose Happy Oh! Thank you! We hope to bring you the first real episode of Starlight by this spring, but it will take lots of work so we look forward to getting some help!

sixten
Good stuff. I played through to “Good Ending 2/3″ and I was surprised how seriously I took the choices. I used to read Star Wars and Star Trek novels a lot in the past, but quit when my tastes turned to the moe side of the force. Not only does your game bring back memories, it also indulges my desire for cuteness. It’s like an amateur Galaxy Angel. You, sir, pierce the freaking heavens. … By comparing our work, it’s clear that we share the same moe obsession and technical drawing skills, so I’m guessing we think alike. And if that “Honi!” at the end of your credits is a Potemayo reference, not only do we think alike, we are kindred spirits.

Jade Hapy-3 Wow! Thanks! I think this letter deserves a special response, right Violet?
Violet Irrate-2
Jade Irrate Violet!
Violet Shy-1 Ah… “I’ve always dreamed of having a “bosom” friend…a true kindred spirit!”
Jade Hapy-4Violet Shy-2Rose Happy-2 Please help us Onee-chan! You’re our only hope!

Starlight - Released!

December 8th, 2007

Teaserposter

Get it now! (^_^)

Starlight Mac 1.01

Starlight Linux 1.01

Starlight Windows 1.01

Note: Small bug was found with version 1.0, please be sure to get 1.01!

Tactical Kissing

September 17th, 2007

Combotrollout
Transform and roll out!

Combotclasses
Cupholders are an optional accessory.

Neccosystem
NECCO headgear
(Networked Environment Command and Control Operations)

Just a little something I’ve been musing on. Starting to gather steam, but first there is something called Starlight I need to finish!

What is Moé?

August 3rd, 2007

Yes my favorite topic is back, and yes this installment is one that was not planned as part of the original survey. What gives? Well, actually this was going to be my review of Lucky Star but in the process of writing it I realized that:
A) Reviewing or even talking about Lucky Star is boring and it’’s been done ad-nauseum.
B) Lucky Star is not about plot or meaning, its about the characters, and the characters are not only moé in of themselves, they are about moé. Self referential, meta-moé.

Kagamin
Kagamin, moé!~

I think with Shingo’s groundbreaking work, and my modest addition we have a pretty good understanding of how we can define moé, that is a definition of how the word is used.

  • Verb: To moé, i.e. to experience the feelings of adoration elicited by characters containing moe (noun / adjective) attributes. “I moe Noriko-chan. (*^ ^*)”
  • Adjective 1: To be or have moé, i.e. to embody or contain certain moetic attributes (attributes to be defined latter). “Noriko-chan is *so* moe!”
  • Adjective 2: The specific attributes which contribute or convey moé-ness. “Band-aids on the nose are definitely moe! I mean, that of combination of clumsy enough to scrape your nose, endearingly vain enough to try and cover it, and determined enough to keep at it, is perfectly moe!”
  • Interjection: To express the active experience of moéing(verb), i.e an “uncontrolled” exclamation which states “I am experiencing moé” in it’s verb sense for a character exhibiting moe attributes. “Noriko-chan, moe!! Ganabare!!”
  • Noun 1: Generally images (but also figures, text, sound dramas, hand puppets or basically any media) which convey to the viewer (reader, user, etc.) a character (hence an implicit narrative) who contains the attributes of moé, and therefore induces in the viewer the experience of moé. Causing the viewer to express his experience by exclaiming “moe” is optional. “I’m gonna hop on Danbooru and get me some moe!”
  • Noun 2: The historical phenomenon in late 20th century Japanese visual culture where by moé was generally adopted as a term to express a feeling and an attribute. “The emergence of moe is inexorably linked to the rise of cheap high-quality bishoujo figures, erogames and visual novels, and the decline of millitant messianic and hyper masculine otaku culture.”
  • Noun 3: The impulse within anime culture to create idealized and infantile feminine characters, which are simultaneously objects for the manipulation and exploitation by, and alter egos for otaku. This last definition is entirely my own and I’m sure would be the subject of much debate but bear with me. “Though not regularly used as such, moe is a trend which can be identified as early Tekuza Osamu’s work.”

Also through Shingo’s work we have a terrific framework for understanding how moé actually is delivered, but what I’ve been endeavoring to tackle is why does moé exist? What is it for? My thesis had been rambling and historical (and I think still valid), but Lucky Star made me realize I could reformulate it in much simpler terms:

Moé is that which makes the female accessible or unthreatening.

In this post feminist world of gender equality it’s easy to over look the gaping chasm of understanding between the sexes, especially in other cultures. Still even for us English language anime fans, and more so for the Japanese otaku the female can be in many ways (and plenty of them non-Freudian) a terrifying ‘other’. ‘She’ threatens to replace our established roles in society, consume our adult independence with a meta-motherness, and/or absorb our individuality in intimacy. Not really of course, but anxieties are often illusory or illogical.

Moé is the antidote, and Lucky Star showed me how even ‘threatening’ moétic character types like the tsundere actually fit into a framework. Shall we meet the cast?

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Harry Potter, Guarren Lagaan, and other Epicness

July 26th, 2007

Lovelyluna
Luna is the new Osaka - Mahou!

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Despite a rather dorky subname DH seems well its way to being one of the best books of the series, ranking up there with
Sorcerer’s Stone, Prisoner of Azkaban, and Order of the Phoenix. Must be something about odd numbers. I’m just about half way now (I’d be further but the time share with She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Denied-Her-Dose-Of-Harry-Potter, forces a more contemplative pace). It’s a brilliantly good read with far more rip roaring action than I had any right to expect. It also seems like she will pull off a stisfying conclusion despite the amount of ground to cover, so keep your fingers crossed. My only complaint so far is the perfunctory treatment of Hedwig’s death, but that’s a minor quibble in an otherwise thrilling ride.

UPDATE:
Finished the book this morning. No more spoilers, but get your hanky ready. This was a wild, dark and disturbing ride, really the best of the bunch, and a fitting conclusion. Definitely epic.

We also saw the Order of the Phoenix movie on Sunday. Aside from the perfect delight that was Luna, I give it a solid meh. Snape was brilliant and Tonks looked hot, but overall a little too much training and not enough action. I blame the screenplay and producers. I think the director did quite well with the material. I did enjoy more time with the characters, but what’s up with Ginny? Half the scenes she looked cute enough, but in the other half she looked totally plain, and not to mention generally about 8 years old. Harry’s main squeeze has got to be toning up her appeal right quick for effective smouldering in the last two flicks!

But really, it’s all about Luna. For those of us who can’t get enough of her…

Gureen Lagann
In other news Guerren Lagann is frackin’ epic! A seven year jump and Simon was throwing off strong shades of Baltar as he ruled humanity / lounged apathetically in his executive office. The real unexpected delight were Ginny and Darry - plausible teen mecha pilots without super powers or special destiny. I never though I’d see it. Ginny is hawt simply by virtue of being a teen mecha pilot with pink hair, but her character seems strangely dilluted without her stoic loli facade. I hope that outside of combat she grows a personality and maybe a cuter wardrobe. (her old dress from the first half of the season would be a fetching midriff revealer now). On the other hand, Darry seems cuter and disappointingly less spastic. I’ll wager that he pulls a Hayate and ends up in a neko-meido-cosplay before the series is up.
Don’t just take my word for it. EPIC!

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Just when you think you’ve seen everything…

July 11th, 2007

Our wacky friends from overseas pull out something so audaciously insane that you have to realize they’re operating on a whole different level.

Take your typical dojin eroge (which is in of itself an insanely complex and more than slightly disturbing phenomenon) and add hyper loli personifications of the major combatant nations of Europe in WWII, put in a land war strategic over game, decide battles with bouts of strip mahjongg, and make the player character a thinly disguised Charlie Chaplin look alike.

Fd Mv2

Viola you have: ベルリンは萌えているか!? Google tells me means, “Berlin is Sprouted, or?!“, I’ll go out on a limb and suggest something like Berlin is Moé?! WTF?! That may not be accurate but it does sums up my reaction. Yes gentle reader, as far as I can gather, you too can watch anime Hitler molest lil’ innocent loli-Germany-tan in her school swimsuit if you posses the mad Mahjongg skillz.

Somewhere there’s a brilliant Post Modern thesis in this whole thing. Thankfully that’s beyond me. orz

Awesome.

July 8th, 2007

I mean that most literally. It’s been too long since an action movie left me with my jaw on the floor.

Morethanmeetstheeye

Transformers is no deep epic, nor is it even a very coherent summer blockbuster. It makes Independence Day and X-Men look nuanced and tightly plotted. Nonetheless it delivers big on three key fronts. Firstly, robots go boom. And boom. And BOOOOOOOOM!!! Really, it’s awesome. Secondly all of the plot we care about is driven by the humans who develop as some really unique and memorable characters. Finally, it’s still the freaking Transformers, and when Optimus intones “One shall stand, one shall fall,” chills went up my spine.

Go forth and enjoy it on the biggest screen, in the loudest theatre you can find. I recommend the Arclight’s Cinemascope geodesic dome in Hollywood. Be warned, I think I strained my eyeballs, and I brought eye-drops to put in half way through the flick. You heard the man - roll out!

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The girl, on the bridge, in the rain…

July 7th, 2007

The World to Reverse is a unlikely little pairing of hobbyist visual novels, fan-subbed as part of an annual fan-subbung of visual novels contest (say that three times fast). As I mentioned before, the majority these works serve as socialization simulators. Not that there’s anything inherently wrong with that - on the contrary it’s a fascinating, innovative use of the medium and I plan to continue that train of thought when I get back to the rise of Moé.

Flanca

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