In the last decade since I’ve been introduced to this hobby, I’ve often questioned myself what this entity that kept me interested and still interested up to date is. I mean sure, it’s anime and we all know it’s something we watch on TV, but what is it about it that’s so attracting? The characters or maybe the plot? Or how about the music and visuals unlike anything Hollywood can provide us with? Well, that may be so but dig a little deeper and our typical every day use of “anime” becomes something outside of just cartoon we watch through a box. When we use the term “anime” and go up to someone and ask “hey, do you like anime?”, what meaning does that receive? The reality of it is that the term “anime” is used so generally for everything that we can easily miss this subculture as a whole. From here on, I will attempt to run through aspect not of “anime” viewing but of everything that is “cute, fuzzy, and a little bit interesting”.
Don’t Read it. Chances Are You Won’t Understand it
Now that Newtype has died in America, Animerica has been reduced to nothing but semi-annual mini-booklets stockpilled for free at Best Buy and so forth, what is there left? Admittedly saying that it’s somewhat of a tragedy to see this happen, many “new” options are there for people. After all, how many people want to buy a magazine after a long day’s worth of reading a science or English textbook to only read more? “Not I!” said the one who’s writing at the moment. But for other options, people just have to look, or in this case, read the rest of the paragraph. For example let’s take Megami magazines. To give an idea of what it is, take the latest anime that are out in Japan, add them to about a dozen posters you can cut out (or not) to display and character and anime introductions and there you have it in a nut shell. It’s not a magazine solely for reading but one to indulge people visually. Surprisingly enough, Megami has been around for ten years now and is still going up to date. I wonder why? Either way, it’s a neat little magazine for less than the price of a Newtype, before or after the price hike and death. Beside that one, there are many other ones like Dengeki, Newtype jp, and so forth that can be eye openers for people who has never realized such things exists, that or maybe they don’t care either. Who knows? But don’t worry, you’ll still be an anime fan in my book even if you don’t bother with things with magazines. After all, anime is something you watch right?
Show it All!
Well, on my path to unpack those that are “cute, fuzzy…etc etc”, I’m going to introduce probably one of the most expensive area outside the realm of “anime”: figures. Say you walk into a Best Buy and realize there is a boxset of a certain anime. Say it cost around $60 and you decide to pick it up. Now imagine walking into an anime store filled with figures from your favorite anime ranging from $50-$120+ and you want more than one. Yeah believe it or not, thousands of dollars can be spent in a single day on just half a dozen of those things. I know right, it’s not a PS3 or a 360 so you technically can’t play with most of them. But as silly as it sounds, many gladly spend that money without hesitation to show off the artistic value they see in certain anime characters in the form of plastic, metal, whatever. When there is a chance, get off that chair and visit an anime store to check it out in person. Buying one isn’t even necessary but it doesn’t hurt to appreciate another form of art.
A White Wall in Every Room?
A white wall has it’s purposes sometimes I guess. It can be used when thinking or calming the mind. For the most part however, they are very white, very plain, and very uneventful. So what then you ask? Take anime wallscrolls, magazine cutouts, posters, and anything else in the same field and put it up there. Maybe it isn’t that good to look at when trying to think, but it sure beats the other categories relating to “boring”. Wallscrolls aren’t too expensive or hard to find in general, but posters on the other hand can be completely opposites. We’re not talking about bootleg ones either but more like ones you on display on Japanese anime shop windows. Some can go for a lot of money but in the eyes of certain people, it’s worth it to have a room filled with something one won’t mind seeing coming back or waking up in the morning to.
The Tip of the Iceberg
In the above, I’ve only mentioned a few things people involve themselves with on top of the dozens if not hundreds of things there are out there like collecting dakimakuras (anime body pillow covers), making doujins, going to anime conventions and beyond. Over the years, I’ve realized how the term anime has become the staple word many people use and neglected when referring to this subculture and fandom that’s much bigger and grander. Even though I can’t deny the fact that anime is meant for watching and a term used on a common basis, the fact that so many things stem off from that source allows each to be a part of anime and possess an unique identity itself. For example, certain people who go to anime conventions can potentially not know anything about anime, but they still go because the atmosphere is attracting. Certain people will also buy figures of characters they know nothing about because the beauty just happens to catch their eyes. So how exactly are we supposed to define it if everything can’t be called anime? Maybe it should be called ” a part of the anime subculture in Japan”? The answer is really up to the individual. In my case, I wanted to present everyone with a title such as ” Fairly Cute, Fuzzy, and Interesting” to show that there are so many untapped, undefined things revolving around anime but not necessarily anime itself that ties our interest with each other in this vast area of Japanese subculture. For me, I’ve gone through many phases when it comes to “anime” but I guess for now, I don’t mind things that are “fairly cute, fuzzy and interesting”.
Main Idea of this Rant?! - I hope this has been somewhat of an eye-opener and the start for people to check other things out. Don’t think you won’t be interested.
Closing Statement(s) - Enjoy everything that this subculture offers.
Chun-Li, played by Kristin Kreuk, rising star from Smallville, who you can totally tell was faking being able to play the piano as evidenced by the close up shot of just the fingers blah blah blah…Ok, scroll down for the gist of it.
Review
It’s funny how when I go into a movie with low expectations like Transformers (I absolutely believed that was gonna fail), they come out better than previously thought. The opposite is true. When I go in with high expectations like for Ghost Rider, it performed far worse than anticipated. So when all the initial reviewers said this was going to be a terrible movie, I had my doubts walking in. But not anymore. It’s good. I enjoyed it. Finally a review that will do the movie justice.
I was bummed that the movie only showed at one theater nearby out of three and it was late at night only (sorry for ya Wauks that they canceled your showing). It cost me $11, expensive yes. That’s like the cost of a Ragnarok Online one month subscription here. There were 27 people in the theater so it wasn’t vacant. Much more than the sparse numbers reviewers paraded during opening week.
Overall
Chris Metzen promised that the World of Warcraft movie by Legendary Pictures will be everything that video games movies are not - Epic. Not that this movie was any bad. Before I forget you got to check out Street Fighter: The Later Years, a 9 part mini-series spoof. http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1774305 Episode 4 introducing Chun-Li. She should have played the role of Chun-Li in the actual movie!@ She’s part asian.
Hands-On Gaming Blue = World of Warcraft: Wrath of Lich King
Hands-On Gaming Blue-Green (right most side) = Starcraft 2
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Overall it felt like a continuation from last year’s BlizzCon. Strangest cosplay I saw was Indiana Jones. There was someone wearing a shirt which read: ‘Guns don’t kill people. Magic Missiles do.’
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I noticed that people at the Gamefaqs forums were taking whatever brief bits of information from http://kotaku.com/ quite literally leading to misunderstandings. Hopefully the information I’ve gathered will clarify some points.
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Left at 7:30 in the morning from Fullerton. Took the 57 Freeway south and got off at Katella.
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This year we had free employee parking so long as you presented the pink pass. Otherwise it would have cost you $10/day.
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BlizzCon Goodie Bag
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There were two types - an Alliance bag (blue) and a Horde bag (red). I got an Alliance. It featured a ‘16 inch inflatable divine shield ball, complete with a paladin inside in the midst of hearthing away’ ($10). It took me a good 30 minutes to inflate the thing. The Horde get: ‘Frostmourne. The very name of Arthas’s runeblade strikes terror into hearts across Azeroth. Now it comes to you in a more convenient package, and you don’t even have to travel to Icecrown Glacier to get it. As you go about your daily activities, whether they be raising legions of the undead or just brooding on your throne, carrying this 48 inch inflatable Frostmourne will grant you an extra touch of sinister majesty’.
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Also inside the bag are fun and unique Blizzard-themed trinkets: Diablo health or mana stress ball ($5), pandaren brewmaster bottle opener, zerg creep goop, hand sanitizer, Frostmourne keychain ($5), Warcraft the Trading Card Game starter deck, pen light, tissues, cinnamon mints, notepad. Finally, there’s a card code granting you an exclusive polar bear mount, waving a BlizzCon flag. ‘It’s the perfect way to cruise Northrend in style.’All the stuff in the Goodie Bag almost made up for the $100 admission alone.
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Why are they waiting outside???
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You could find media cameras all around the premises conducting interviews.
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So with hours to spare until the doors to the hall opened I just chilled inside. This year they hadsecurity guards to check your bags before you could enter.
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Got to play Starcraft 2 right off the bat. My biggest issue was vespene gas. They made the assimilator/refinery overheat if you had too many units gathering from it. At that time it would turn red and be temporarily inoperable. Major drag. 20 minutes is not enough time to play. Oh well. Matches were 1-on-1 instead of last year’s 2-on-2. You were able to play all three races: Terran, Protoss, and Zerg. Certain choke points were blocked by garbage that you had to destroy in order to get through.
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11:00 AM Opening ceremony with Mike Morhaime, CEO.
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During the first Blizzcon, tickets sold out within 3 weeks. This year was completely different. There were website problems. Within 15 minutes, 15,000 tickets were sold. People from 27 countries were in attendance. Mike said that if Warcraft was its own country, it would be the 75th most populated country in the world. For those who couldn’t attend, they could still watch BlizzCon footage on pay per view (for $39.95) from Direct TV (www.directv.com/blizzcon).
Blizzard has had over 100 tournaments this year with more than $200,000 given in prize money. There’s even going to be a Starcraft 2 tournament later in the day.
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Next month on November 13th, World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King will be on sale with stores opening at midnight. The developers will be available to sign boxes in Anaheim and other select cities around the country.
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For all attendees they will receive a Starcraft 2 beta key.
Lunch time. I ate an $8 pepperoni pizza. Brought my own bottled water. Otherwise that would have been $2.50 extra.
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1:30 PM Blizzard Sound & Music panel upstairs in Room 204
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Led by Russel Brower, Director of Audio and Video. He does the Protoss music for SC2. Jerry Goldsmith does SC2 Terran music, and Derek Duke does SC2 Zerg music. Glenn Stafford was the founder of the department and worked on full time composing since Warcraft 1.
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Blizzard sound is best heard. It’s harder to describe in words. Sound is much like finding the right marble for a sculptor. The opening chords of Diablo were 12 string. For Diablo 3 they wanted it to start with an ancient feel that builds bigger and bigger until there’s finally a ‘tada!’ moment (refer to the cinematic trailer http://www.blizzard.com/diablo3/media/#movies). They wished to keep to the heritage that Matt Uelmen began in Diablo 2, a kestrel atmosphere. Uelmen has left Blizzard.
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Where do they get their inspiration? Early exposure from a young age. Classical music. Holst: The Planets. Russian influences like Tchaikovsky and the Russian national anthem. Keep your mind open. An idea can come to you anywhere and anytime, even in the worst of times. Keep a voice recorder. You can hum melodies in the car. For Derek it was a looming deadline. Also from the lore and art in the game. The purpose of sound is to serve the needs of the game.
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Wrath of the Lich King will add 7 hours of sound, totaling over 20 hours for World of Warcraft.
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Q/A
What are the qualities in a voice actor? Internal auditions didn’t end up well, although Chris Metzen still retains his role as Thrall. Basically it’s like listening to the radio. You can hear someone who is dripping with character with just a few lines.
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About character specific music such as Illidan and Arthas. It’s like Star Wars character themes. It may have not been intended. They tie in the music to the boss, mobs, and architecture in that area. Arthas was sung by a 10 year old boy alto; 10 minutes was all they needed. An aside joke: Kerrigan versus Arthas, the love story. LOL.
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Did they run out of time when they did the ‘Fight with murmur’? The music was about the space and not necessarily the fight. They wanted to change it up. It’s too easy to do big, scary dude music.
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How does one work for Blizzard starting from the lowest end of the totem pole? One must have passion and imagination. Each of us is a concept artist. Be able to tell a story. Make a demo reel. Russel: ‘We write music all the time.’
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How do they develop the strong melodic themes for World of Warcraft? It’s definitely a choice, done on purpose. They base it off the visual architecture. World of Warcraft is a persistent world. You hear it over and over. They don’t want it to be recognizable at first, rather more atmospheric leaving you with breathing room. It comes back and fades. Don’t want you to get bored with it. Of course there’s big city and important event music. Again, the sound is to serve the game. Not big top 40’s music list.
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Will there be an ambient CD as was brought up last year? Russel made his own ambient CD for himself. It’s still a good idea…
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How do you balance each section (like brass and strings) without the presence of a live orchestra before you all the time? It comes from education and experience. Trial and error. Can also look it up in the literature. The games are evolving to incorporate more live music. Of course they use a synthesizer as a mock up, for kestrel themes they can’t create. Or as a second layer. Even with an orchestrated version, they modify it after they receive it.
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When in the game development cycle does the sound team get involved? From the very beginning. They are on staff everyday.
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How do they like the rockband element such as Level 80 Elite Tauren? It’s in character. It fits the context and it adds humor. In the ending of Warcraft 3 we saw Arthas rocking it out. Jerry: ‘Terrans rock!’
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Just like last year, there was a special arrangement of Lady Sylvanus song, ‘Lament of the Highborne,’by Vangie Gunn. Youtube it.
By the light.
By the light of the sun.
Children of the blood.
Our enemies are breaking through.
Children of the blood.
By the light.
Failing Children of the blood.
They are breakin thorugh.
O children of the blood.
By the light of the sun.
Failing children of the blood.
They are breaking through.
O children of the blood.
By the light of the sun.
Sun..
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3:00 PM Starcraft 2 Gameplay, Main Stage Hall C
Discussion by Dustin Browder, Lead Designer
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He was wearing a Diablo 3 My Little Pony and rainbows T-shirt.
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How about incorporating rainbows in Starcraft? j/k
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So the powerpoint presentation was all about the single player Terran campaign. You are Jim Raynor, the freedom fighter. You direct his actions. You start in Mar Sara, the same place where Starcraft 1 began. Jim meets Tychus Findlay, the marine in the Starcraft 2 cinematic trailer. Findlay knew Raynor back in the day. They both belonged to the group called the Heaven’s Devils.
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Findlay enters the bar.
Findlay: You’re the most wanted man in this sector.
Raynor reaches for his pistol.
Findlay: They call you the people’s hero. Hello Jimmy.
Raynor relaxes.
Raynor: So you’re the model citizen now?
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You can navigate around the bar. You are able to click on the jukebox, TV screen, the bulletin board, and on Tychus Findlay.
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Findlay offers Raynor a business proposition. The client (the Mobbius Foundation, a research group) will pay top dollar if they liberate alien artifacts from the dominion, Arcturus Mensk’s hands.
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Findlay: I’ll split it with you, 60/40.
Raynor: 70/30, my way.
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After the mission, Mensk declares marshal law. Suddenly, the Zerg arrive on Mar Sara.
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There will be a unique gimmick to each mission. Mission 3 ‘The Dust Bowl’ is a defense type where you have to hold out from the Zerg for 20 minutes as their creep expands. At the end of the mission, Matt Horner arrives to rescue you. Once on board the Hyperion, Raynor sends his battlecruiser into warp speed.
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You can walk around on the ship and visit the Cantina or the Armory. In the Cantina is Gabriel Taush. He knows about Kerrigan’s past. They went to the same academy. You learn that the Zerg have attacked numerous research facilities. The queen has returned.
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Raynor: ‘She’s come to finish the job.’
Taush: ‘It’s her or us.’
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In the armory you’ll meet Swan, the chief engineer.
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You spend mission credits to customize your force. You’re able to buy technology (for example, 3 mil for Stimpacks or an upgrade that will increase the number of marines in a bunker).
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They’ve taken a new approach to the traditional linear progression. During the middle of the game, the player can choose which missions to take which will effect character interaction. In the campaign the focus is on the universe as a whole. On board the bridge you can access a Star Map. Horner receives a distress call from the fringe planet Haven, a small farming community which Mensk has abandoned. At the same time Findlay says he knows of another location where they can find more alien artifacts.
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So, as you can tell this game is going to be much longer than Starcraft 1. In fact, major BlizzCon announcement:
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Starcraft 2 will be a trilogy. �
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That’s right. The first game will be the Terran campaign titled Wings of Liberty. Second game Zerg campaign called Heart of the Swarm. Third Protoss campaign Legacy of the Void following Zeratul. The three game epics will be staggered. Think of them as expansion packs with the following game being sold some months after the other. Each game will have 26-30 missions and take place chronologically, one after the other with the overall threat being the Xel Naga. There will be some easter egg missions. For instance, in the Terrain campaign there’s a mini-mission where you can play Zeratul, just to give you a taste of the other races. The introduction and ending are fixed, but in the middle is where the story branches leading to alternate missions. The endings will be great. No cliffhangers leading to the next game.
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The Terran campaign is sort of like a Choose Your Own Adventure. The Zerg is like an RPG where you strengthen Kerrigan. Think of it like Warcraft 3’s Orc Campaign. The Protoss will be more of a diplomacy game.
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They showed a storyboard of Kerrigan when she was abandoned by Mensk on New Gettysburg. There will be flashbacks in the form of Kerrigan’s dream where you learn more of her childhood and origins.
Multiplayer campaign will be complete in the first Terran game with a fully represented army for all three races. However, it is still to be determined down the line if you will need the Zerg and Protoss games for multiplayer. It was stated that some units from the campaign won’t show up in multiplayer. �
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4:30 - 5:30 PM Starcraft 2 Art panel, Room 204
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Good ol’ Samwise Didier. There were technical difficulties starting up the presentation so the panel started with Q/A.
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Pre-rendered cinematics will be specific to the storyline. There will be more of them in game. You’ll have an introduction, ending, and a middle. The exact number they are not allowed to say but as many as possible.
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Dark Templar forum art contest? There will be announcements to be made. Notice though that there are a couple designs in game. Bladed either single or double, and with a scythe.
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Comment about the atmosphere being too light in Starcraft 2. There are shimmering desert worlds. Starcraft is still darker. They didn’t want it to be pixelie, but beautiful.
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What was the inspiration for the Protoss color scheme? Protoss were first derived from the gray alien stereotype. Had them wear gold metal to stand out from the purple Zerg. Also makes them look big, the kings of the universe in a sense. Lighting is crucial. It can make the Protoss look like bananas or white gold. They don’t ‘want it to look like ass.’ Inspiration for Terran? Astronauts and Starship Troopers. The Zerg have their own spin. They are ruled by a girl. (Hina: Like the queen bee in a hive.)
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One more tidbit about lighting. There could be a night vision mission. In multiplayer, there is one best lighting for the map. In single player, it won’t just be in a single corner.
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As an art student, what skill set is Blizzard looking for? Modeling and texturing. Strong drawing skills. Animation is too focused of a field.
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How do the artists balance between the styles of Warcraft, Diablo, and Starcraft? Each game has its own unique style. They have to put the brakes on and be careful not to merge the styles so that they don’t corrupt the other. Although a Blood Elf Protoss…haha.
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Regarding Zerglings. At first they wanted to have multiple types but that didn’t work out.
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Xel Naga watch tower. It’s where the Protoss architecture originated from. Also contains some Zerg influences. The Xel Naga is the mother archetype. They have to reverse backwards from the designs. Not simply Protoss plus Zerg. Still more unique.
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You’d figure that the Zerg Infestor unit would be the least likely to burrow. They have yet to polish the Zerg. Some units will be phased out and changed. Still many more passes to go.
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In Starcraft 2, why are many of the Zerg units more like insects instead of animals? In Starcraft 1 the Zergling was only 8 pixels. They couldn’t figure out what it was. So they envisioned it. The Hydralisk is serpentine with a snake tail and slug body. The Ultralisk is like an elephant or rhino. Zerglings get a wing upgrade which will make them attack faster. Marines will get a riot shield to boost their HP. They hope to include more visual identifiers so you’ll know why you are getting your butt kicked in game.
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How do you define Warcraft, Diablo, and Starcraft? Warcraft takes superhero elements. Giant weapons, and more comical humor (clicking on units many times to hear what they’ll say). Starcraft is not as comical. Darker, not shiny and glowing. Diablo is even more dark and more realistic. So Warcraft and Diablo are on opposite ends of the spectrum with Starcraft in the middle.
What they always wanted to do was combine all the Terran buildings into a massive giant robot like Voltron. But there would be too many balance issues with that. There’s so many cool ideas, but it would no longer be Starcraft at that point.
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The different teams work together - art and level designers are in the same building. They bounce ideas back and forth between each other. The artists would come up with something cool, but then the level designers would say you broke the level and it’s no longer balanced.
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What’s their favorite Warcraft race? The Orcs, the epitome of the Horde. From the Alliance side, Dwarfs. They were always a fan of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and Dungeon & Dragons.
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Samwise started out on pencil and paper. How did he make the transition from traditional to digital? Drawing with a mouse was a pain in the butt. Once they made tablets it was better. Went on to using Adobe Photoshop after Starcraft Broodwar. Love the undo button. Because it’s digital it saves time having to redu watercolor. Even now drawing a line from one corner diagonally down is hard. Yes, there’s a line tool.
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Overall inspiration for what they do? For the environments, natural forestry. But Blizzard puts their own spin on it. For Samewise, comic books that he paid for with his own money off spin racks. 1977 animated Hobbit movie. Dungeon & Dragons fantasy world. He would draw pictures of group shots of all his buddies’ characters.
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What software do they recommend? 3D Studio Max
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In the Warcraft manual you see the Chris Metzen style in the black and white artwork. Sam said he won an arm wrestling contest with him which is why he’s in command now. >.> Metzen was originally an artist when he first started and later moved to becoming a storyteller. Soon that took up most of his time. His style defined Starcraft. Sam said it was important to keep the original style.
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Chinese artist named Wang Wei did the BlizzCon logo.
He’s super talented as you can tell. They send him reference materials, and he nails it. He doesn’t know much English, and he still lives in Shang Hai. They hope to bring him over to America one day.
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Why does the Lurker look like a crab? Still the first pass. They will re-evaluate the design and make appearance changes.
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Finally the presentation worked…sort of. The video didn’t load until the very end. The panel ran over time. It was the almost the same powerpoint from last year. Strong silhouettes, exaggerated proportions, and bold primary colors.
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Non-Blizzard art piece
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Starcraft Marine (Red = Win)
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The Firebat concept is now a grenader unit called the Marauder. He has a nuclear core, LOL.
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I mentioned last year of a zerg unit with crazy tentacle action. This was actually the original Ultralisk design (or what they wanted to call Omegalisk). It had 4-5 tentacles which it would launch at targets then eat the remains to restore its life.
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The Zergling is like a cross between a pit bull and a raptor.
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Samwise referring to forum posts: ‘Every time you say it has too many wings, I’ll add 2 more!’
Baneling Nest, animated building with green toxic gas. Makes you go ‘Arg what’s in my town. Oh, it’s not a unit.’
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Roach Warren building
Roaches are like armored Zerglings.
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Infestor Pit - looks like a bloated sac, has segmented armor plates
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Next they showed a funny marine test video (Admittedly, it’s stuff like this that is the reason why Starcraft 2 isn’t done, LOL). Loyal marines would walk up and test their armor against fire, sniper shots, buzz saw, machinegun rounds, logs (curse you Ewoks!), and a nuke. You basically saw the many ways a marine can die.
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There are over 20 unique environments. They showed the tile set for Haven and some four-wheel off-roader vehicle. New Folsom is a prison planet with lava. Albion is war torn between the Terran and Protoss.
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Fin. �
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And that’s the end of BlizzCon for me that day. For dinner I went to Thai Bazil in Fullerton (http://www.thaibasilfullerton.com/). I highly recommend it! Service was a little slow because they were busy. But the food was more than delicious. We ordered Poh Taak soup (Fish, squid, mussel, scallop, shrimp and mushroom in hot and sour soup with a touch of lemon grass) and pineapple curry with roasted duck.
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Day 2 Saturday Oct 11
Diablo 3 day. But first, trying to find F@#)%’*^(& parking!!! I missed the Starcraft 2 Lore panel. Whose bright idea was it to schedule it at noon, right in the middle of lunch? Both neighboring parking lots were closed off saying that they were full. Not true at all! There was plenty of parking on the top level. The exact same spot we parked in yesterday was empty. WTF! We finally parked across the way on Harbor Blvd. The clerk almost didn’t honor the free staff pass until I yelled at the guy. Not a good start to the day. � � �
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1:30 PM World of Warcraft Q/A, Hall C
BlizzCon Announcement: Mounts will be able to swim in water.
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Something about Pandas so as not to upset the Chinese.
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They want to revamp the dispel system so that you can keep the beneficial buffs using dispel to remove the negative ones. �
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World of Warcraft movie by Legendary Pictures - Go! Chris Metzen: ‘We’re working hard on it. It has a cool story. If I say anymore I’ll get shot. Have patience. Good things are coming.’
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I didn’t understand any of the rest of it. I played Warcraft 3 but never World of Warcraft.
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3:00 PM Diablo 3 Lore, Hall C �
Diablo 3 is a unique world of horrific darkness. The designers hope to provide a backstory to every civilization. This may be done through character dialogue. Also using the environment as a tool to tell the story. You are free to explore as much or as little as you want in this action RPG. �
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Diablo 3 takes place 20 years after the events of Diablo 2. To the inhabitants, a whole generation has passed. Those with direct experience with past events are dead. Except for Deckard Cain, the last of the Horadrim, who is still alive somehow due to some sort of special clan arts. Cain feels guilty because he believes that he could have ended Diablo earlier. He’s exploring the world to find clues that would help when the day comes that the legions of hell would return. �
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Caldeum is a trade city build on materialism and the free flow of ideas. �
As a contrast to Caldeum, Skovos is based off legend and mythology, equivalent to ancient Greece. You won’t be able to travel there but will hear about the place.
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Diablo 1 and 2 were set in a gray backdrop. In Diablo 3, they respect the past artwork and still emphasize horror. But they will be updating the classic with a new visual look using big, bold shapes, strong silhouettes to avoid symmetry, and select color palettes of green, blue, and purple. It won’t look cartoony. The camera is fixed so they can hand craft each scene. Background movement (ground shaking) adds believability. There will be destructible objects such as chandeliers that you can drop on enemies. �
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Q/A
Is there going to be a secret cow level? Well, that would no longer be a secret would it…
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Everyone is assuming Diablo is coming back. The story continues from the previous games. There won’t be any stuff thrown from left field. There will be a main storyline plus some random quests. Also class specific quests. The developers definitely want to bring closure to the story. � �
You’ll notice that there is class specific dialogue. The first mission NPC acts disrespectful towards Witch Doctors.
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You can’t play as a necromancer. They were perfected in Diablo 2. Although you will meet necromancers in the world of Diablo 3. �
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At BlizzCon you could play one of the first dungeons, Sanctuary with three levels of catacombs. 4 player cooperative. Got to choose from a male or female Barbarian or Witch Doctor and female only Wizard. Since it was limited, I played the Wizard, but so did everyone else on the team. It ended up being 3 Wizards and 1 Witch Doctor. I went Battle Wizard like my Battle Sorceress in Diablo 2. Wizards have this slash attack that consumes mana. Wizard class couldn’t equip swords or lances. She could equip axe, mace, and knife. Inventory: Belt, Helm, Shield, Weapon, Boots, Armor, Shoulder, 2 Accessories, and Pants. Inventory equips change your appearance. As we progressed through the game, my clothes changed from red to blue. You couldn’t add to stats. But you choose your skills. In addition, the game engine seemed to keep track of your kill count possibly a bonus. � �
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The boss was the Skeleton King. Within the level you find his crown and use that to initiate the boss sequence. I died against him and respawned at a checkpoint one floor above. You kept all your items. Didn’t have to go back naked and find your dead body as in Diablo 2.
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I miss my Lightning Fury Amazon. They have to bring back some sort of ranged archer unit. � �
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Diablo 3 Witch Doctor
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6:00 PM Comedian Patton Oswalt �
Not for kids. He cusses. He passes in my book. He made fun of the people sitting in the front row. One person was French. Said that the French make great porn and wines.
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He talked about his first jokes he ever came up with, geek material. What if instead of Spiderman, he got bit by a Dung Beetle. You’d figure that if an industrial accident made you into a god, everyone in Russia would be hanging around the nuclear facilities.
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Getting tired of all the people telling you that you’ve been wasting away your life playing World of Warcraft? Well, there are people who waste away their lives in reality. At least in Warcraft, you can pretend that you were a level 70 Warlock exploring the outskirts of Lordaeron. Who knows how many future Hitlers of the world have been prevented because of simply playing Warcraft in their basements.
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Political jokes. Always a safe subject when you insult President Bush. Not as fun anymore because people have stopped defending Bush. Bush keeps saying that future generations will judge his presidency. It’s like the movie Blade Runner or Battlefield Earth. People will still say that is sucked. Bush also brags about getting 10 hours of sleep everyday and being at the peek of his physical and mental condition. Take a look at his speeches. That really is the best that he can do. �
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McCain’s Vietnam story is like the origin of every supervillain. � � �
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He makes a good point that when he was growing up he played Monopoly. But he never dressed up as Mr. Moneybags or as a green house or the shoe. In the same way, people dress up as Warcraft Night Elves. �
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Last joke about Yoshinoya beef bowls. Once you had one there is no seconds. The beef is like shoe laces dipped in air conditioning fluid. Then there’s this image of a face within the beef kinda like when people see the image of Jesus in a potato chip. The face tries to warn you last minute not to eat it.
I played Starcraft 2 single player just because the line was shorter at the time. It wasn’t a campaign mission but head to head against the computer. You choose the opponent’s race and difficulty level. I was Protoss versus Zerg on hard. Cannons saved me. I noticed the computer seemed confused; the first rush of Zerglings were hitting and running away from the cannons as they kept entering and exiting my base. Rushes soon grew more powerful with roaches and hydras. I ended up running out of minerals. I went for Dark Templars. They were ok until Overloads flew by revealing them. Had it gone on for more than 20 minutes I know I would have lost. �
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I’ll end with COSPLAY!!
Harpy
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The angel Tyrael from Diablo. 3rd place winner of the Costume contest.
Synopsis
In a world where sorcery and science co-exist, the power of magic comes with a price: humans who do not take proper precautions are transformed into horrific demons. Those who destroy these demons and run the highest risk of all are tactical sorcerists known as ‘Strait Jackets.’ But when terrorists unleash a plague of demonic carnage, the Sorcery Management Bureau must enlist unlicensed assassin Leiot Steinberg to stop the slaughter. Even if this rogue killer and a mysterious young girl can end the outbreak, will he be able to face their own dark secrets? Monsters, murder and redemption collide in this explosive anime written by Ichiro Sakaki (Scraped Princess) and based on his popular novel.
Review
In the recent years of anime, humans mutating into monsters and wrecking havoc, while a stopper comes in and saves the day has been quite a common theme. Strait Jacket is of the same theme, but it possesses something more. Maybe it is because of its small cast of characters, or its short story. There is something about this anime that just attracts a viewer to the screen for the amount of time it runs. The whole time I was watching this show, I was anticipating something big was going to happen. And when it does happen, it comes with a bang.
We begin Strait Jacket with Nerin Simmons, an inspector of the Sorcery Management Bureau. When she gets put into the situation of hiring an unlicensed tactical sorcerist or risking more lives to a monster on the loose, she chose the better option of the two. From there, we are introduced to Leiot Steinberg and Cappeltetta. Leiot Steinberg is a well known unlicensed tactical sorcerist who gets the job done, but at the expense of destroying things in the process as he breaks the rules that a licensed tactical sorcerist will abide by. Now if we did not have a bad ass protagonist for Strait Jacket, the anime will just not work. This show is dark. A main character without a messed up past will hinder its’ development. The story revolves around the mystery and history behind the relationship that Cappel and Leiot have. It is from there that makes the story interesting. While I was watching, I wanted to learn more. But since we are dealing with an OAV, the time spent expanding on certain things are limited. We only learn a small part of how they got together and why she is with him. Although that is not a negative it would have been nice to know more. But by getting to the point, the show is focused. The viewers are not left there hanging around waiting for something exciting to occur.
Strait Jacket is filled with action. For those of you who like big guns, this is it. Every shot fired is like a blast. The destructive power behind it can level buildings and whatever gets in its way. Another aspect that is great about this OAV is that it is bloody and a bit gory at times. People die in ways that make you say, ‘Ouch.’ The animation is good; it is not something I have never seen before. Therefore there was not much of a wow factor. The character designs were a nice touch. I liked how Cappel’s eyes glow red. It just gives out a creepy feeling when that happens. The OAV did not consist of a large set of characters, which kept the story tied within a small circle and everyone in the circle somehow related to each other one way or another. The story, while albeit was short, it was satisfying. The plot flowed well, there was not any confusion. I knew what was going on throughout, which is a plus in anyone’s book.
Breakdown
Overall I enjoyed this OAV and would recommend it to those who like an action anime, without all the commitments of watching episodes after episodes of fluff just to arrive at a mediocre ending. Strait Jacket is a show that has a bit of everything. Emotions of all sorts, continuous action, guns, blood, gore, animation that satisfies the viewers, audio that puts you into the feel of the show and a story that leads to a great closing. It was definitely a nice experience that I would like to share with fans who like this kind of show.
Feelings, nothing more than feelings… not enthusiastic this year. Maybe I’m AX’ed out and need to take the next year off. With the announcement that it would be held in Los Angeles instead of Long Beach or Anaheim, there were many who swore that they were not going to attend. Still seemed packed.
Can’t forget the movie references of 300 and Pirates of Caribbean. This year’s hits were Iron Man, Speed Racer, and Indiana Jones. Of course you’ll still find Star Wars. Last year had a spectacular Transformers showing. This year I guess the closest thing was a Batman: Gotham Knight premiere in Video Room 1 but you needed a ticket to enter. http://www.warnervideo.com/batmangothamknight/ Limited engagement Saturday 4:00-5:15 PM followed by an hour of Q/A. But the website says DVDs are available 07/08/08. Not to be confused with The Dark Knight movie July 18 which I did.
Speed Racer done right
Didn’t know who any of the Guests of Honor were. I looked at the schedule of events a week before and didn’t see anything that picked my interest. I did The Art of Glowsticking last year and wasn’t all that wow’ed by the Montecito art school. Origami? I was happy that Gravity was having a booth. Heavy advertising with every attendee receiving a paper fan and an Official Program Guide with the backpage featuring Gravity’s latest free to play game Requiem (www.playrequiem.com).
Thursday July 3rd
11:00 AM Prince of Tennis (LACC Stairs Site #2)
12:00 PM Lucky Star (West Hall Lobby - Downstairs)
1:00 PM Inu Yasha (Outside West Hall Flag Area)
2:30 PM The World Ends With You (West Hall Lobby - Downstairs)
4:00 PM D.Gray-man (LACC Stairs Site #3)
4:00 PM Disgaea/Nippon Ichi (NIS booth #311 South Hall)
4:30 PM Resident Evil (LACC Site Stairs #1)
4:45 PM Higurashi (LACC Stairs Site #2)
5:00 PM Indiana Jones/Star Wars (Outside West Hall)
6:00 PM .hack// (LACC Stairs Site #2)
Friday July 4th
9:00 AM Fruits Basket (LACC Stairs Site #1)
10:00 AM Rurouni Kenshin (LACC Stairs Site #3)
11:00 AM Cosplay Chess (West Hall Lobby - Downstairs)
11:30 AM Metal Gear Solid (Outside West Hall B)
12:00 PM Kingdom Hearts (LACC Stairs Site #3)
1:00 PM CLAMP (LACC Stairs Site #2)
1:00 PM Code Geass (Outside West Hall)
2:00 PM Fire Emblem (LACC Stairs Site #2)
2:00 PM Gundam (LACC Stairs Site #2)
2:00 PM Tales of Gathering (LACC Stairs Site #3)
3:00 PM Air Gear (LACC Stairs Site #2)
3:00 PM The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (Outside West Hall)
4:00 PM Magical Girls and Boys (LACC Stairs Site #2)
4:30 PM Ouran Host High School Club (LACC Stairs Site #3)
5:00 PM Capcom vs. SNK (LACC Stairs Site #3)
5:00 PM JRock (Lindsey Plaza)
5:30 PM Hellsing (Outside South Hall)
6:00 PM Katekyo Hitman REBORN! (Outside West Hall Flag Area)
6:00 PM Super Smash Bros Brawl (Outside West Hall)
6:00 PM Vampire Knight (West Hall)
6:30 PM Fate/Stay Night & Type-Moon (LACC Stairs Site #2)
7:00 PM Evangelion (Outside West Hall)
Saturday July 5th
10:00 AM Guilty Gear (Concourse Hall by Rm.411)
10:00 AM Pokemon (Outside West Hall)
10:00 AM Pokemon Gijinka (Outside West Hall)
10:30 AM Dead or Alive (LACC Stairs Site #1)
10:30 AM Final Fantasy Tactics (LACC Stairs Site #2)
11:00 AM Hollow/Arrancar (LACC Stairs Site #2)
12:00 PM Bleach (LACC Stairs Site #2)
12:00 PM Touhou Project (Outside West Hall)
12:30 PM Trinity Blood (LACC Lobby)
1:00 PM Final Fantasy VIII (LACC Stairs Site #2)
1:00 PM Yugioh Generations (LACC Stairs Site #2)
1:30 PM Phoenix Wright (LACC Stairs Site #3)
2:00 PM Naruto (LACC Stairs Site #3)**
2:00 PM Persona 3 (LACC Stairs Site #2)
2:30 PM Vocaloid (LACC Site Stairs #3)
3:00 PM Full Metal Alchemist (Outside West Hall)
3:00 PM Legend of Zelda (LACC Stairs Site #1)
3:30 PM One Piece (LACC Stairs Site #2)
4:00 PM Ragnarok Online (LACC Stairs Site #2)
4:00 PM Soul Eater (LACC Stairs Site #3)
Sunday July 6th
10:00 AM Sailormoon (Outside West Hall)
11:00 AM Dragonball Z & GT (LACC Stairs Site #2)
12:00 PM Crossplay (Inside West Hall)
12:00 PM Final Fantasy (LACC Stairs Site #3)
12:00 PM Lolita Tea Party (Concourse Hall F Stairs)
12:30 PM GINTAMA (Outside West Hall Entrance)
1:00 PM Avatar (LACC Stairs Site #2)
3:00 PM Beyblade (West Hall)
3:00 PM Death Note (Outside West Hall)
Oddest cosplay
* Free sample man. Guy going throughout the Exhibition Hall pasting stickers and what not on himself and cardboard boxes.
* Krispy Kreme Doughnuts employee?
* Man Princess Peach
* Someone in an HP Printer box
* Captain Planet
* Tetris L Block (winner of GameFAQs character battle). Was actually cool to see all the multicolored Tetris blocks together.
* Jesus in front of the Yaoi booth. Also a Pimp Jesus carrying a cross.
* Transformers Hot Rod who proceeded to the girl’s restroom. WTF!
Survival Checklist
* Bag/Backpack
* Bottled Water
* $$$
* Digital Camera/Disposable Camera
* PSP/DS with AC adaptor, deck of cards, or a book to read for those moments when you are waiting in line or sitting down not doing anything in particular.
* Pens to write with
* Pre-registration e-mail confirmation with bar code
Day 1 Thursday July 3
Woke up at 5:00 AM and left the house at 6:00 AM. Took the carpool lane of 110 Freeway North. Got off at Adams then went down Figueroa. Parking fee: $12
Registration was fast once it started moving. Glare outside was bad. Couldn’t play PSP well.
Guilty Gear. Running joke of Dr. Doom.
8:00 inside air conditioned hall. Picked up my badge at 8:30. At Con registration opened at 9:00.
Headed upstairs to the console gaming room. They had Super Smash Bros Brawl, Rock Band (please if you’re going to perform, get into the groove!), Guitar Hero, Naruto, and Arc System Work’s BlazBlue (http://blazblue.jp/us/).
For lunch I had a smoked ham and swiss sandwich on ciabatta bread for $7.50. It tasted so dry. Wasn’t even worth it. I wish I had waited until they served hamburgers.
Exhibition Hall opened at noon. Following days it opens at 10:00 AM. I think some asian guy tried to pick pocket my bag. Watch your stuff at all times.
Could try out the Naruto games and Soul Calibur IV.
Capcom Booth with artists Omar Dogan and Alvin Lee (below).
Gravity Booth (http://www.gravity.co.kr/eng/index.asp) where you can sign up for their cosplay contest to be held Saturday at 1:00. They gave out a free game DVD and raffle tickets for their drawing at 4:00. Each hour they did Spin the Wheel for prizes.
Community manager Hastur, because he’s cool and Heimdallr’s mean
Next door to Exhibition Hall is Artist Alley. What are the secrets to selling your artwork? Location? Signs? Popular series? There were tons of Bleach, Naruto, and Final Fantasy. Girl showing booty? Right price? Colored works seem to be better than sketches. Unfortunate that the artists were not able to use the power outlets.
After that I went home. Forgot about AMVs.
Day 2 Friday July 4
8:00 left house. Arrived at 8:15 with no traffic.
First place of interest, the Arcade. Open 24/7. Games: Metal Slug 6, Puzzle Fighter ($0.50 per game), Pile Up, Fancy Lifter, Dance Dance Revolution, Para Para 2nd Mix, Street Fighter 3rd Strike, Melty Blood, Tekken, Strikers 1945, Mushihime Sama, Time Crisis 4, Marvel versus Capcom 2, Initial D 4, Wangan Midnight 3, Derby Owner’s Club horse racing, Capcom versus SnK 2, and air hockey.
Next an interview with a person working behind the scenes that makes Anime Expo run smoothly - Mr. Cardenas who has been doing Electrical maintenance for 20+ years. It’s a good job, 6 figure income easily. And they won’t outsource you. He didn’t quite get Anime Expo. Equated it to collecting rookie baseball cards. Back in the day when 50 cents got you popcorn, soda pop, and a movie. At E3 last year he said that the power went out. Department of Water and Power (DWP) brought in mobile transformers. Doors unfortunately closed on the thick cabling and blew a hole in it. Had to reset the circuit breaker. The ground rumbled. Bad sign. 200 pound manhole cover even flew out of the streets.
Lunch exiting the Exhibition Hall was a Taco stand. $7 for three soft tacos, your choice of beef, pork, or chicken. A++!!!
Back in Exhibition Hall went to NIS booth and bought some pencil boards for Takehito Harada chief character designer for Disgaea to sign.Ms. Taniel character designer for A Witch’s Tale was also autographing.
More Cosplay.
All hail Cobra Commander.
Kanti from FLCL
Captain Commando
I spied on Gaia Online Panel in Hall B at 5:30. I don’t even play Gaia. Pictures and videotaping allowed. http://www.gaiaonline.com/
On stage, in the black coat Chris, the ever so popular Lancer, Quickster the developer, and artist Charles Park. First a thank you for coming and causing chaos. Then a Stride spoof (http://www.stridegum.com/). Do NOT fire at the screens! …or we’ll find you… and do bad things…
as if we’d be allowed to bring in nerf guns to AX.
Whenever a pink gift box appeared during the presentation, Chris would sprint around the seats and toss free plushies, T-shirts, etc.
Started with sketches of radiant prism: disco ball, prism crystal, prism tattoo. MCs (Monthly Collectibles) used to be called donation items. Before they got sponsors, they were one of the methods to keep the site running. Every month the artist team of 20+ people would get together. Concepts reflected how big of a fan they were to that particular idea such as Metal Gear Solid 4. ICBM Nukes R Bad. Seemed to love drawing cardboard boxes. <- this is very important.
Webpage updates. New landing pages for art arena, avatar arena, housing arena (which was broken), writing arena for fanfics, and contest arena. More merchandise like omnomnom and WTF hat. More games - Electric Love Factory: help Buildo the robot NPC build robot friends. It’s a puzzle game where you align blocks according to color. There are power ups within the game to achieve bonuses.
Gaia mischief makers. Placing Gaia stickers around Chuck Norris Hollywood Star, yearbook cover with Gaia mentioned, and someone with a Gaia poster caught on WWE ECW.
Showed Gaia MMO game. On Bill’s Ranch is his daughter Rubella. Zen Gardens Katsumi. House on a Hill, continuing from Dead Man’s Pass. Null Chamber to release your life force after you die. New store Nicolae’s Backalley Bargaining. Jacques’s dog still needs a name. On to the monsters. The fluffs, OMG’s mama, garlic. Undine, lawn ornament creatures: gnome (For the Empire!), flamingos. A Sand Castle Golem which in the end looks like a knight with a sand bucket on his head. Minimap with Fog of War feature. Able to customize the screen layout, drag/drop windows. More recipes. Make a surf board, ninja outfit, atomi armor, guard armor, alien armor.
Q/A
Mentioned that the color of the website is blinding. They are experimenting with different designs.
Gaia is looking into letting other vendors sell their merchandise like Yesanime.com because they can’t attend every single convention.
Can you fight NPCs in MMO? In the beginning just monsters. Later PvP.
A manga compilation in paper format? Not at this time. Seriously considering it.
More flash games like Tetris.
MMO will allow you to customize controls, mouse click and WASD.
Can you date Lancer? He had the exact same thought. It’s a floating idea. It’s another way to make fun of themselves.
Christmas Mistle Toe this year? Sure why not.
Is there a save your hairstyle option (referring to Halloween event)? Virtual bobby pins are hard to come by.
A real banking system with interest? Set and forget it. Well safe deposit box is a possibility.
Merchandise for children? They will definitely pass that idea on.
6:30 went home and saw the fireworks.
Day 3 Saturday July 5
Arcade again.
Lunch inside the Exhibition Hall. $8 BBQ ribs, steamed rice, and lettuce.
RO Cosplay Contest. Got pushed back to 2:00 PM.
Winners:
Runner-up #1 Leaf Cat (Prisilla) - was nervous to participate at first, Meow! Meow! Meow! Received an RO2 keychain collection.
Runner-up #2 Minstrel (Andy)
Grand Prize: Orc Hero (cupcake) - was there ever a doubt. Received an RO2 box, artwork, and full DVD set of Ragnarok the Animation courtesy of Funimation.
GM picks - winners received a certificate and 2 headgears
Hastur: Lord Knight (Pelori), loved the sword
Heimdallr: Monk
iroHeadGM: Gypsie (Neko)
4:00 PM. Mega64 Panel of Doom. Seriously. Shown on Public Access and soon on TV in the United Kingdom on Sky Network. http://www.mega64.com/
Rocco Botte, Derrick Acosta, Shawn Chatfield, Josh Jones, and Garrett A. Hunter also in cosplay - Assassin’s Greed, Beowulf in 3D, Time Child, Future Brad Pitt, and Biggest Boss from Metal Slug.
Other videos - Wizard, Cosplayerz Strike a Poze (where the crew invaded a Naruto gathering), Wizard sighting, The Bookstore, rejected Nintendo DS commercial for the game Jam Session because Nintendo wanted it aimed at homeowners not homeless guy. They called it ‘unsavory.’ They did a recut version with larger than life fonts.
Q/A
For the hard of hearing, can they add subtitles. Now that they know how, yea. Half the time they don’t understand what Marcus is saying.
Will they be doing this forever? No girl will get in between them. Don’t grow up. Be stupid. Annoy people.
Open call for casting? There was for Wizard video. Could be another one.
While shooting a video do they ever recognize who they are? Once as mega64. Lots of Hey that’s Assassin’s Creed. Popular game.
Episode 4 is going to be Mega64! a musical.
Next stop for them is Comic Con in San Diego and East Coast Fan Expo in Toronto, Canada. They plan on giving away Con Exclusive DVDs featuring scratch and sniff technology. Umm…Cinnamon Rolls. http://www.hobbystar.com/fanexpo2008/index.html
Snuck out at 6:00. Hosts of mega64 made fun of anyone leaving their panel. Masquerade $20 for ticket outside Registration. Otherwise have to wait outside in the sun in standby for 4+ hours. Just didn’t want to wait. Went home.
Day 4 Sunday July 6
Slept in. Decided not to go.
Short report this time. If I will be attending next year, I’m sure as hell going to make an outstanding cosplay. And I do mean that. On the same scale as that Optimus Prime costume.
Synopsis
Based on the bestselling comic by Aya Nakahara, Love*Com The Movie is a high-school romantic comedy centering on two students. Risa Koizumi is the tallest girl in class, and the last thing she wants is the humiliation of standing next to Atsushi Otani, the shortest guy. Fate and the whole school have other ideas, and the two find themselves casts as the unwilling stars of a bizarre romantic comedy duo. But as their friendship develops, so do Risa’s feelings toward Otani. Can she be honest with herself and get over her lovely complex?!
Review
There has always been an age old misconception in the world of relationships. Somehow out of all of the things that should determine whether individuals become couples, height, is an attribute that should matter least. But that is not the case in this love comedy, ‘Love*Com.’
If you are saying to yourself that the title sounds somewhat familiar to an anime, you are correct. Love*Com is the live adaptation of Aya Nakahara’s manga and anime series, Lovely Complex. The story revolves around Risa Koizumi and Atsushi Otani and the development of what is to be a complex love situation. Risa has always looked at Otani as a friend and nothing more. Likewise can be said of Otani as well, even though they share many things in common and their friends all believe that they would be a perfect pair, nothing more came out of it. That is until that one faithful day on Christmas.
After various circumstances Otani and Risa agreed to attend an ‘Umibozu’ concert on Christmas, prior to Otani’s ex-girlfriend’s request to attend a party with her. When Christmas came, Risa ended up going to the concert alone. As she made her trip to the concert, she was constantly being reminded of the fact that she was alone by the laughing couples around her. Upon reaching the lowest point of her day, she hears a familiar voice shouting out her name, this voice was from no one other than Otani’s. It was on that faithful day that Risa fell in love with the shorty, Otani.
The show continues on with the interactions with the two main characters and before you realize it, it comes to an end. Love*Com was funny but it felt like it was rushing. Scenes that could have had a bit more development in them were passed over, such as, the history behind Otani and his ex-girlfriend. I mean, just watching the weird mood between the two when they see each other screams drama all over. It was hinted that she left him for another guy, but why? Was there a misunderstanding? Because judging from her looks, she did not seem like that type of girl (*shrug*). I would personally want to know as it pertains to the effect it may have had on the personality of a character.
Love*Com’s goofing off scenes are pretty hilarious, such as, their homeroom teacher’s denial over his wigs and the close up break downs of a particular situation. The way that the movie made it zoom in, and took a 360 degrees angle view of a scene, and the freeze frame of how a character is saying their dialogue along with commentary was amusing. It was definitely a glowing point of the show.
The actors and actresses did a great job with their roles. And the music was excellent. Umibozu’s ‘Is This All Right’ was so ridiculous that it was good. The music video of the song made my day. While I really cannot say that Love*Com is for everyone, those who want to see the live adaptation of the manga/anime should be able to enjoy it. The viewers that are looking for more bang for the buck and time would probably want to stay away, as the movie just does not provide anything out of the extraordinary that warrants a cannot miss status.
Breakdown
Love*Com is an enjoyable movie. The comedy associated with the show definitely earned a few laughs from me here and there. It was especially entertaining when I saw how Risa became flustered over how dense Otani was. The story was straight forward and did just enough to get through. The re-watch value is not really high. Personally I would pop the DVD in just to see the Umibozu music video extra as that was just too… Wow.
There have been rumors as of late of monsters wreaking havoc. People’s hearts have been wavering as crime is on the rise. Earthquakes and tsunamis have disturbed the land. The world of Rune Midgard is crying out for a hero. And that hero…sure ain’t Roan that’s for sure.
Review
Not to be confused with Matantei Loki Ragnarok which is an astounding series, Ragnarok the Animation isadapted from the Korean massively multiplayer online role playing game (MMORPG) called Ragnarok Online byMyung-Jin Lee. It is not an animated version of the manga series about Chaos, Iris Irine, Fenris Fenrir, and Loki. The manga is a thousand times better and darker than the anime. Unfortunately, it was never completed. Myung-Jin Lee decided to focus all his attention on the game.
The anime aired originally back in 2004. So it is out of date with the current state of the video game. No expanded classes - Taekwons, Ninjas, Gunslingers, or Super Novices; No new towns - Rachel, Veins, Louyang, Hugel, Umbala, Lighthalzen, Nifflheim, Einbroch, Kunlun, Amatsu, or Ayothaya. They didn’t even ride the airship. No trans classes. No GMs. No homunculus. No War of Emperium (WoE). You used to be able to Dead Branch in towns but not anymore (bummer). 1st class characters could only defeat MVPs back in beta version of the game, 2001. Day/Night system was never put into place. The anime seems to be on a PVP (Player versus Player) server, meaning you can fighter other characters anytime and anywhere.
The US was among the last places for the anime to get localized. It has already been aired on Cartoon Network Brazil and was dubbed into Tagalog in the Philippines.
The official Funimation website is: http://funimation.com/ragnarok/
which features a trailer teaser and avatars of the characters in .zip format. *WARNING* avatar file contains spoilers.
The Breakdown
For fans of the PC video game. I remember anxiously waiting every week for the next new episode. You have to watch Ragnarok the Animation at least once. Expect no second season though. There is a Maple Story anime. You can catch my super novice on the Loki server, Novice Reborn.
Synopsis
Picking up precisely where The Prophecy ends, the new Karas, Otoha, seeks vengeance against the Yakuza that murdered his buddy and almost killed him. Meanwhile the old Karas, Eko, unleashes his wrath and contempt for the final epic battle to save the city and protect the will of the people as Prophecy becomes Revelation!
Review
It has been more than a year since ‘The Prophecy’ was revealed. To be honest, I nearly have forgotten what Karas was mainly about. ‘The Revelation’ also does not help in trying to recover the viewer’s memories of the previous events that took place in the show. When I was watching the first few minutes of the show, I was sitting there trying to grasp anything I can that I faintly remember. I was even pondering if I might have skipped something, maybe another volume before ‘The Revelation.’ Of course, I could not have and within due time things began to make sense again and I was enjoying this piece more than the first.
As we begin this volume, Otoha has lost his Karas powers as Yurine is captured by Eko, and Nue is hurt from a previous battle. What this volume provides is the real background story of both Otoha and Nue. We are revealed why they are the way that they are. Otoha was a part of the Yakuza, not knowing the feeling of pain, he was the perfect killer. I believe the creators did a nice job in showing how Otoha is deep down. We are not given a super hero that is perfect and flawless. Karas is/was human, before he is Karas, he makes mistakes just like other humans and to bring that side of him into light really connects the viewers with the character. As for Nue, he was a supporter of Eko, until both his brother and him realized that with Eko’s vision, both humans and demons will be annihilated. In the lose-lose situation they both rebel with his brother ended up being captured by Eko.
Eko was the city’s Karas for years, protecting humans, why has he turned into what he has? I never understood that aspect until this volume revealed that his sudden obsession for annihilation is due to the greed of humans. Eko grew tired of protecting a city that never learned. And in order for Eko to create a new city, he has to start from zero.
Karas: The Revelation is on a whole new level from Karas: The Prophecy. I was truly astonished from beginning to the end by its lovely visuals; action sequences that push boundaries I never thought were possible and the overall experience the show delivers is just sweet. This piece manages to put you in a hole, making the viewer think to themselves, ‘How is Otoha going to get out of this one?’ and what are the creators going to do to maximize the entertaining factor of the ending? I will not say that I have never been so synced up with an anime before, but in ‘The Revelation’ the acoustics, the animation, and the flow of the show is simply overwhelming. As I was watching this anime, I could not get enough of the action. It was consistent, and was definitely a fun experience to be had.
The Breakdown
Certainly, Manga Entertainment has made us wait for the continuation of Karas, now that it is here, I have to say, I was not disappointed with the results. The show is balanced, the sounds are effective and forces you to pay attention to what is going on in the scenes. The music score is amazing as it was in the first volume. And as I have stated previously, the animation is superb, with the varying use of chase scenes and head to head battle scenes. What this volume has that the first did not have is the meat of the Karas story. If you were one of those viewers that did not really comprehend the things that were going on in ‘The Prophecy,’ you will see the light with ‘The Revelation.’ And if you knew where everything was from the start, you will definitely love how the show plays out in the end. I applaud Manga Entertainment for bringing such a great show to the States and while it took a long time, the finished product is what really matters.
Well, you can’t blame Najimi who is an everyday student struggling to earn a buck. She just got fired from her previous job and needs a new source of income. Her friend offers to pay Najimi to help sell doujin. Najimi soon realizes there’s a fortune to be made and sets her sights on becoming a doujin artist. And thus begins the story.
Review
Welcome to the wonderful world of doujinshi. Doujins are unofficial, self-published, amateur work that comprises of Japanese H-manga and computer games. For every popular anime and video game series in existence, there is a fan doujin spin off that explores possibilities that didn’t actually occur in the plotline. Pairings such as Ichigo x Yoruichi (Bleach bath scene) and Yaoi matchups Kaiba x Yami Yugi (Yugioh!), Naruto’s Kakashi without his mask appearing as a Bishen, and Pokemon…you don’t want to know.
Doujin Work is based off the manga by Hiroyuki. The mini-series is 12 episodes long. Each episode is 14 minutes including the opening and ending. The official anime website is http://www.doujin.tv/.
