Shmupmeet 2012: Midwest is the Best

Another successful shmupmeet with the denizens of the shmups.com forum has come and went. Another big thanks to caldwert for his hospitality, snacks and massive collection of games, cabinets, pinball machines and a billion NEC XM29 Plus monitors. Played like shit in almost every game, per usual. I guess my approach of not practicing and hoping to magically get better isn't really working. Might have to change my methods up a bit, I guess. Also, it has been further embedded into my skull that I need to purchase some sort of Japanese candy cabinet as soon as possible. And buy a bunch of arcade PCBs. Imperative.

The playfield. Near impossible to get everything in the shot. Another monitor lies behind me with a U.S. TurboDuo and an NES hooked up. On the first monitor we had a PC-Engine Duo-R hooked up, as well as a model 1 Sega Genesis. Download 2, Spriggan, Gleylancer, Magical Chase, and a handful of others were played. Never had gotten around to playing Gleylancer before. Damned good stuff. On the next monitor--an NEC XM37 I believe; correct me if I'm wrong--we had a supergun hooked up to play PCBs. Replaying Gigawing on the actually CPSII board really affirmed my love for that game, further establishing my adoration for Capcom during their CPSII run. Blackheart also made a showing, which was quite unexpected, yet I sadly got a chance to play it this time. Later in our arcade marathon vigil we experienced the lack of sleep stupor that sets in after staring at monitors for 12 hours straight, resulting in a somnambulant-like outing of bizarre arcade games from the depths of caldwert's basement. Heated Barrel, a lost title from the equally enigmatic TAD corporation, stole the show and won the hearts of all. Or whatever. What was aptly described as a "horizontal Gun.Smoke" lasted what felt like a lifetime, yet was quite joyful to watch. Playfully racist (uh...), yet brightly colorful with cowboy ghosts, pot-bellied Native Americans and pink bears as enemies; complete with an impossible last boss with almost every attack completely unavoidable and full of damage. Also played was a Japanese Gauntlet clone (the name escapes me) and Psycho-Nics Oscar, a sort of inspiration for Turrican with a Gradius-like power-up system. On the far monitor we had a Japanese Xbox 360 hooked up that primarily played all the vertical Cave release: Ketsui, Mushihimesama-Futari, Mushihimesama HD, Pink Sweets, Muchi-Muchi Pork!, DFK, etc.

The wall of rape: Raiden DX and Same! Same! Same! (lit. Shark! Shark! Shark!), known as Fire Shark in the U.S.. Both games proved that I am a sick bastard and a masochist, for I kept coming back for more. Same! literally depressed me later in the night, yet I've thought about the game for the past couple of days. It's like some nasty hooker that gave me the clap that I keep going back to. Raiden DX is almost just as brutal and I still feel the pain. Damned good stuff, though.

Lil' baby Neo cab kinda made me envious and slightly inclined to exchange such a thing for my hulking brute of a wooden cabinet with dented corners, missing paint and slightly unbalanced. Shown here is the fantastic Shock Troopers, which is easily one of my favorite games on the MVS--that I still don't own for some stupid reason. Blazing Star, Sengoku 3, Aero Fighters 2, and an MVS conversion of Ironclad were a few of the games played.

Whirlwind and Rollersgames, two of the pinball machines in the back corner. Whirlwind is a pretty neat machine. I spent some time on it later in the evening and got my ass thoroughly kicked. I think I'm starting to pick up a theme here. Whirlwind was especially neat, for at certain parts of the game the fan on the top of the machine blows a bunch of pungent air into your face and makes you feel like Bill Paxton in Twister.

Earthshaker, a game that literally rumbled the floor with its earthquake theme. A pretty frantic, neat machine that I didn't have the chance to play but a time or two. It kept scaring the shit out of me when I was playing Sengoku 3 behind it.

Diner was probably the pinball machine I spent the most time on and enjoyed the most. It gave us some grief earlier on in the day but was eventually fixed. Believe it or not, but I sucked at this, too.

Shown here is friend and user drunkninja being his photogenic self, this time with the cabs running Armed Police Batrider on the left and DoDonPachi on the right. Batrider is really a game I'd like to get better at, as well as Battle Garegga, another phenomenal game by 8ing/Raizing. I figured if anything playing DoDonPachi again on an actually PCB would boost my confidence a bit after all the rapeage, as I usually can do quite well on a credit--well, relatively speaking, that is. I don't even want to talk about how bad I did. I, uh...need some practice.

There is plenty more to be said and I wish I would have taken some more pictures, but aye, it's too late for that and I've got chicken in the oven and a fat cat in front of the computer screen. Damned good time and a great group of guys. Hope to do it again soon! Maybe I can actually practice for this next one...

Losing Friends? Kentaro Miura

At some point in life we usually lose friends. It could be of your own volition, an argument, a love triangle (Kimagure...)  or simply from the passage of time. Sometimes it's for the best. Sometimes it hurts. Sometimes it pisses you off.

Enough cheese. I'm full anyway. I'll probably get some grief from this, but so be it; I should be used to it by now. Complaining about new things? Ho, hum. So is the Anachronistic Otaku.

I've been reading Kentaro Miura's Berserk for a hefty number of years now. I'm a colossal fan of all things fantasy--especially dark and low fantasy, with a heavy emphasis on sword & sorcery. It's a damned shame there isn't much of the stuff out there, really. The market is clouded with Tolkien-esque high fantasy with clearly defined morals, motives, oppositions and optimism. When I think of medieval and the dark ages--hint, dark ages--I think of depression, death, and questionable morals amongst a somber backdrop of an ever growing portentous storm, lost hope and the struggle to survive. Eh, maybe it's my cynicism jutting out through my misanthropy, but that's the way I would envision such a time, dammit. Oh, and it's not absolutely imperative, but a tinge of military fiction can also add nicely to such a tale. The genre is really lacking. It's all Robert Jordan, Fable, World of Warcraft and recently fractured fairy tales like Snow White and the Huntsman or whatever. We've got some real gems like Blizzard's Diablo and Diablo II (don't get me started on III), pre-Halo Bungie's Myth: The Fallen Lords series (R.I.P.), Glen Cook's The Black Company books and of course Robert E. Howard's Conan the Cimmerian, amongst many others. I've still yet to read Game of Thrones, but I hear good things. So I'll leave that alone. Point is: there isn't much dark fantasy out there. But then there was Berserk.

Sorry. As I was saying, Kentaro Miura's Berserk is a phenomenal example of low, dark fantasy with an emphasis on military training and strategy. The first--and considerably the best--story arc of Berserk is a tale of the aforementioned dreary, solemn world of a mercenary and his personal struggles. It's graphic, gory, depressing and yet, hopeful. Ambiguous morals and motives, angst, and the struggle to find what one yearns to obtain and make of their life haunts the cast of the Band of the White Hawk Mercenary group, told primarily through the eyes of the main character Guts.

At least it was like that. Continuing stories usually change, especially when they've been going on over a decade; I know and understand that. Change can be good. Berserk doesn't stick throughout with it's dark mercenary theme. Some characters die, or are seldom seen, but the change of pace was good and I welcomed it. I earnestly enjoyed it, if anything. A change of pace, yet not a complete departure from the initial storyline. Additional characters were original and interesting and even added an element of humor the story. In such a story I would prefer minimal humor at best, and while the newly implemented humor wasn't always congruous, it never interrupted the story and was only a minor deterrent. The humor became more and more prevalent over the years, but me, being my bitter self that I am, somehow learned to get over it--and hell, even sorta liked it sometimes. Miura was pushing me a bit but I pushed back. It was fun. Almost kinda cute. Such audacity won't always remain so innocent. Like a puppy turning into a big, nasty dog that knocks over your lamp with its tail and tears up the mail and shits in the floor. Kentaro Miura shit on my floor.

Fast forward to now--the present, or more importantly October 11th, 2011. Berserk vol. 35 is released by Dark Horse publishing. It's June 11, 2012 now. I still haven't finished it.

I can't. It's so bad. It's embarrassing; not only for Miura, but for me to read such drivel. I feel like I've stumbled into Barnes & Noble to plop my clod on the manga aisle to read the latest volume of Naruto or Bleach because I don't want to pay for it because I'm lethargic and awkard and lost my 18 hour a week job at Denny's because I didn't want to go into work. It's horrendous. The whole damn volume is tripe. I've been lying to myself over the past few volumes that it wasn't going downhill. Miura could pull ahead, right? Yeah! It's just a slump! Pretty soon Guts will go back to slaying demons and being cool and things will be evil again! Volume 34 picked up the pace a bit and almost restored a glimmer of hope for the manga. That was until Miura practically copy-and-pasted Dutch painter Hieronymus Bosch's The Garden of Earthly Delights as his portrait of hell. How can you go through an entire 33 volumes of manga, fabricating your own unique and immense world, only to blatantly plagiarize a world famous painting and simultaneously languish the work you created? Obviously one would assume Miura used the painting as a reference--but why? I'm obviously a fan of references shown my past posts, but such a thing should be done subtly and not at a climax of a 20 year story. I'm not giving anything away by spoiling such a thing, but yes, it's at a very pivotal part of the story. One Miura may not even finish at this pace...

Volume 35 of Berserk is nothing but comedy. Guts spouts out one-liners now. One character, an elf named Puck, is perpetually stuck in an SD (Super deformed) mode since about 8 books back or so. Sometimes he turns into Yoda from Star Wars or Napoleon Bonaparte or some other silly caricature. Another child character constantly picks on a witch character. She shoots spells at him and burns him and makes him cry with exaggerated tears and smolder marks. Her elf flirts and dances with the other elf. Everyone is children. It's a bundle of fun. Guts and his merry band of children are currently fighting silly undead pirates, complete with such golden dialogue as "shiver me timbers". It's absolutely dreadful.

I feel hurt, betrayed. It's like I've lost a great friend. I've dedicated many hours to Kentaro Miura's world. I got lost in it. I fell in love in it. Almost 35 volumes of getting attached to characters and caring for them and their struggle and anticipating what would happen next. Now I almost don't care. Berserk used to stand out for me; I trusted it. I guess people go soft in their old age. Or just senile. Whatever it is, Kentaro, please come back soon.

The World of Nausicaa Look-alikes Pt. 1

By now it's blatantly obvious of my inordinate adoration for Nausicaa. I haven't completely worn the idea into the ground just yet, so there's plenty of time to still do that. But you could read something like that elsewhere, for I'm sure the hordes of Miyazaki zealots are plentiful. If anything, the damned tattoo is going to say it better than words, so I won't clutter this blog up with something that easily exists in droves. I like to keep it fresh. Like my vegetable bin or some fresh laundry. Or seldom talked about anime. Something like that.

Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind was, and is, obviously influential in the otaku world, both in its original manga format and the film adaptation of the same name. Most immensely popular media goes on to to inspire and influence other works, be it in theme, character design and motivation, setting or flagrant imitation. Throughout the years I've noticed some female characters through various forms of entertainment that looked an awful lot like the red-haired Gaian beauty. Some are subtle, having few similarities but a small shoulder clinging companion; others, not so much, with more than a few "coincidental" features. I'm here only to discuss fun little bits of discernment, so don't expect much critiquing or adverse reactions towards such creations. Hell, I'm sure if I were to ever make a damned story it'd probably pay more than a slight homage. Ah, such is the draw of Nausicaa.

• Yellow Iris, Battle Circuit

 Diana Martines, or Yellow Iris, is from the excellent Capcom Beat'em up Battle Circuit for the CPSII arcade hardware. Tons of great games on the CPSII, including Street Fighter II, Progear, Darkstalkers, Dungeons and Dragons, and loads more. Capcom easily made some of the best arcade games along with the Neo Geo in the mid-90s. That's an entirely different blog post, though, so I digress per usual and all that nonsense.

At first glance Yellow Iris doesn't have a whole lot in common with our subject lady except for her red hair, which is obviously much longer than Nausicaa's. Closer inspection, however, shows a small, furry creature nestled on her shoulder amid her hair. Teto? Pretty damn close, save for a different pattern of brown stripes on its forehead. Also, Yellow Iris herself is almost like an anthropomorphic fox-squirrel, or at least some sort of human hybrid. Just look at those ears. Anyhow, it's obvious that her companion 'Fin' was obviously inspired by Teto, but that's about all she really has in common. It's a marvelous game from Capcom's prime, and kind of a hidden gem of sorts. You should probably play it.

• Marin, Windaria

Having recently watched Windaria and admiring Marin throughout the film prompted me to make this list in the first place. She's a fairly conspicuous nod, if not just downright blatant, really. Mutsumi Inomata at least still gives both Marin and her companion a fresh look with her unique style, regardless of the obvious similarities. I'm a sucker for those big eyes that she draws so well. Red hair and a squirrel-like shoulder mount may look a bit uninspired, but I'd be lying if she wasn't one of the cutest damned characters I've seen in quite some time. But you'll just be too depressed by the end of the film anyway to appreciate such beauty with tears in your eyes and all that.

•  Lady Clarisse d'Cagliostro, Lupin the Third: The Castle of the Cagliostro

Hold it! Before anyone jumps down my throat: yes, I'm aware this film was made before anything Nausicaa. If anything, Lady Clarisse is a sort of proto-Nausicaa, for it's pretty obvious the route Miyazaki took when creating her, especially when looking back at his more raw, primitive concept art. Another interesting similarity between Clarisse and Nausicaa is the fact that they were both actually voiced by the same actress, Sumi Shimamoto, who would later go on to play Kyoko Otonashi of Maison Ikkoku. Nausicaa has brown eyes and a more mature look about her, but the similarities are quite obvious.

• Tia, Balthus: Tia's Radiance

 Oh boy. I'm only putting Tia on the list for her obvious Ghibli inspired art style and the fox-squirrel companions parked on her shoulder, which never even happens outside of the cover art. If anything, Balthus: Tia's Radiance is a condensed, abridged version of Castle in the Sky with some hentai thrown in. I don't really understand why this was made. Well, I obviously know it was to cash in off the success of the film, but the film is quite the enigma, really. It's a 30 minute OVA with a little hentai at the beginning with a nameless character, with another short scene about half into the movie. Otherwise it's a few panty and cleavage shots scattered throughout. The animation, voice acting and music is all quite good, despite the obvious stolen Ghibli art. It's like they almost tried to make a legitimate anime but didn't have enough time or money, and instead resulted with a complete inane mess of insipid storytelling and lackluster sex scenes. It's quite boring, really, and nothing really happens, making it fairly hard to recommend. Damn shame and a misuse of talent.

I know there are more Nausicaa clones out there amid the mass amount of anime, manga and videogames, and I'm almost certain I had at least one more I was going to put on this list. I'll conclude this for now, and am fairly certain there will be a part two. Have YOU seen any Nausicaas lately? Let me know if you strike paydirt; I pay good money. I almost put Rall on here from Cream Lemon, but I didn't think flying on a mehve thingy and having a talking companion that occasionally rode on her shoulder should count. Til next time.

My Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind Tattoo. Finally.

I've been meaning to do this for many months now, as I wrote I would...many months ago. I apologize for the awful Kodak disposalable camera looking image, for if you didn't know, taking a picture of the broad side of one arm with the other arm is damned near impossible. Took me well over thirty minutes just to take this blurry mess. Better than nothing, I do suppose. The shit picture can't display the vibrant blues or her fiery red hair that my artist did a fantastic job on. I mentioned before, but it's taken from one of Miyazaki's watercolor impressions. Maybe someday I'll get a more sufficient picture of her on here, for she obviously deserves better than an awkward mirror shot in my dimly lit bathroom. Who knows, maybe Kei and Yuri will finally join her this year...? Oh, It'll happen. Obviously.

Fun With References: Windaria; The Downfall of Kunihiko Yuyama

Awhile back I mentioned a phenomenal film I'd recently seen, Leda: The Fantastic Adventures of Yohko, and how much I adored it; I also mentioned that I love references and that they make me all giddy inside and whatnot. I recently spotted another little reference that happened to make me smile, which happens to be another film directed by Kunihiko Yuyama, as well as character designs by the great Mutsumi Inomata. Inomata worked as both a character designer and an animation director, with work in such notable series as City Hunter, Urusei Yatsura and Magical Princess Minky Momo. I still can't believe that the original Minky Momo material remains un-translated, both in manga and anime form; but that's another story altogether, so I digress--and get back on topic. Anyhow, the film at hand here is Windaria, or, the butchered and edited localization title, Once Upon a Time. Actually, the original Japanese title isn't just Windaria, but Legend of Fabulous Battle Windaria, although that title is usually shortened. It's a beautiful, eerie, and stunningly animated film in the same vein of Leda. Oh, and speaking of Leda, that's where today's reference comes from!

See that dog with the red bandana riding on that hover bike with Leda? He talks. And floats. And doesn't know what a walkman player is. But that's okay, because he's Leda's sidekick, Lingum in that superb film. Go watch it--after you finish reading my rubbish blog, that is!

Lingum shows up in a few different frames throughout Windaria, most notably at the very beginning. He sadly isn't pseudo-anthropomorphic or has the ability to hover or talk, but instead acts as a normal, lethargic canine. I'm not quite sure if I ever caught Leda herself amongst the crowd in Windaria, but I wouldn't rule it out, especially since a certain Princess in the film shares a good deal of resemblances.

Windaria is an incredible piece of animation. I really can't express my infatuation for both of the aforementioned films, and especially couldn't provide eloquent prose at this damned hour to justify such a claim. I reckon such a thing may happen in the near future, but I certainly even doubt my own listless nature and procrastination. I blame the large list of things I need to watch. Clearly a good excuse. I did want to talk about something else, though: what the hell happened to Kunihiko Yuyama? I don't understand how you can make such fluid, beautifully crafted animation that stands out amongst most theatrical films of the time and just quit, only to make countless Pokemon specials, mediocre hentai and the completely superfluous Kimagure Orange Road: Summer's Beginning. I just hate seeing directors go into film purgatory, especially if it's self made. It's like John Carpenter or George Romero or Martin Scorsese or blah blah blah; you get the point. It's just sad, really. I guess this is the dilemma of the Anachronistic Otaku.

Devil Hunter Yohko and Fun References!

While watching Devil Hunter Yohko OVA 2 the other day, I noticed a few subtle, yet accurate things that made me all tingly and giddy inside. Yes, references. References make me so happy; it's kinda hard, yet almost embarrassingly awkward to explain: I like...the things I like, so I like to see them in daily life and other things; thus, it makes me happy! I probably reference Fist of the North Star and something Robert E. Howard related--usually Crom--every day. So, when a hobby of mine references another--BAM! Instant gratification! It's like Megazone 23 referencing Walter Hill and Gradius, or even something as simple as Crusher Joe having a cameo from Dirty Pair, or everything ever in the Parodius! series. Things I love, combined with things I love--what's not to love! Oh, yes. Yes. Neurotic fun. Also, it's like another aforementioned drunken entry about Lupin the 3rd with a Helloween reference! Bahahahahaha. Life.

My Japanese is slowly getting better, but it'd be hard for me to miss the Ranma 1/2 spine anywhere, regardless of a 2 second establishing shot or otherwise. Upon closer inspection, though, it looks like they cleverly made it Ranma 1/3! Not really clever, yeah...but I liked it. Hard for me to read anything else on the spines, really, but it's obvious to note the Godzilla book and some sort of "OVA Film Story" book among the others. Highly doubtful anyone reads this trash, but if ya do, a translation would be highly appreciated! Could ask some overseas buddies but I probably bother them enough as it is through YahooJP auctions and such.

This wonderful shot of Yohko in her room inspired me to do this whole bit. I immediately noticed the PC-Engine--Duo-R, even!--and had to pause the screen. I'm a silly fanboy for all things PC-Engine, and while I know the PC-Engine did quite well in Japan--compared to our Turbografx-16, especially--it was still quite a site to see the Duo-R in all it's animated glory! Closer inspection also shows that it was accurately drawn, containing both a 4-player multi-tap as well as an accurate 2-button controller! Also, importantly noted is the accurate renditions of a Super-Famicom and a Mega-drive, as well as even a Neo-Geo Pocket and Atari-Lynx! How fantastic! I mean, this screenshot pretty much sums up my life: anime babez and retro video games; it doesn't get much better than that. References, people! Ooooooooooh, I'm giddy for such. Might be some interesting things still in this cap that I can't tell, so once again, anyone who can add, please do! Might especially be missing out on the magazine, but I cannot tell. Such detail! Even the AC adapter can be seen plugged into the switch! Yes.

Also, I guess I should note that a new figure of Leda from Leda: The Fantastic Adventures of Yohko is up for pre-order! I almost shat my damn pants when I first saw the news, but sadly, I probably won't be getting it. The price is a bit much for my broke ass, but that probably wouldn't stop me, regardless. I dunno; the figure is pretty small for the price, but man, the pose is all sorts of wrong. I kinda hate it. The sculpt is good, mind you, but the pose--it's awkward! I'm all for bishojo figures and such, but it really seems like they cut size to make an "affordable" figure of her kneeling, which really just doesn't fit the character at all or any of the concept art, even. It just doesn't appeal to me, at least for that price. I can't imagine such a figure would sell well, and if it ever goes halfsies, then maybe I'll pick it up. It really is a nice sculpt, but I just feel they could have done a much better job with the pose; regardless, I'm surprised they even made a damn Leda figure! To my knowledge, the only other figure in existence was an old garage kit that looked vaguely similar to her. So yeah, can't complain--but I did. I'll probably still fuckin' buy it.

Got a new Sega Genesis RGB cable from a buddy on the interwebs. Time to go play some glorious Wings of Wor on a beautiful CRT!

Thank you, Go Nagai

Shitty picture in my poorly lit room. I didn't realize I had like 60 dollars sitting there until it was too late. Conspicuous consumption or an innocent mistake? YOU DECIDE. Ice Princess Yukiko-Hime from Go Nagai's Dororon Enma-kun. I guess the figure was intentionally sculpted to represent the anime revamp Dororon Enma-kun Meeramera, but whatever; I needed it. She looks a bit younger in the face but--er...not in the body, compared to the original manga. Of course since it's Nagai and Yukiko strips/loses her kimono in every panel the clothes can be taken off in typical Japanese PVC figures of animated hotties fashion. Damn thing essentially came nude in the box and made me feel like a voyeur peeking through her cellophane window packaging. I guess my morality and integrity were reinstated when I put the clothes properly on her after completely opening the packaging. The clothes themselves are probably my only grievance with the figure; putting them correctly on without breaking--I did once--the fragile plastic was about as nerve wrecking as The Wages of Fear, or less dramatically, Nicolas cage putting the green poison ball/sphere clusters inside those missiles in The Rock. Or whatever. It was scary and tense and slightly perverted. Overall I'm extremely happy with it and can't stop oogling at it.

I love you, Go Nagai.