Death Note

Death, a series made by Tsugumi Ohba, focuses on a death god named Ryuk, a student named Light Yagami, and the world foremost detective, L. Ryuk, on an impulse of boredom, drops his "death note" into the human world where it is found by Light. The death note has a peculiar characteristic: anyone whose name is written in its pages will die. Discovering this, Light goes on a righteous crusade to cleanse the world of all evil doers under the guise of "the god of justice, Kira." In the process, he crosses fates with L, who will stop at nothing to see that identity behind "Kira" is brought to true justice.

Of all the anime in my dossier, this is one I'd recommend to anyone, especially those who perhaps aren't familiar with some of the more outlandish aspects of anime. Death Note is founded in the modern day real world, and is all about cat and mouse, strategy and tactics. Conan Doyle would be proud of this series.

Riot Games Impose Restrictions on LoL Streamers

Recently it's come to public attention that Riot Games is now going to impose restrictions on players who stream League of Legends on websites like Twitch.tv. These restriction include playing a series of specific games while simultaneously playing League. The cause for this rather odd restriction (as it lists several games from specific developers) is unknown, and is quite the annoyance for streamers. At the pro-level, League of Legends players have to wait for several minutes before they can get placed into a match. During this time they play other games that have quick match times.

A list of restrictions can be found below.

Abridged Series -- Attack on Titan

Team Four Star makes some of the best abridged series on the interweb, and that stands true with their new series, "Attack on Titan Abridged." On it's own Attack on Titan is a dark, serious series that leaves very little room for humor. Team Four Star does a wonderful job interweaving humor at every turn, either by altering character's voices or personalities. The timing of every scene is perfect with the humor, which while a bit dull in comparison to their normal shtick, it actually get's funnier the more you watch it. I wasn't exactly cracking up the first time I saw it, but after a couple rounds, I was rolling on the floor!

Abridged Series -- Dragon Ball Z

I think it's safe to say we all know what Dragon Ball Z is, but not many can say we know what "abridged" means. In regards to a TV show, it's usually a re-dubbing in an effort to make the series more humorous while still following the main storyline. One of the best parts of this particular abridged series is its brand name. The abridged series below is make by Team Four Star, a group of YouTubers who all participate to make these kind of episodes. Their humor is often subtle hard to get, but when you do, you'll laugh your butt off. 

I've never actually watched the original DBZ series, only the TFS version. And now, having watched said version, I can't stand the humorlessness of the original. Rather, having watched only a little of the same scenes in the original as I have in the abridged, I feel the characters are sometimes portrayed much better than they are in the original. 

Regardless of how well characters are portrayed, you will no doubt love the humor!

Megamind

I'm not sure what it is about Megamind I liked... Maybe its the simplicity with which Megamind is portrayed, or maybe the ironic theme of the movie, or maybe just the ease with which you fall in love the characters, Megamind entertained me from start to finish, even if the story line was predictable and unoriginal. But I feel that only adds to its repertoire; if a movie I can easily predict, understand, and discern can still entertain me, then it's done an amazing job.

Whats more, the casting choices for Will Ferrell as Megamind, Brad Pitt as Metro Man, Tiny Fey as Roxanne were PERFECT, and I can easily say I wouldn't have enjoyed the movie had it been anyone else. They completely sold their characters.

Atlantis the Lost Empire

Of all the Disney movies I grew up with as a kid, Atlantis the Lost Empire was easily, hands down, the one I watched the most. It had intrigue, actions, romance, and all that wonderful stuff. But I think the thing I liked the most was the kind of culture conflict that took place at the end of the movie: like when the Atlantians use their ancient weapons against conventional weaponry. But the thing that I think sold it was the incredible characterization that was put into the film. All the characters had unique traits that distinguished them from the others, and made you recognize them immediately whenever you saw them.

Though not the oldest or most "classical" Disney film, it is by and far my favorite of their animated films.

CCP's PLEX for the Philippines -- Part 2

As I stated before in the previous part of CCP's Plex for the Philippines, the goal of the event was to raise money for the Philippines  by asking their community to donate PLEX, an in game item that has a real-world value. At the closing of the stream, several events happened that I'd like to note:

The total ammount of money donated was $185,175.
The amount of PLEX donated was 12,345.

• Wax the number "50" into CCP Dolan's chest (complete)
• Dev interview AMA with CCP Guard (complete)
• Danger game starts (complete)
• CCP Explorer vs CCP Heimdall - dev boxing (complete)
• Danger game continues (complete)
• Interview with Red Cross personnel (complete)
• CCP Guard fights a Tae Kwon Do medalist (complete)
• Dev interview AMA with CCP Veritas (complete)
• Developer cook off (complete)
• CCP Guard vs CCP Dolan - dev boxing (complete)
• Lesson with UFC fighter Gunnar Nelson (complete)
• Shave CCP Gargant's head (complete)
• Dev roam (complete)
• Charity auction – Items to be announced on stream (complete)
• Honorable mention of community pledges (complete)
• Icelandic sampler – Traditional Icelandic food tasted by everyone (complete)
• Developer DUST match (complete)
• Shoot CCP Dolan with pain(t)balls (complete)
• Shave CCP Mimic's head

Stream population was at a steady 3,000 viewers throughout the day.

I really enjoyed the stream, not only because I'm a consumer of CCP's products and I want to support them, but because I genuinly found it entertaining, and although I had no PLEX to donate, I whole-heartedly support them in what they're doing. The effort put into the stream was genuine and well worth it. Maybe they'll put some vids up on Youtube.

CCP's PLEX for the Philippines -- Part 1

On December 7th, 2013, Crowd Control Productions (CPP) makers of EVE Online and DUST 514 hosted a "PLEX for the Philippines" event on twitch.tv/ccp.

EVE Online, a unique MMO that is infamous for its harsh learning curve and unforgiving community, uses a unique system known as "PLEX" or "Pilot's License EXtension." PLEX is an in-game item that can be purchased for in game cash, and when used, adds 30 days of free game time to your account. In a way it a allows you to play for free, if you can afford them.

To donate, you can donate PLEX items directly to CCP. Chribba, an influential player in EVE Online and major trader, donated over 3,000 PLEX to the fund, totally a real world value of $48,000, and an in-game value of 1,800,000,000 (One trillion, eight hundred million) ISK. On a good day, you can make 100 million an hour playing the game.

As of right now CCP has raised $181,710 in donation money (12,114 PLEX)

http://www.twitch.tv/ccp

(CCP live streaming their game, DUST 514, while more donations come in.)

It seems to be getting worse..

You know what I'm talking about. Every year the tradition is that you don't start playing Christmas music until after Thanksgiving. And yet, weeks before Thanksgiving even rolls around, I'm not only hearing Christmas music, but also seeing Christmas commercials, Christmas ads, and everyone is preparing their shopping plan for Black Friday the day after you're supposed to celebrate being thankful for what you have. But that's another story...

Christmas...

Christmas what are you doing?

Christmas...

Stahp...

Pacific Rim

Pacific Rim is, simply put, a movie about giant robots fighting giant aliens. If you ever wondered what Gundams on roids would to inbred cousins of Godzilla, well here you go. Although directed by Guillermo del Toro (who has a very strong connections to digital animation films like Puss in Boots and Megamind, as well as a writer for The Hobbit trilogy), the story at a critical glance has very little actual storyline in it. And it almost seems that this might have been intentional. 

How do you make a movie about giant robots (a foreign aspect in western films save Transformers, but let's face it, those aren't real movies) fighting giant aliens and make it into a believable world with storyline and character progression? Well, some might argue that it would take lots of work and make the movie into an epic. 

Guillermo del Toro seems to have chosen neither. During the whole movie, only two characters seem to make any sort of character changes, and only in narrow points of the movie. For the most part, their characters are already established and they remain that way for the entire movie. There are also gaping flaws in both storyline and realism in the movie (like how a scientist somehow managed to create a working mind-linking machine from the ruble of Tokyo city, during an attack that only last about fifteen minutes) and some decisions by the characters are so out of place that those decisions seem to be forced in there to progress plot (like how the world governments cut funding from the arguably successful Jaeger program to fun the Wall of Life project). But is this necessarily a bad thing?

At the end of the day, as one internet commentator "Total Biscuit" stated, "At the end of the day, I'm watching a movie about giant stompy robots."

Another commentator, "Angry Joe," simply states, "if you go into this movie with the expectations that you're going to see robots fighting Kaijus, and that's going to be the best part of the movie, you're going to love the s*** out of it."

(Angry Joe and friends discussing Pacific Rim. NO SPOILERS ver.)

Admittedly, I could see where the movie is severely lacking, but the fact that I knew beforehand that the movie lacked in those respects, and that the movie was all about the robots vs. aliens angle, I was able to enjoy it extremely. 

Then again, I am notoriously easy to please when it comes to sci-fi movies. But it begs the question; is moving away from basic story telling elements necessarily a bad thing? As far as I see, Pacific Rim says "no" and says it right.

Giant Robots Make Excellent Ninjas...?

Having just recently watched The Iron Giant (and having not fully watched it since probably a decade prior) I enjoyed the animation style and the simplistic designs of the Giant. If I were to compare the animation to another movie, I would use the Disney movie Atlantis which came out several years after, and as far as I remember was the most beautiful art style I'd seen in my life.

However, one massive flaw (or element currently lacking in current media culture) in the movie is that though the Giant is, as would be expected, a massive stompy robot, he is capable of becoming completely invisible to the world. For example, when agent Kent Mansley gets into his car after investigating the destroyed substation, half of his car has been eaten.

But how is that possible? Surely he would have heard (and likely felt the tremors of) the Giant moving over to his car, picking it up, biting out of it, putting it back down, and then walking away. What's more, it does this a second time when it returns to finish the rest of the car

Considering the fact that no person Kent interviews, and even the protagonist Hogarth himself didn't notice the heavy footfalls of the giant, nor the sounds of his consuming various metal objects, we can propose the following theories.

The Giant has a stealth field generator: It seems that when the Giant isn't being looked for, it's impossible to see, so it's very possible that the Giant is capable of cloaking itself, rendering it invisible to the naked eye.

The Giant is capable of levitation, unlike his rocket-propelled flight systems: Its very possible that the Giant has, on the bottom of his feet, repulsers that use a form of anti-magnetic waves that reverse the polarity of the base electromagnetic atmosphere to levitate his body above the ground. Naturally, this would be impossible given his size, as the necessary powersource to lift such a heavy object would be too large for his chassis.However, it's easily plausible that he uses a smaller system to simply lighten his footfalls to the point of inaudibility.

The Giant was subconsciously affected by TV and radio: on atmospheric entry, is possible the giant antenna in the Giant's head picked up the various radio and TV signal waves as he traveled across the atmosphere. In the process, the Giant studied the arts of ninjas, spies, criminals, and professionals, and that information was stored in his databanks, and this knowledge was use subconsciously during his bout with amnesia.

The Giant has a temporal field generator: time around the giant is warped. It would make sense that when active, all those around the Giant experience their time normally, but in reality are actually moving slower, allowing the Giant what might otherwise seem like an unnatural stealthiness and speed.

The question remains though, "Are any of them true?"

Heck if I know.

Quiz Blog

Dog With a Cat Inside was, in my opinion, a very powerful film that shows a cardboard dog with a cat, drawn on his body. This cat is, however, just as alive as the dog. I feel as though this a great way of explaining that we as humans might look one way,but there is something else inside us that is so different from what we want, or how we want to be seen. In one scene the cat scratches at the dog and rips a part of his body, angering him. What we have inside is often so different from ourselves, it hurts us emotionally, or sometimes compels us to hurt ourselves physically too. But just like at the end of the film, the dog with the cat inside finds a friend in a cat with a dog inside.

For me I feel like this film is telling us that though we might be weird, or different, there are other weird or different people out there that are jus like you, and who want to be friends with you. They understand you. And in the end, understanding someone, truly, is what we're called to do as Christians.

Kuroko no Basket (Kuroko's Basketball)

I've never been much of a sports person. I mean, I like them and all, but playing them has never interested me, though I can easily attribute that to coaches who cared too much about winning and less about giving each players equal time on the field (or time at all in my case). However, there's not been a single thing in my life that's inspired me to play sports, basketball particularly than the anime Kuroko no Basket.

The story follows one of the six players of a legendary middleschool basket ball team called the Generation of Miracles. Each of them has a unique ability that allows them to excel on the court. One of those people is Shintaro Midorima (middle), point guard for Shutoku High, and the greatest shooter in the series.

Now let me again iterate I had absolutely no desire to play basketball again until I watched this anime, or more particularly, the characters in it. Each on has their bad qualities, along with their good. Midorima is, in my opinion someone I'd most want to be like, if I could be like anyone from the show. He's calm, cool, collected, skilled, a little bit eccentric (which I've already got in the bag). He's also capable of swooshing it from half and full court. Skill and calculating calm. Inspiration comes in many forms, and for me, it mostly comes in the form of animations. When one makes even something we know is fake believable, it becomes so much more than fiction. It becomes an aspiration. 

For me, that aspiration is to be what I know I cannot become, but will no less spend the rest of my life trying to reach.

2D or 3D... or maybe Both?

Riot games recently released a trailer for an upcoming champion for their world-famous game League of Legends. For those who don't know, each champion is unique, with their own backgrounds and personalities. Several months ago, RIot released a champion named VI with an intro theme sung by her voice actor actor. 

This however was not the first time this is done. Before VI's intro theme was the very excellent intro theme for Diana. 

IF YOU WATCH NOTHING ELSE IN THIS POST
WATCH THIS.

If you've just finished watching either movie, or are perhaps still watching, You might notice the way they animate the normally still pictures by distorting the perspectives of the various image layers. This is something they do for all current champions. However, Riot has previously dipped their hands in 3D animation for cinematics in the form of their Season 1 and 2 trailers, as well as their "Twist of Fate" promotional video.

Unlike those movies however, the recently released "Get Jinxed" champion promotional includes all three of these various art aspects. Excellent music, 3D animation, and surprisingly, 2D animation as well. One might imagine that this would put the two styles at odds with each other, however that's not the case.

Surprisingly, the animation fits very well with Jinx, the upcoming champion displayed in the movie above. Her apparent abandon of chaos and destruction seems to give the conflicting art styles a home with each other, and makes them blend. Moreover, the two styles bring their own flavor to the movie. The 3D makes her seem more real, and alive than if she were drawn, while the 2D makes everything seem more frantic, bright, and sudden, like bullets impacting concrete, or explosions ricocheting from building to building.

I've not seen much artwork like this before in my life, save for the fluid mix that was displayed in the Hot Wheels: Highway 35 movie. I'll be honest, I'm in love with the combination! It's a hybridization of styles that isn't often attempted, let alone loved, yet it definitely does not disappoint!

Road to the Cup: Anime styled promotion for League of Legends Championship III

League of Legends, as many of you may or may not know, is an extremely successful adaptation to the Defense of the Ancients mod for Warcraft III: Frozen Throne. Though WCIII is long dead, it lives on in the spirit of DotA, and in it's cousin League of Legends.

League of Legends was founded by one of the primary modders who worked on the original DotA, and so it bear many similarities to the original game. However, the game has developed into a massive, globe-spanning game, due in part to its streamlined model, "Free-2-Play" marketing plan, and aesthetically easy-on-the-eyes pleasing art style. Riot Games, the company who manages the game, consistently updates the game with bonus content for characters that, while not free, don't give any other player an advantage over another; it's all cosmetic. 

Because of this incredibly successful business model, Riot initialized the first League of Legends Championship series, incorporating teams from all over America and the EU. Come season two, the game was so popular, numerous teams from China and South Korea stole the show and shoved aside the fan favorites TSM and CLG. 

Five days ago, Riot uploaded a video on their Youtube channel promoting the Season III championship, featuring various iconic players from the many participating teams wielding weapons and powers of their most associated champions.

I'm in love with Riot right now :3 I FREAKING LOVE THE STYLE!!!
Also, does it remind you of the Boondocks? Anyone?

EVE Online TV and Comic Adaptation

EVE Online, the greatest, most open-lay sandbox MMO in the world, and by far one of the most highly renowned and infamous games to ever exist, will be getting its own comic series (slated to be published this winter). In addition it will also be getting its own television series. Both adaptations will focus on actual events that have happened in the game (which are completely player driven and spontaneous events) with the actual characters possibly even playing their own roles!

Unlike the comic adaptation, the television series has no official release date. The EVE series will be directed by Baltasar Kormákur the same man who directed The Deep, 2 Guns, and Contraband.

While normally this might not be news-worthy, it’s the nature of EVE Online to be completely player driven, and of the choice to use that very nature to retell those player stories. An example of what I mean by “player drive,” I’ll use the dissolution of the Band of Brothers alliance by Goonswarm.

The Mittani, a now-popular member of the EVE community, and member of the Goonswarm Alliance’s BlackOps division (mind you that alliances and alliance organization is all player formed and funded) infiltrated Band of Brother (BoB), their sworn enemies in the EVE universe. Working his way up in the ranks over the course of a year or so, he finally was given a position of significant power. With this power in his grasp, he set his plan into motion; revealing his true colors, he dissolved the BoB alliance, allowing his Goon comrades to immediately invade the now unoccupied space. BoB, reeling and unable to form a significant defense, were forced to pack up and leave. That day Goonswarm became the largest alliance in the game, and to this day they are one of the most dangerous groups in EVE.

You can read the story from The Mittani’s point of viewhere.

The EVE IS REAL trailer made by CCP is an example of a true story that was then used as propaganda.

Bleach: Hell Chapter Intro Scene

I'm sure it comes as no surprise to any of you that I love anime, and Bleach is no exception. One of my favorite bits of animation comes from the intro to the fourth Bleach movie, Bleach: Hell Verse, or Hell Chapter. 

Hell Verse was worked on very carefully by Tite Kubo, the author of the Bleach story-line and manga. Normally, the movie story-line of any particular anime (at least when the movie is stand-alone and doesn't progress the main story-line), so the author doesn't particularly care about the plot of the movie. Now this isn't always the case, such as this case. Tite Kubo was heavily involved with the story-line for this particular movie, and it shows in how the fights occur and the story progresses.

The first part of the clip above is of Ichigo, our main protagonist in his Hollow form fighting Ulquiorra Cifer, a special kind of Hollow called an Arrancar. Ichigo is a Death God (Shinigami) who helps lost souls to the afterlife, while simultaneously defending them from lost souls, or Hollows. In the beginning of the series, Ichigo (who'd borrowed his powers from another Shinigami, Rukia Kuchiki) loses them and nearly dies in the process. In his attempt to regain his lost powers, he uses an unorthodox method of a process called "Shinigamification." Though he succeeded, he also obtained a Hollow of his own.

Ichigo's Hollow has explicitly stated that he only protects Ichigo (in desperate times of need) so that he can consume Ichigo's soul and take over his body. In his fight with Ulquiorra, Ichigo is nearly killed, but his Hollow takes over and dominates Ulquiorra in response.

The memory of their fight reaches the flames of Hell, and we see a mysterious denizen of Hell staring into them. This skeletal being then slowly regenerates his body, using the garbage bodies he stands on.

This piece is very powerful to me, and after watching the whole movie I was intrigued by some of the ideas in the story. For instance, the people of Hell ar given powers, if only to feel as if they can use them to escape, even though its futile. Like giving someone a knife when you are standing twenty feet away with a gun; a type of psychological defeat.

If you want to watch the full movie, click the link below:
http://www.animeshi.tv/bleach-movie-4-hell-chapter

Code Geass

Of the may anime I've watched, few reaches the epitome of "epic." However, Code Geass does this, and in spades.

A disowned prince, Lelouch Vi Britannia and his sister, Nunnaly are ousted for from the holy empire of Britannia and forced into hiding in Area 11, the Britannian name of the of Japan. Passing as a student at a school, Lelouch does his best to care for himself and his sister. A veritable genius, he spends his free time gambling on himself in chess matches, which he always wins. During one of these events he gets caught up in the crossfire between the Britannian army and Area 11 rebel forces. Winding up in a hijacked vehicle, he discovers one of the capsules within contains a young woman, who offers him a gift for freeing her; A contract. For one unspecified favor that he must oblige, he is given the Power of Kings, the Geass. The power to command anyone who looks into his eyes.

Lelouch Vi Britannia.

With his new-found powers and tactical genius, he takes command of the Japanese rebels movement, adopting the alias of "Zero" and fights back against his former nation, and indirectly against his father, the Emperor, who banished him and his sister from their home.

Lelouch as "Zero"

Living two lives, one as the inspiational Zero, Commander of the Order of the Black Knights against the Holy Britannian Empire, and the other as a regular academy student and brother, Lelouch is on of the greatest heroes in the show. The ending of the show is all sorts of epic, and if you've ever watched Death Note, you will see some strong similarities between that show and this. However, the ending of Code Geass is what makes it legendary. I wont spoil it for you, so I encourage you to watch it on your own. 

Links to the starting episodes of both seasons:

Season 1: Episode 1

Season 2: Episode 1

Racial Tension

In the game EVE Online, there are four playable races, and each race has a rich background that the denizens of EVE, though they might be older than most gamers, get really caught up in. When you first create your character, you must first choose your race. Though the difference (gameplay-wise) is relatively nothing, as you get the same basic skills and ships regardless of your racial choice (though the ships you get in tutorials are specific to your race), the short little summary of each race's characteristics on the selection screen are enough to compel a player to actually make a choice. In other games, you can choose a race or species and then, through the process of playing, learn more about that race. In EVE, you are given that information at the beginning. And I know many players who will swear up and down that their race is superior, or some other race isn't, even though they base it on their own opinion. 

The game also supports factional warfare, allowing players to delve even further into their own race and develop a strong sense of devotion to a particular civilization. 

Below I've included a quintet of short, racially promotional videos made by avid fans of the game. They use clips from official EVE Online trailers and various other unofficial machinima.

The Gallente Federation  are comparable to America, as champions of liberty and proponents of extreme liberalism.

The Amarr Empire, extreme Russian-descended space-Catholics.

The Minmatar Republic are former slaves of the Amarr, having risen up and formed a unified society based on their tribal ancestry.

The Caldari State. Based on a strong, Asian-state-culture,the Caldari are one of the strongest factions, both economically and militarily.

As a fellow player of EVE Online, I too had to choose a race.I chose the Gallente. Curiously enough, I chose them because I supported their defense of freedom. However, as I've read the books and delved into the lore, I find that, as with all things, there is a vicious dark side to them. And all players who choose a race are inevitably drawn to learn more about them. From those inquiries comes a strong sense of emotion from or toward particular races, and subsequently other players who support that faction. If EVE could be called anything, it would be two things; an "impressive economic model" and a "massive social experiment." Indeed, many of the events in EVE Online are shaped by the players themselves, even events between empires they don't even control.Such was the Battle for Caldari Prime.

EVE Online: Thematic Movies

I'll be the first to admit it; EVE Online is an awesome game. The best even! However, I will also be the first to admit that fleet fights in the game can look pretty boring from the perspective of the outside viewer. However, aside from the cinematic trailers that the developer CCP puts out with every big event and expansion (all of which use in-game graphics) it's often the players who make the most impacting movies.

EVE is a game just celebrating ten years of life, and though it's smaller than other, more popular games of it's MMO genre (World of Warcraft and Runescape as an example), it has, by far, the most dedicated fan and player-base. The open sandbox style gameplay allows players to literally do anything they want, with very little restrictions.

Here are a few examples (be sure you have some time before watching Rooks and Kings Clarion Call 3).

(CCP's EVE Online: Retribution game trailer)

(Rooks and Kings Clarion Call 3)

("Best EVE online movie ever")

(The Dronelands War)

(Day of Darkness II)

And I'll leave off with one of the most iconic EVE music videos on the net

(This is EVE II)

There are so many more videos I want to post, but I know that many of you don't have that much time to view them. So I'll keep the approximate time consumption to a minimum. But fear not! If you like these vids, I'll be posting more EVE machinima in the future!