Tuesday Rumble: January 29th

Abbreviated Tuesday Rumble this week since I had to go to Oxford for an interview.

Okami 2
As we all know by now, when I love a game, I like to suggest improvements for the nonexistent sequel, and Okami is no exception. So, without further ado, let’s imagine what we might find in Okami 2 beyond the obvious desire for it to be an immersive, beautiful and never-ending experience.

• More skins for Amaterasu, including Ninetails and Oki’s wolf form.
• Less manual backtracking and wandering around the map due to an improved teleport system that is introduced earlier in the game.
• Harder difficulty modes for the experienced gamer.
• Increased use of the Lucky Mallet to change size.
• Unlockable versus battle mode.
• Possible PS3 version using the original photorealistic graphics.

This Week in Anime

Oranges spread to Lucky Star.

“Pineapple was an important friend- until I chopped him and served him on a plate.”

The evolution of HORSE is spotted in Neo-Verona.

Small horse tries to fight off the advent of its upgraded form.

Dodgy watch dealer gets careless by leaving out flyers in public.

“Shhh, the fruit are spying on us!”

“I never travel anywhere without my trusty watermelon!”

Strawberries face being mercilessly devoured.

The Himawari ninjas stumble upon Sunrise’s magic mushroom plantation.

Only healthy fruit can save them from the evil mushrooms.

Walnuts are back.

Flash Game Review: Orisinal

Rather than just reviewing a single game, this week I’m taking a look at a whole site of them, namely Ferry Halim’s Orisinal. At first glance, Orisinal’s many games are just yet another take on the whole jumping over obstacles and collecting items, but the difference here is that the games have their own unique and distinctive style. The graphics are soft, cute and pleasing on the eye, whilst the music is generally gentle and tranquil- these are the perfect games with which to unwind after a stressful day.

Although I haven’t yet had time to play every game on the site, my current favourite is A Dog for All Seasons, in which one must control four dogs simultaneously whilst ensuring they each jump over the balls in their respective paths- easy at first, but hard when you have eight balls in a row or different dogs facing different patterns of balls. Other worthy picks include Winter Bells (guide a rabbit with the cursor as it jumps upwards from bell to bell- easiest with a graphics tablet), Cats (get all the cats to either sit down or walk along simultaneously) and High Delivery (fill a vase with flowers whilst a balloon carries it up to heaven).

Mini-editorial: Fansites and Anipike, ye olden days
So anyway, a couple of weeks ago Hinano was talking about the old days when we had fansites everywhere, and in a burst of nostalgia I thought to myself “hell, I might as well write about that too.” For even though I haven’t been watching for that long compared to the old stalwarts (yeah, I loved Samurai Pizza Cats as a kid but I only properly got into anime in 2002), I too remember the olden days of trawling fansites and using Anipike to find yet more sites devoted to a particular series. In those days, I was mainly on the hunt for images and the odd mp3, but along the way it was easy to get distracted by randomness- everything from the Ayanami Raising Project to “colour it yourself” Tenchi line art lurked in the depths of the internet, alongside a hundred thousand shrines for various characters and pairings.

Ultimately, however, the blogging revolution brought those days to an end, and the question that must be asked is whether we miss them. Personally, despite the rose-tinted glasses with which I now view those times, my anime viewing habits have widened to encompass far more series than I was ever following in those times, and similarly my supporting material needs have changed to be fulfilled by blogs and image gallery sites. The only question that remains is to see what changes the future will bring.

Reverse Harem of the week: Haruhi Fujioka (Ouran High School Host Club)
Who better to lead a reverse harem than a reverse trap? Despite having to dress as a boy most of the time, however, Haruhi was able to win the hearts of both men and women alike.

Harem
Tamaki: Host Club ‘king’, the simplistic, over-energetic and flamboyant one. Likes to act as a father to Haruhi, although his feelings may run deeper.
Hikaru and Kaoru: Selfish twins with an air of the prankster about them. Hikaru is the more immature and hot-headed of the two.
Kyouya: The cool and calculating ‘Shadow King’.
Honey: The shota with a sweet tooth and a hidden talent for martial arts.
Mori: The quiet, stoic one.

Rival
Renge: Dating sim fanatic whose role gets pumped up in the anime- initially feels drawn to Kyouya.
Éclair: Tamaki’s fiancée and a serious rival in the final anime arc.

*NEW* The making of Azure Flame: text parody
I know no one really cares, but this is a feature I’ve wanted to do for ages, so bear with me as we delve deeper into the making of Azure Flame. This week we go behind the scenes to find out how a ‘text parody’ emerges from a blank Word document. In the olden days of Meine Liebe and Ginga Densetsu Weed, this was done by writing up an alternate version of the episode straight after watching it, but with memory being what it is, a new, more accurate method of parody had to be introduced.

In the current era, a text parody is created whilst watching the episode- regular pauses enable me to switch to Word and rewrite what is happening with a unique parody spin. Along the way, amusing screencaps are taken to spice up the action, ready to be inserted in the correct places when the parody is posted. The whole process can take anything from 45 minutes to two hours (depending on distractions), but unfortunately it can be quite draining on both energy and enthusiasm, which is why I intend to pretty much lay this style to rest in the near future.