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Friend, mahjong ally, and translator kransom is currently in Japan, and in a conversation online he mentioned to me the fact that Texas Hold ‘em has a similar reputation in Japan that Japanese-style mahjong has in America. In other words, it has a small but devoted following where if you say to someone that you know how to play Texas Hold ‘em, they’ll get really excited and invite you to play, possibly showing off their Real Authentic poker set in the process. Having a passing familiarity with Texas Hold’em and more of an understanding of mahjong, I can see why they would have a similar exotic and wild appeal. They’re both games where you have to manage your luck.
The only thing that’s missing for Japan is an Akagi equivalent, an intensely dramatic series that thrills you into loving poker. If such a thing could be produced in the US, then the circle would be complete.
Thinking about mahjong as a storytelling device however, I realize that there is an inherent “flaw” of sorts with the game that doesn’t quite exist in Texas Hold ‘em, and that is mahjong’s inability to naturally come down to a one-on-one situation. That’s not to say that a 1v1 battle is impossible, but mahjong is inherently a four-player game, with a strange three-player variant if you’re one man short, but no long-standing rules for two players. As a result, mahjong stories have to go through great efforts to transform the game into a duel, whether it’s coming up with an entirely new (and untested) rule set (Ten, Shin Janki), pushing two of the players into supporting or even essentially non-existent roles, or modifying it into a 2v2 game. Texas Hold ‘em however can start with a large group and as more and more players lose all of their money, the game can end up in a 1v1 with no wild changes made to the basic rules of the game.
So Texas Hold ‘em has potential, though I think anyone who’s seen games knows that. Make it a series about female poker players who really enjoy each others’ company if you have to.
Speaking of, I realize that Saki prefers to have all four players in a mahjong game be their own characters, as opposed to lackeys for more prominent figures in the story, and is kind of an exception as a result. That route is, of course, also a good one.
One of the most frustrating things in studying Japanese is coming across a kanji you swear you should know but still don’t.
Usually what will happen is that I’m reading something in Japanese, be it manga, article, essay, or book, and I’ll hit a particular word that I don’t know the meaning of, but still feel like I recognize it. Then it hits me that I’d seen this word previously, and I had been in almost the exact same situation, where I’d be looking at something and finding the kanji, this time determined to commit it to memory. Except I didn’t which is why I’m in that current situation in the first place. Ever break a promise to yourself and then forget that you did? It’s kind of like that, only I don’t ruin my friendship with me forever as a result.
A couple of recent examples include:
基礎 Kiso, meaning “basis.”
至る Itaru, meaning “to reach.”
Maybe if I just complain about Japanese enough, I’ll learn it.
Jokin aside, the real culprit is obviously under-use, and if only I’d keep up my studies more consistently this sort of thing wouldn’t happen. I’m reading quite a bit of Japanese lately so hopefully more of it will be able to stick, at least reading-wise. Spoken Japanese is another matter entirely, and I can feel myself not developing in that regard as much as I should (and possibly even regressing a good deal). I have to reassert my conviction to learn, as I have every reason to do so.
This post is in response to Scamp, aka The Cart Driver’s review of Heartcatch Precure! It goes way into spoilers, so be warned. If you want to read something significantly less spoiler-heavy, I suggest yesterday’s review.
There’s something special about Heartcatch Precure! When I think about all of the things it does exceptionally well, I find it a time saver to count the things that it doesn’t do with style and class, but seeing as I want to convince you (yes you) to watch Heartcatch Precure!, I’m going to take the long route. It’s more scenic that way, though not too scenic as I don’t want to just tell you everything and not let you experience it firsthand.
Heartcatch Precure! begins with a dream. In it, a silver-haired warrior named Cure Moonlight is felled by her evil adversaries. In desperation, she sends two young fairies to Earth to find souls capable of taking her place. The dreamer is Hanasaki Tsubomi, a young girl and recent junior high transfer student who loves flowers. Tired of her meek personality, Tsubomi sees the move as an opportunity to turn her life around. She meets Kurumi Erika, an aspiring fashion designer who immediately sees Tsubomi as a friend, but whose eagerness and hyper disposition exasperate and overwhelm Tsubomi. Although their friendship is off to a rocky start they realize that Tsubomi’s dream was actually a vision. Together, they become Cure Blossom and Cure Marine, collectively known as Precure, fighting against the Desert Apostles who wish to turn the entirety of the Earth into a wasteland by feeding off the fears and doubts of the humans.
As far as anime goes, Heartcatch is pretty typical in its premise, but it manages to go above and beyond through not just its technical execution but what I can only describe as “heart” (pun only somewhat intended). I’d previously talked about the mature and helpful manner in which the show discussed serious topics that kids and even adults grapple with in their daily lives, but that effort extends to all areas. The character designs are less stiff than typical Precure designs or even anime characters in general without being overly esoteric. The pastel colors and free-flowing line work breathe a sense of vibrancy into them, which in turn makes the show’s action scenes jump out in a manner reminiscent of Casshern SINS (no surprise given that they share the same character designer). The narrative is also bolstered by the visual aesthetics, as they are able to support the strong characterization in the show through their sheer energy.
Right from the first episode, the characters are remarkably complex and their interactions dynamic and fun, especially Erika. Although the Precure franchise has always been about the contrasting personalities of its main characters, Tsubomi and Erika cannot be easily divided into opposing categories like “smart” vs. “athletic.” The character of Myoudouin Itsuki crossdresses because she has to take over her family’s dojo in place of her gravely ill brother. But unlike other shows, Itsuki’s issue isn’t whether or not she enjoys her life or if she feels any bitterness towards having to act as a “man,” but whether or not the amount of responsibility and pressure she’s willingly put on herself is making her disregard her own feelings. From the moment you meet the characters in Heartcatch, they feel very human and complete. As the show progresses, rather than trying to make up for each others’ weaknesses, the girls learn from each other and deepen their friendship.
Perhaps the greatest strength of Heartcatch Precure! is the way it shows that there is life beyond the immediate, and in a way no other series in the Precure franchise has done. Early on in the series, a strong villain in Dark Precure (Cure Moonlight’s adversary in the beginning of the show) is established as not only a powerful antagonist, but one that continues to be a legitimate threat every time she appears. Seeing her tells you that something serious is about to go down, which is a feeling I rarely every got from previous Precure shows. On top of that, Heartcatch Precure! acknowledges the world past junior high. In all of the other Precure series, none of the main characters are older than fifteen. Once they hit the end of their third year in junior high(9th grade in the US and other countries), the show ends. Even when all of the heroines cross over in the movies, they are always portrayed as still being in junior high. Heartcatch Precure! bucks that trend. Cure Moonlight is 17 years old. Tsubomi’s grandmother, who is in her late 60s, is actually a former Precure. Providing a broader perspective, they not only teach the younger Cures through their experience, but also learn from the younger generation’s optimism and zest for life.
So that brings us to the negatives of Heartcatch Precure!, and I feel that the best way to sum up my criticism is to compare it to Ojamajo Doremi, a show which actually shares much of the same staff. The biggest issue I find with Heartcatch Precure‘s is that “beating up the enemy” seems to often be the solution to a character’s problems, even for situations where that’s not really significant to the dilemma at hand. Granted, it’s not the only show in the world to do this, but I know Heartcatch could have done better in this regard, especially given Doremi. In contrast, Doremi‘s most glaring problem, the blatant toy-pushing aspect of the show, is handled far more gracefully in Heartcatch Precure! The transformation sequences so typical of the magical girl genre and the special attack animations almost never feel tiresome because of how lively they are.
Watch Heartcatch Precure! If you’re not that big a fan of magical girls, if you haven’t enjoyed the Precure franchise in the past, I think this is a really good place to start. It exceeded my expectations in almost every way, and it might do the same for yours. Just keep in mind to not expect too much to quickly and enjoy the show at its own pace.
I recently received my copy of Volume 10 of Genshiken (aka Genshiken II Volume 1), and as anyone who’s read Genshiken in collected format knows, there are always little extras in between chapters. This time around it’s a combination of four-panel comics and profiles from the Genshiken club magazine Mebaetame, of which only one has been shown in-comic (Hato’s explicit one). The purpose of this post is just to jot down things I find interesting from those extras.
For the sake of convenience, here are all of my individual chapter reviews from Volume 10:
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Ogiue’s Pen Name: Ever since it was first revealed, people had no idea how to actually say it. This time around though, Ogiue has given us a handy pronunciation guide, for which I am very grateful. So say it with me: OGINO NARUYUKI. Feels good, doesn’t it?
Majors: The coursework for the characters in Genshiken is something we’ve never learned much about, other than the fact that Kohsaka wasn’t in Computer Science but learned how to program anyway. Now though, we know that Ogiue is a 3rd-year Literature Major, Yajima is 1st-year Literature, and Hato is 1st-year Economics. The rest of them don’t bother mentioning it. I feel like knowing their majors gives some perspective on the whole thing in terms of seeing where the members are coming from, and it’s also interesting to compare to an American college anime club, where history and experience have taught me that a good chunk of them are indeed CS Majors.
Hometowns: For years we’ve known that Ogiue is from the Tohoku region of Japan, but nothing more specific than that. It turns out Ogiue is from Yamagata Prefecture, which of course means that she speaks specifically in the Yamagata dialect.
Yajima is from Tochigi Prefecture (Kanto) and Hato is from Niigata Prefecture (Hokuriku). Yoshitake doesn’t mention anything, and as we already know, Sue is from Massachusetts.
Yoshitake’s Ramblings: If you read my translation of Tamagomago’s post and got confused when he mentions Yoshitake talking about “oinking” (buhireru), it’s because it happens in Yoshitake’s profile, which is a long, long thing all about how she wants to see a manga or anime made out of a particular historical novel. This (and the huge word bubble in chapter 58) also makes it clear that Yoshitake is indeed a literary person.
Favorite Titles: Keep in mind that a lot of the titles are parodies of existing works. A lot of this is gotten with help from this site.
Ogiue: Haregan (Fullmetal Alchemist), Kujibiki Unbalance, Zenkoku no Kyojin (Shingeki no Kyojin [Advance of the Giants])
Yajima: Pakuman (Bakuman), Kintama (Gintama) , Ten Piece (One Piece), Menma (Naruto), Back-bared no Mago (Nurarihyon no Mago [Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan)
Hato: Duarara!! (Durarara!!), Rebuild of Evingelion, Hetalila (Hetalia), Winter Wars (Summer Wars), Fuyume Yuujinchou (Natsume Yuujinchou [Natsume's Book of Friends]), Sweets Basket (Fruits Basket), Koi to Kyuuso (Unsure of even the pronunciation), Metro no Inu (Chikatetsu no Inu), Kaburagi-san to Rokuhara-kun (Hori-san to Miyamura-kun), Femto (Fate/Stay Night according to that site), Tsukutsukuboushi no Naku Koro ni (Higurashi no Naku Koro ni)
What we can see is that Yajima sticks mainly with Shounen Jump (or “Shounen Champ” as it’s called in-story) and also that Hato has very diverse tastes, but we knew that already.
Ogiue Likes Sasahara Just the Way He is: Just wanted to point out that in one comic, Ogiue thinks about how Ohno didn’t mention Sasahara among the “weirdos,” but that she likes his unassuming personality.
I’ve recently been talking to an old friend in the competitive Pokemon community, and I was surprised to find out that he and other people I knew from back in the day were still playing competitively. In fact, a bunch of them are going to the Pokemon Video Game Championships this year in Indiana, and though I definitely can’t make it, it’s kind of re-lit the fire in me to do something with Pokemon, especially when I’ve seen what he’s been up to.
Known in the Pokemon communiy as Fish, his team is the one on top, if you want to see some intense and exciting turn-based combat.
At the very least, I want to have a well-conceived team or two around in case anyone wants to battle me. I don’t know how long it’ll take me, especially because I haven’t even opened my copy of Pokemon Black yet, but I think it’ll be a worthwhile endeavor.
I definitely want to use Durant, as I’ve been waiting for an ant Pokemon since the original games.
Thinking back on my years of playing Pokemon, I began to reminisce about the original RBY era and its competitive scene. I talked a little bit about RBY-style battling here, but I’m not sure if my description did it justice in terms of how unique RBY battling turned out to be, relative to subsequent generations of Pokemon. RBY was the era where the only way to cure a status ailment was through the use of Rest, when every Pokemon could have all of its stats maxed out to their personal best. The result was a game where Pokemon were neither overly frail nor excessively defensive.
The best example I can think of is a scenario where one player is switching in a weakened Rhydon on a weakened, paralyzed Alakazam. Alakazam could have predicted a switch and thrown out a Thunder Wave to paralyze the incoming Pokemon, but because Rhydon is immune to electric attacks, it can effectively block the Thunder Wave and avoid its paralyzing effects. From there, a fight which would normally be won by Alakazam’s superior speed and nasty Psychic attack has a different consequence, as paralysis reduces Alakazam’s speed by 75%, well below Rhydon’s, and so now Rhydon has the first shot, and its superior attack does tremendous damage to Alakazam’s poor defenses, possibly to the point of knocking it out. But if Alakazam decides to switch out, Rhydon can throw down a Substitute for 1/4 of its health to take damage for it while it Earthquakes from a safe position. The permanency of paralysis is key here, as in later generations status ailments can simply be whisked away by the effects of moves such as Heal Bell and Aromatherapy.
RBY was by no means a balanced game in terms of diversity. Only about 10-15 Pokemon were considered viable for competition (barring Mewtwo and Mew, who were usually banned due to being way, way, way too good), but it had a certain kind of intensity that wasn’t quite present in later games, and it’s something I wouldn’t mind coming back, though I know it’ll never happen.
When people lament changes in sequels despite the fact that the original game’s system was the result of various limitations and oversights, I can relate to knowing that something is unreasonable and yet still feeling that it’s right. I’m not going to talk down the other generations of Pokemon Battling, though. There’s always a special place in my heart for that original 151, but I still look forward to having fun with a list that is now 646 creatures long.
Note: This post discusses spoilers for Tiger & Bunny, A Certain Magical Index, and Hajime no Ippo.
In episodes 12 and 13 of Tiger & Bunny, the heroes of Sternbild City fight the powerful villain Jake Martinez. His telepathy allows him to read an opponent’s intentions and avoid getting hit. Out of the four heroes who face him, Jake only ever gets hit twice: Once by accident when Wild Tiger trips over himself, and then a second time when Barnaby is able to land a clean hit, but Barnaby’s attack is enough to defeat him.
Broken rib or no, one hit doesn’t seem like it should be enough to take down such a strong adversary, but Tiger and Bunny does a good job of making it obvious that Jake’s weakness isn’t just a glass jaw, but a side effect of his powers. Jake is so adept at using his NEXT abilities to avoid any and all attacks that he is simply not used to being hit, and so making contact shocks him not just physically but psychologically as well. Even Wild Tiger’s inadvertent flip kick has little force behind it and yet still gives Jake pause.
When I saw this, I immediately thought of another villain: Accelerator from A Certain Magical Index. Like Jake, he is the mid-series villain, and like Jake, he possesses a power which prevents attacks from reaching him. In Accelerator’s case, he can control vectors, so any punch or bullet thrown has its direction diverted or even reversed with little effort. In the face of Index hero Kamijou Touma’s ability-canceling abilities however, Accelerator’s face meets Touma’s fist repeatedly. Like Jake, he can’t take a hit.
I think there’s something a little satisfying about villains whose weaknesses are something so simple and basic that anyone could avoid them if only they were familiar. With both Accelerator and Jake, they rely a little too much on their abilities, so when those are negated they do not have the natural reaction time to make up for it. In a way, these antagonists are portrayed as members of a kind of ability-based ivory tower, where their privileged statuses make them vulnerable to the rest of the world, even if it’s not immediately noticeable.
Interestingly, Hajime no Ippo shows the other side to this trope, though without any use of true villains. In the world title match between Date Eiji and undefeated champion Ricardo Martinez, Ricardo lands a severe blow on Eiji, which he’s 100% confident will take Eiji down for good. To his surprise however, Eiji manages to recover from that punch, which leads Ricardo to conclude that the only reason Eiji could’ve possibly taken that hit is that he must have fought someone whose punches are as hard if not harder than Ricardo’s own. This, of course, refers to Eiji’s fight with the main character Ippo, who is characterized by incredibly brutal punches. Had Eiji not gained the experience of taking hits from Ippo, had the impact not been engraved into his body, the sheer shock from being hit in a completely new way would have finished the match with Ricardo right there.
Which is to say, in a Martinez fight, Jake definitely wouldn’t want to get hit by Ricardo.
There have been many, many American characters in anime and manga over the years, and in many cases they tend to use a very odd and unique form of Janglish, where Japanese and English are interspersed. One common way to convey that a character is American (or perhaps just American-esque) is to have them use English pronouns, e.g. “YOU wa baka desu!”
So you’d think they’d use “I” when referring to themselves, but there’s a long tradition of using “ME” (as in “me, myself, and I”) instead. Of course, I don’t quite understand why it’s used over “I.” So the thing I’d like to know is, when did this start? How far back in the history of anime and manga does it go? Is it even something that arose out of anime and manga? Perhaps it has something to do with how Americans spoke in post-war occupied Japan.
As far as anime and manga go, the oldest example I can think of with an American character who uses “Me” as one would normally use “I” is Getter Robo, which features American cowboy and robot pilot Jack King. Another popular American character is Terryman from Kinnikuman.
If anyone has more information about the history of American manga and anime characters, I’d like to hear all about it.
Also, In celebration of this most American of days, I’ve decided to open up the myanimelist club dedicated to American characters a little more, so that non-members can also post. I know I haven’t been able to keep up with requests and such over the past year either, so I’m also going to be opening up officer positions over the next few days so that the truly patriotic can make this club greater than it has been.
If someone asks me who I prefer to use in Street Fighter, at first I tell them, “Don’t worry about it. Really.”
But if they insist, I just say to them, “Akuma, Makoto.”
Whenever the Smash Bros. community interacts with other fighting game communities, it inevitably leads to comments that Smash Bros. is not a fighting game. More often than not, these comments are trolls meant to rile Smash fans and belittle the games they’ve spent so much time on, but I’ve also seen people argue this point in earnest, and I want to discuss some of the points that tend to get brought up, if only to make people aware that the category of “fighting game” isn’t all that sacred.
The first assertion that gets thrown out is that the Smash Bros. series is simply not good enough to be considered a fighting game. Either it’s too simplistic or it doesn’t reward competition enough, and so fails to qualify for the fighting game pantheon. But since when has competitive viability and depth of gameplay actually defined fighting games? For every fighting game that is remotely competitive, I can name twice as many that fall apart under scrutiny and are just plain bad. So why is it that a game like Rise of the Robots is allowed to be called a fighting game, while something like Smash Bros. isn’t?
The second assertion is that Smash Bros. does not qualify for the genre because it does not fulfill supposedly “fundamental” aspects of fighting games. Over the years, I’ve seen people say everything from the fact that the game doesn’t have traditional life bars to the fact that it’s four-player to the fact that items exist in the game to the presence of stage hazards. More recently, people have been saying that it’s not a fighting game, but rather a “party game,” a “platformer,” a “beat-em-up,” or any combination of those categories.
But in bringing up those genres, it must be said that there are fighting games that fall under those categories that aren’t Smash Bros. As I show examples of each, keep in mind that I am not defining the fighting game genre based on how “good” the games are, and you shouldn’t either. “Balance” is a non-issue here.
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Fighting Vipers
Non-Traditional Life Bars
Fighting Vipers has kids dressed in armor beating each other up in a closed arena. The game has life bars, but it also has an armor system wherein shattering pieces of armor makes the opponent more vulnerable to attacks. You can see it in action at 00:52.
World Heroes 2
Non-Traditional Life Bars/Stage Hazards
A game where warriors from throughout history engage in 1-on-1 combat, while the regular gameplay in World Heroes 2 is about as conventional as it gets, there is also a special “Death Match” mode. Rather than having two distinct life bars, one large bar is shared by both players in a sort of tug-of-war battle. Also note the buzz saws and electrified ropes.
Aggressors of Dark Kombat
Beat-em-up
Aggressors of Dark Kombat actually features gameplay where characters can move up and down the stage field, reminiscent of Final Fight or Double Dragon. It is literally a beat-em-up fighting game. The female character, Kisarah Westfield, made her return in Neo-Geo Battle Coliseum.
King of the Monsters
Beat-em-up/Items/Stage Hazards
King of the Monsters also possibly qualifies for the “wrestling game” genre, and as a result, also possibly the “Non-Traditional Life Bar” because of how you need to win by pinning. Incidentally, a lot of the beat-em-up fighting games are made by SNK, though this is the only one featuring giant monsters destroying a city in the process.
The Outfoxies
Platformer/Items/Stage Hazards
Featuring assassins trying to kill each other with swords, guns, and bazookas, The Outfoxies is probably the game closest to Smash Bros. in feel and style, especially in the platformer-esque gameplay. By the way, there actually exists an Outfoxies tournament, and the game can get pretty amazing. Again though, that doesn’t really matter.
Power Stone 2
Platformer/Beat-em-up/4-Player/Items/Stage Hazards
Power Stone 2 is probably the example that best features almost all of the “not really a fighting game” categories in an actual fighting game. Like so many games in the genre, it features warriors from around the world.
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So there we go. If you don’t consider the above examples to be fighting games either, then there really isn’t anything I can say.
By the way, I’d better not seeing any Melee vs. Brawl in the comments.
