The Great RPG Debate: My Perspective
Posted by: Gina Giannetti on: February 4, 2010
- In: Rants| Video Games
- 2 Comments
This post may contain some facts, but mostly my opinions.
I am proud to be a female gamer, and even more proud to say that the RPG genre is my favorite game genre of them all. Being an aspiring writer and fan of general literature, I appreciate well-developed characters and epic storylines. As a gamer, I appreciate well-developed gameplay and that triumphant feeling of accomplishing something after working so hard at it (anyone who has ever played an RPG knows that feeling of finally beating a boss after fighting it, losing, and then returning after hours of grinding. So, so satisfying). So it makes sense that I would take to RPGs as well as I have. However, the term ‘RPG’ has changed over the years.
When I think of an RPG, I think of what is known as a Japanese RPG, or JRPG. In the past several years, we have seen the advent of Western RPGs, or WRPGs, which include games such as Fable and the Elder Scrolls series. American game designers took some strong elements of JRPGs and applied them to their games in a way that completely split the genre.
Once again my good friend Jon over at JANAiBlog inspired me to speak out about this via his own recent blog on the topic. He specifically referenced an article from IGN that all but floored me when I read it. This article claims it has the top 10 ways to ‘fix’ JRPGs. In my opinion (although the article claims this is not its intention), this list should more appropriately be titled ‘Top 10 Ways to make JRPGs Just Like WRPGs’.
That, my friends, completely defeats the purpose. They are two completely separate things for a reason, and the 10 things this article claims needs to be ‘fixed’ are old-school trademarks of JRPGs and, in many instances, those trademarks are what makes them so much fun to play.
In his blog, Jon specifically spoke about the way towns are laid out in JRPGs versus the ‘open-world’ format that is so popular in WRPGs where the player can literally wander around everywhere without any map borders. While WRPGs have lots of houses, stores, and other things you would typically see in a town, JRPGs usually just have a weapons and/or armor shop, an item shop, a magic shop (if magic exists in the game), an inn, and maybe 2-3 houses filled with relevent side-characters, NPCs whose words can help flesh out the story and enrich the game experience, or are just chock full of goodies to steal. The IGN article referrs to this as a ’static’ world and complains about the oddity of prices getting higher on items the farther you venture from your starting point.
What this article seems to fail to acknowledge is that those things are what make an RPG feel so satisfying. As you continue on the story, monsters get stronger, so they drop better items and more money, and so the items offered in those areas increase in quality, and so their price goes up. Is it unrealistic? Sure. I want to move down south some day, and I guarantee you that most places down south are cheaper than where I live in New York. Not every place you venture to in real life is going to offer better-quality stuff and higher prices. However, this slope of increasing difficulties and rewards is what makes you really feel like the game is evolving, and it shows that you are making progress. I know I’m doing well when my crappy dagger gets upgraded to a long sword and damn it, that’s the way I like it!
Given, the things mentioned on this list do seem ridiculous nowadays when back in the day they didn’t seem so weird, and I think there is a reason for that. A lot of focus on games, especially in America, has turned to realism. American gamers want to play a game that feels like they’re really there, like it could really be happening. The advent of things such as motion controllers is also indicative of this.
In the times we live in where the economy is crumbling and people are losing jobs, a lot of people are turning to video games as a form of escape and, in fact, I have seen several articles pop up in the past year or so claiming that video games are very good for dealing with these kinds of stress (This desire to ‘escape’ also bleeds into non-gamers, which led to the boom of casual gaming, but that is a whole other discussion, so I will digress on that point). I think it is largely because of this that a lot of those not-so-sensical JRPG clichés, like walking into a strangers house and taking his secret stash of potions, were disposed of and are now being seen as bad game design by some people and that just isn’t fair to say, if you ask me.
Sure, maybe someone wouldn’t be seen as a ‘hero’ if they survived their journey by using items they stole from strangers’ homes. Clearly towns don’t just consist of 3 homes, an inn, and a few stores. No, people don’t have genetically blue hair. So what?
Long story short, these JRPG cliches may seem stupid to some, but they make sense as far as gameplay is concerned, and they are part of the JRPG culture. It’s like being a fan of cheesy horror flicks; yes, some of the devices used are old and worn-out in some people’s opinions, but thats what makes the genre so great. They’re defining marks of what makes that genre what it is, and while everyone has a right to say they like or don’t like something, I get very irked when people equate their dislike of a game mechanic to poor gameplay or bad game design. That just isn’t right, it doesn’t always work that way. This article does acknowledge this to a point, but it still says that current JRPGs are bad for, and I will quote this:
conform[ing] to the standards that were acceptable on consoles that are now two or three generations old.
I think this is just horribly unfair. Take a look at an excerpt directly underneath the quote above:
Don’t be mistaken: we love JRPGs — we want them to do well. But when games on the PS3 and 360 are following Super Nintendo rules, something just has to change.
Does it have to change, really? The Castlevania series still produces 2-dimensional sidescrollers where you collect different items, fight the same kinds of monsters, and eventually kill Dracula in the end. Are you going to tell me they’re bad because they ‘conformed’ to the same formula that the series used on the NES? That is just blasphemy. In fact, in Castlevania’s particular instance, I would say the opposite is true, because whenever the series attempted to deviate from this motif and tried to update the series by making a 3D game, it bombed. Hard.
I understand where this article was trying to come from, and it does raise one or two promising points (I would most certainly love to be able to save anywhere, but I also enjoyed the race of making it to the next save point before I had to go to bed, it’s a classic JRPG component) but I think that it either wasn’t thought through properly or just wasn’t executed correctly.
I realize that this post turned into more of a rant/review of the article itself, but I think this also pretty much covers my general feelings on the JPRG/WRPG debate, which is simply this: They’re both different animals, trying to compare them is fruitless, and the modern inventions of the WRPG do not make JRPGs bad.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some Final Fantasy VI to go play.
Dragonball Kai Comes to America!
Posted by: Gina Giannetti on: February 2, 2010
- In: anime
- Leave a Comment
As I logged on to my Twitter today, I saw a tweet from FUNimation simply saying ‘The answer is yes. More info coming soon.’ The answer to what? All of my hopes and dreams?
Well, sort of!
Mere minutes after that tweet, FUNimation released a press release titled ‘The Answer is Yes’. The only contents of the press release was a glorious Dragonball Kai logo. Finally, FUNimation has licensed Dragonball Kai.
The Dragonball series is very near and dear to my heart, both as an anime fan and in a personal way. Dragonball Z was the first anime I watched after I discovered what ‘anime’ really was. It was something I always looked forward to watching, so much so that when a particularly exciting episode was on, my brother and I would bargain with our parents to be able to eat our dinners in the living room so we could watch while we ate, since it always came on during dinner time. The next day in school, I would be in a circle with all of my friends talking about the previous night’s episode. It wasn’t just a show for me, it was an event. So you can imagine how excited I am that not only will I be able to relive some of those memories, but a new generation of anime fans will be exposed to the Dragonball series for the first time as well. However, this is a very exciting thing not only for Dragonball fans, but for anime fans everywhere.
Dragonball is a very beloved series in America, and I am hoping (though not holding my breath) that this will mean FUNi will put in the time and money to dub it, which will hopefully inspire people to actually go out and buy the boxsets. This of course will pump more money into FUNi and the anime industry and will hopefully make things a little brighter for us all. I see this not only as something I am personally excited about, but as something that can be great for the anime industry as well. It’s not going to single-handedly save the industry of course, but every little bit helps.
I hope that all of you Dragonball fans out there will check Kai out (if you haven’t already) whether they decide to dub it or not, and I hope you will pick up a copy of it for yourself as well. I have only seen the first two episodes of it myself, but I am dieing to see the rest, and I may just do so by picking up the boxset when it is eventually released here in America.
Until then, I will be anxiously awaiting more information on how FUNi plans to handle bringing Dragonball Kai over to America, and you can be sure I’ll be blogging about it as well.
Chu*Review: Yo-Jin-Bo: The Bodyguards
Posted by: Gina Giannetti on: January 19, 2010
When you think of the term ‘visual novel’, I can bet that at least most people think of what is termed as a ‘harem’ visual novel, meaning that the playable character is a man and there are several attractive female characters around him, most (if not all) of which the player is able to make the playable character get romantically involved with at the end. While this is a real treat for guys who like this kind of thing, it leaves us girls who might be interested in this concept out in the cold (unless we like that sort of thing).
Luckily for us ladies, there is also something called an otome, or ‘reverse-harem’ visual novel. This type of visual novel is just as it sounds; a story where the playable character is female and there are several attractive male characters around her, several of which you can most-likely hook up with in the end. The first one I ever heard of was Neo-Angelique Abyss, which has no English translation at this time. However, that led me to realize that there must be more than just one otome game out there. So I did some research and found one that was rather highly praised: Yo-Jin-Bo: The Bodyguards.
STORY
You start off as Sayori, a regular high-school girl. Sayori goes on an archeological dig with her classmates to the ruins of a castle to see if they can dig up anything that could tell them about the castle’s past. In the dirt, Sayori sees a shining pendant and picks it up, forgetting to tell her superior about it and bringing it home accidentally. Later that night, she has a dream of a feudal era princess begging Sayori to help her, and suddenly Sayori is sucked back in time, charged with the task of finding a way to prevent the princess’ death. During your quest you meet a rag-tag group of merceneries named Yozaburo, Jinnosuke, and Tainojo, whose nickname is ‘Bo’. They team up with the princess’ bodyguard Muneshige, a rather questionable priest name Mon-Mon, and an anti-social psychopathic killer (who is, incidentally, my favorite character) named Ittosai to save the princess as they uncover a large conspiracy.
The story never got boring to me, and even better is that it the story changes depending on which guy you’re gunning for at the end. The story doesn’t deviate too much on each story path of course, but they are different enough that it won’t get boring playing the game six times to get each guy. It’s also very easy to find a walkthrough for this game online that will outline which choices to make to get what character if you want to be sure that you don’t miss out.
And there is quite a bit you can miss out on. In addition to nabbing all 6 guys, there are also ‘bad’ and ‘death’ endings for each path, making a total of 18 possible endings.
CHARACTERS
Now while the word yojinbo means ‘bodyguard’ in Japanese, you can see they also used the main characters’ names as a play on the title of the game (The three main guys names are Yo, Jin, and Bo. Get it? HA!). A cheesy move, yes, but it sets the pace for one of the best parts of this game, and that is that this game doesn’t take itself too seriously. At all. This becomes apparent when we are introduced to the characters.
First of all, Yo, Jin, and Bo are such good friends that they fight and bicker at every turn, even during heated battles. This adds quite a bit of comedy to the story. The characters also make quite a number of pop culture references on things like Disney, boy bands, and Final Fantasy. They even break the fourth wall when they discuss Mon-Mon’s failing attempts to ensure he is an achievable love interest at the end of the game. I must admit that I was assuming the characters would be much more serious since the few pieces of art I saw before playing showed no signs of there being so much comedy, but I enjoyed the game’s light-hearted moments.
Because of the comedic liberties taken with these characters, they aren’t the most deep and interesting people you’ll ever encounter. However, as you play through each of the guys’ paths, you’ll learn more about them and will begin to see attraction brew between your chosen guy and Sayori. The game does a good job of making these interactions believable, and you do find yourself rather attached to the characters by the end of the story.
GAMEPLAY
This game plays through like a regular visual novel, clicking through text and having the ability to let the game auto-cycle through the text and to skip quickly through text to the next decision point. Those decision points, however, are where the game begins to get interesting.
The decision points are timed, giving you only a brief amount of time to make a decision. I haven’t played too many visual novels so I’m not sure if this is something unique, but I have never heard of or seen something like this in a visual novel before. It adds the tenseness of the situations you’re in, because if you were experiencing what was going on in the game in real life, you’d only have those few brief moments to make a decision anyway. It adds an interesting sense of realism to the game.
The game also has more than enough game save slots and a quick-save feature that you can use just by clicking a button. However, in my experience, the quick-save button only saves in the first slot, so if you’re using multiple slots you may want to leave the first slot open for quick-saves.
Another thing I like is that although it plays on full-screen by default, you can go into the configuration menu and change it to be windowed, allowing you to play while doing other things. I am always multi-tasking, so this was a big plus for me. You can also adjust the volumes of the background music, sound effects, and character voices to fit your preference. There is also an ‘extras’ menu where you can view collections of the images you’ve seen in the game and enjoy some other goodies as well.
ART AND SOUND
Because there is no actual moving animation in visual novels (for the most part), the music and still-frame art are two extremely important elements, and Yo-Jin-Bo does not disappoint.
The art is very well done, both with the characters and the backgrounds. The full-body shots of the characters are very limited (about only 2-3 a character) but the close-up faces that are put next to the text box are also done very well and have a variety of expressions. The design of the characters’ clothing and the backgrounds really make you feel like you’re in the feudal era, which works well to balance out the game’s pop culture references and to keep you grounded in the story while still appreciating that humor.
Now the sound in this game comes in two parts: the voice acting and the music. The voice acting is absolutely superb. The seiyuu in this game are very well-seasoned and well-known voice actors, many of them coming from big shows like Saint Seiya and Bleach. They voices they use work very well with their respective characters, and are chock-full of emotion.
As for the music, it also excels. It has a very feudal era feel to it and is very catchy and addicting. Even though they only have a handful of songs that they use several times, they never get boring and fit the scenes they’re used in perfectly.
OVERALL
Yo-Jin-Bo: The Bodyguards is a fun and entertaining visual novel to play. While its story and characters aren’t mind-blowing, the graphics, voice work, and music most certainly are. Couple that with a story that keeps your interest and some good comedy and you have a game that is fun to sit down and play diligently or play casually to relieve some stress at the end of a busy day. If you’re a fan of otome games, this is one title you have to check out.
FINAL SCORE: 7/10
Rant ~ Kimi ni Todoke
Posted by: Gina Giannetti on: January 4, 2010
- In: Rants| anime
- 3 Comments
In my extensive blog about the state of the anime industry, I gave several suggestions on how to use fansubs properly while still supporting official releases. I was delighted when my good friend Jon of JanaiBlog took my ideas to heart and started holding seasonal anime samplers. He lists whats coming out this season, everyone that will be attending votes for which shows they would like to sample, and we go over to his place and watch an episode or two each of the shows that garnered the most interest. It’s fun and exposes everyone to anime they would not have normally tried.
At the last sampler Jon hosted, one of the shows we watched was Kimi ni Todoke. We only watched one episode, but by the end of it, my friend Alicia and I were (embarrassingly) squeeing like fangirls, and while Jon was changing over to the next anime, we talked excitedly about going home, checking out the rest of the show, and hoping that it somehow would get licensed in America. We were instantly hooked.
A few weeks later, I finally had enough down time to try and scour for some more episodes. I found them, and fell more and more in love with the series as I watched. I finally was all caught up at episode six, but by then, my perspective had changed.
You see, Alicia and I had been the only people at the sampler who had enjoyed Kimi ni Todoke. Even after the sampler, I got a lot of flack from Jon and my other friends for loving the show so much. Everyone thought it was a generic shoujo show, and I believed (and still do) that it was unique in many ways. I couldn’t understand everyone’s hatred of it. However, the show absolutely sabotaged itself in those six episodes. How, you ask? With the one thing that everyone that hates this show hates it for: Sawako.
Now, I am known for my hatred of main characters in anime. I can love a show to death but absolutely dispise the main character. Seiya from Saint Seiya makes me want to tear my hair out. Usagi from Sailor Moon is downright irritating. I wanted to pimpsmack Mirai from Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 more times than I could count. I generally avoid main characters at all costs and instead delve into the other characters in the show, and it’s very rare that I find myself even being able to stand a main character let alone actually like them.
Now, let’s talk about Sawako.
I adored Sawako at first. She is extremely relatable. Everybody can remember what it felt like to be excluded as a teenager. Each and every one of us has had at least one moment in our younger years where we were teased, bullied, or laughed at. We’ve all had our points in life where we felt lonely and just wished for someone to talk to. Sawako embodies all of the pain, happiness, confusion, and frustration of being a teenager and trying to find your own inner-strength. She was an excellent main character for the show.
Then, she opened her mouth.
At first, the stuttering, crying, and unsure re-asking of questions (“You really like me? Really? REALLY?”) were fine, and very indicitive of what Sawako was meant to portray. The problem is that they made her do it every time she appeared on screen. The stuttering turned into what could be misconstrued as some kind of mental disorder, her crying turned to whining, and the funny, coincidental miscommunications between her and her newfound friends were happening several times per episode. In fact, I almost dislike Sawako’s two female friends (who are so memorable that I forgot their names!) as much as I do her just because they are so thick-headed that I almost started screaming at my computer screen.
I was still fine with all of this because after a few episodes, it began to die down and Sawako started acting slightly more sure of herself, which is normal, good characterization! However, once the above-mentioned misunderstanding occured and made Sawako’s friends think she hated them and was spreading rumors about them, she regressed so hard that it made my head spin. Mostly because I was slamming it against my desk. Seriously Sawako, didn’t you just realize that speaking your mind was the best way to go, like, in the previous episode? Did you forget already?
As shown by my initial acceptance of Sawako’s behavior, I think that these annoying traits can be very tolerable when used in moderation. For instance, Tohru from Fruits Basket is one of the few main characters that I do love, but her constant self-doubt can get annoying at times. In fact, I thought that Sawako was very much like Tohru at first, and I think she still would be if she wouldn’t display these behaviors so often.
Now that I think about it, the problem here may not be so much with Sawako as it is how the creators used her. They seemed to be going in the right direction at first, but they lost their way somewhere within those first six episodes. I would love to have a discussion with these creators about how they handled this poor girl. In fact, if I wrote them a letter, it might look something like this:
Dear Creators of Kimi ni Todoke,
I understand that Sawako is unsure of herself. I understand that she is scared, and frustrated, and in love, and is trying to deal with these new emotions that she is feeling. I understand that she wants to be friends with everyone very badly, and that making those first steps towards that is something that fills Sawako with fear. I understand that she is lonely. I understand the she is awkward. I understand that she is emotional. I understand that the kids in her school talk about her behind her back. I understand that her name sounds like Sadako and that she looks like the character from “The Ring” with the same name. I understand that her classmates also drew this correlation and like to make fun of her by calling her Sadako. You did an excellent job of showing us these things through actions and back story.
Now, stop telling us all of this over and over again. We get it already. Really. I promise.
Seriously. Stop it. Right now.
Love, Gina
In the world of writing, there is something called exposition. Exposition is the process of telling a viewer or reader something about the story through actions, or relevant dialogue, or a flashback scene. When done correctly, it is executed in a way that doesn’t feel forced, awkward, or out-of-place. Kimi ni Todoke accomplished this, yet didn’t seem to realize it and felt the need to try over and over and over and over again to tell us about how severe Sawako’s problems really are.
It was as if the creators baked us a batch of chocolate chip cookies and said ‘here viewers, try this. They’re chewy and sweet and delicious!’ So, we took a bite or two and said ‘wow, these really are chewy and sweet and delicious!’ The creators then took the entire batch of cookies and shoved them down our throats, saying ‘NO REALLY. TRY IT, YOU’LL SEE HOW CHEWY AND SWEET AND DELICIOUS THEY ARE!!!!’ We got that from the first few bites. There’s no reason to overload us with more cookies to prove your point.
Now, I can’t stomach another bite. I have ceased watching Kimi ni Todoke. Will I ever watch it again? Maybe. It’s entirely possible that I may pick it up again sometime in the future. I still want to see how everything will end, but I can’t imagine watching this show in doses of more than two episodes at a time. I think I’d go crazy.
My Top 10 Anime Of The Decade
Posted by: Gina Giannetti on: January 2, 2010
- In: anime
- Leave a Comment
With a new decade upon us, a lot of lists of the best anime of the decade have been springing up, and a lot of you wonderful people have been wondering about what my picks would be. So, I have put together a list of my top 10 anime of the decade!
Now, there are some things I’d like you to keep in mind with this list:
- This list is, of course, all based on my opinion. It is neither definitive nor indicative of the anime industry as a whole. They are simply what I feel were the best.
- I do not watch anime in the same abundance as many others do. In fact, it was a struggle for me to find 10 series to put on the list. So, if some of the bigger anime are not on this list, it isn’t because I don’t like them, it’s probably because I never got around to watching them or watching enough of them for me to feel as if I can call it one of the best series of the decade.
Enjoy, and Happy New Year to everyone!
#10 – Ouran High School Host Club
Ouran is about Haruhi, a new student at a very rich, prestigious school that features a Host Club, where good-looking male students spend time with and serve the female students. When Haruhi accidentally wanders in to the club room and causes some property damage, she is forced to work for them to pay them back. The problem, however, is that they want her to work for them as a Host, because they all think she’s a man!
Now you can probably assume from the description of the series that it’s full of comedy, and you would be absolutely right! Not only does Ouran boast some of the most ridiculous characters you could ever think of, it also has a lot of heart-warming moments. It also, in my opinion, makes very sly social comments about the arrogance of the rich and the flightiness and immaturity of young girls.
If you’re a fan of the manga, you’ll definitely get a lot of enjoyment out of the anime, but be warned that the manga is still going on in Japan and the anime was only 26 episodes long. This of course means a lot got cut out and they had to throw together an ending which, quite frankly, doesn’t measure up to the rest of the series. Still, it’s worth a watch and definitely took me by surprise as one of my favorite watches of the decade.
#9 – Tokyo Magnitude 8.0
What would happen if Tokyo were hit with an 8.0 magnitude earthquake? That is what Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 is all about. The creators did tons of research to try and best simulate what would really happen if such an event occurred. Their findings are told through Mirai, a young girl who is out and about in town with her little brother Yuki when the earthquake happens. They run into a stranger, a woman named Mari, who cannot bear to let them try and make their way home alone, and the three of them go on an emotional quest to try and find the remnants of their families.
Without a doubt, this was one of the most emotional and visually stunning shows of the decade. We see the best and worst of humanity in this show, and it does a great job of pulling the viewers emotions in, making us really want to see these three poor souls find their ways home and reunite with their loved ones. This show also boasts one of the biggest emotional roller-coaster endings of the decade. I’m not ashamed to admit that it left me in tears.
The show is short and sweet at 11 episodes, but it still can feel rather slow-paced at times. However, the show has this interesting way of throwing something surprising into the mix as soon as the show begins to feel the way, so regardless of the pacing, you’ll never be bored with this series.
#8 – Bleach
Ichigo Kurosaki was just a normal teenager who could see spirits until an undead monster called a Hollow attacked his town. Rukia, a shinigami assigned to his town to put down these monsters, meets Ichigo and realizes he can see supernatural things. Their fates become intertwined as Ichigo is pulled into her world and become an important part of the fight against evil.
Bleach gets a lot of flack. Still, I am one of the many people out there who love this show. I love all of the characters and back stories as well as the memorable and over-the-top fights. It also has a good mix of tension and comedy as well. My favorite part of this show, however, is the music. Regardless of what you think of Bleach, you cannot deny that the music is top-notch.
Given the sheer size of the series, it of course suffers from a lot of pacing issues. There are also a LOT of characters to keep track of, and the filler arcs can be downright terrible. Being one of the ‘big three’ shounen series out now, it’s panned by a lot of people, but that won’t stop me from declaring proudly that it’s one of my favorite shows of the decade.
#7 – Fullmetal Alchemist
Ed and Al’s father was an alchemist, so when their mother died, they tried to use alchemy to bring her back to life. Unfortunately, doing such a thing is considered taboo in alchemy, and it resulted in Ed losing an arm and leg and Al losing his entire body, forcing Ed to seal his soul into a suit of armor. The two must now stick together as they join the military to try and find a way to make amends for their sins and get their normal bodies back.
I did an entire blog on Fullmetal Alchemist, so I won’t go too deeply into it here. The story is incredible, the characters are engaging, and the music is emotional and wonderful. The world that the story takes place in is rich as well, and it gives you the feeling of an epic quest, which is exactly what you get when you watch this show. It’s a series that is not to be missed by any anime fan.
#6 – Saint Seiya: Hades Chapter ~Sanctuary~
Saint Seiya is a series that was originally made in the 80’s, and is largely considered the grandfather of sentai anime. Masami Kurumada had written his Hades Arc into his manga, was which also released in the 80’s, but he never got around to animating it. So you can imagine the delight of the fans when he decided to pick this decade to finally animate this stunning story by releasing Saint Seiya: Hades Chapter ~Sanctuary~, Saint Seiya: Hades Chapter ~Inferno~, and Saint Seiya: Hades Chapter ~Elysion~.
Not only is this a more-than-worthy sequel to the original series, but they kept and even updated a lot of the original music, and the characters and fighting scenes are just as awe-inspiring as they were in the 80’s. It feels like it belongs with the original series, but is still gorgeously animated and feels fresh and new.
However, not all went as planned. Due to internal disagreements and copyright issues, there was a lot of switching of seiyuu, or voice actors, during the three sets of OVAs, as well as animators. The quality of animation dipped during ~Inferno~ and ~Elysion~ because of it, which is why I chose ~Sanctuary~ as the best of the three. Still, this 13 episode OVA was without a doubt one of my biggest anime highlights this decade.
#5 – Hayate no Gotoku!
Hayate is a poor teenager whose family leaves him in debt to some not-so-friendly people. He meets Nagi, a rich teenager and total stranger who oddly pays his debt for him. However, in order to pay her back, she hires him as her butler, which starts off a slew of hilarious events.
If you love comedic anime that are full of references to other anime and Japanese culture, then you are going to love this show. The animation is crisp, the music is addicting, the characters are hilarious and lovable, and playing ‘spot the reference’ only makes the experience of watching this show more enjoyable.
The only possibly negative thing I can think of about this show is how long it is, but even with it being 52 episodes, it never gets old or boring. You have no excuse not to check out this excellent series. It’s definitely one of the best of the decade.
#4 – Welcome to the NHK
Welcome to the NHK is about Sato, a hikikomori, or social recluse, who has dropped out of school, has no job, and is living alone secluded in his apartment. By a twist of fate, he meets a girl named Misaki who becomes determined to help him integrate back into society, intertwining their fates in a way that nobody ever imagined.
This series is one of the most emotional I have ever seen. The story is funny but is also very sad and raw in the way that it portrays how society treats people who are different and the darkness it can plunge those people into. It’s a look into both the dark and light sides of humanity, and it holds very little, if anything, back in this portrayal.
The one complaint I hear against this show is that it can be almost too depressing at times, and I do agree with that to a point. However, I think that is a poor reason to not watch this amazing piece of art. It doesn’t take away from it being one of the decades’ best anime offerings.
#3 – Fruits Basket
Tohru is living in a tent. What she doesn’t realize is that she’s also living on the property of the Sohma family. When her presence is discovered, she is invited to stay with them in their house. However, she soon finds out their secret: Their family is cursed to have 12 of their family members turn into animals of the Chinese zodiac when under stress or embraced by a member of the opposite sex. She vows to keep their secret, but as she delves deeper into the Sohma family, it becomes more and more dangerous to know what she does.
Fruits Basket is one of my favorite shows of all time. It’s funny, emotional, the animation is great, and the characters are incredible. There isn’t a person in the world who can’t relate to at least one of the members of the Sohma family as we see them go through everyday trials in some very unorthodox ways. It does a great job of balancing comedy with drama and tension.
I can’t really describe the love and connection I feel with this series, but if you give it a try, I bet you’ll feel the same.
#2 – Itazura na Kiss
Kotoko confesses her romantic feelings to Naoki, but he turns her down. Her day gets even worse when she returns home and her house collapses! A high school friend of her father offers them a place to stay until they can get back on their feet. However, in a twist of fate, her father’s high school friend is Naoki’s father! Living with Kotoko begins to change Naoki’s mind about her and the world around him, however, as they live together both he and Kotoko grow and change side-by-side.
What makes this series stand out is its masterful characterization. We get to see the characters go from high school students to adulthood, both main characters and side-characters. The evolution of each character is handled beautifully and each one is so realistic that you find yourself truly caring about their fates. This is also another title that masterfully blends comedy, romance, suspense, and at times, even drama and terror. The manga was so popular that it got made into several Japanese and Korean live-action drama shows before it even became an anime.
The unfortunate part of this story is that it was never finished. The creator died before she could finish it. However, she had told her husband of the ending she had wanted to have, and when it was made into an anime, he oversaw the ending to make sure it was exactly what she had wanted. She can rest in peace knowing that she left this incredible piece of work behind for all of us to enjoy.
#1 – Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni
Keiichi just moved to a small village called Hinamizawa. His new friends warn him that the god they worship will curse him if he doesn’t abide by the village’s rules, but when strange occurrences start happening, he begins thinking there may be more to this curse than his friends are telling him.
Higurashi is simply a masterpiece. The characters are deep and engaging, the music is perfection, and the story will go places that you won’t even be able to fathom. Despite its outward appearance, this show is gritty, gruesome, bloody, depraved, and all of the things that make up a great horror story. It is downright jaw-dropping and breathtaking to behold as everything unfolds and truths are revealed.
The one big flaw that this show has is its animation. It’s pretty, but the characters are drawn rather oddly with big heads and tiny bodies. However, it doesn’t deter from watching the show at all. Also, the show is laid out in arcs that reset the story every 4-6 episodes. It can get a little confusing, but it’s still very possible to follow the story and enjoy it, making it an exciting and unique way to view a story. This is, without a doubt, the best anime of the decade.
Meri Kurisumasu! Holiday Music [JAPAN STYLE]
Posted by: Gina Giannetti on: December 6, 2009
- In: Music| anime
- Leave a Comment
After spending the last four holiday seasons working in electronic retail, I finally will be able to fully enjoy and celebrate the holidays this year. I decided to try and fully immerse myself in all of the Christmas goodness going around since it has been years since I’ve had the time to really get into the spirit of the holidays, and I forgot how much I loved the music!
Holiday music is something that makes everyone get the warm-and-fuzzies, but sometimes we anime fans can feel a bit detached from our love of Japanese culture because of all the American holiday music. Well, no longer!
As my gift to all of the wonderful people who read my blog, I have put together a small collection of some of my favorite holiday songs, all in Japanese!
The first two I want to call out especially because they bring back a lot of memories for me. When I was in high school I was a HUGE Sailor Moon fan, and the Sailor Moon cast was known for their Christmas albums. So here are two songs that I remember listening to every year in high school done by various members of the Sailor Moon cast!
The first one is “White Christmas” sung by Tomizawa Michie, a.k.a. Hino Rei/Sailor Mars:
And here is “We Wish You A Merry Christmas” sung by the entire main cast!
Here are a couple of my other favorite holiday songs done by the Sailor Moon cast!
First of all, another piece from Tomizawa Michie, “Last Christmas”:
And here with her rendition of “The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)” is Shinohara Emi, who played Kino Makoto/Sailor Jupiter:
But let’s not forget that our favorite Japanese pop and rock singers also love getting into the spirit of giving! Two of my favorite artists sprang to mind, so I found some great stuff from them.
Here is a song called “Gatsu no December Love Song” sung live by Gackt! Interesting story about this song: He wrote it in memory of all those lost in the September 11th attacks here in America. It’s a beautiful and very emotion song. Check it out!
Gackt also decided to be good to us by teaming up with one of the greatest j-pop artists of all time to give us another holiday treat. Here he is with Ayumi Hamasaki singing a beautiful holiday song from a 2005 Japanese TV broadcast:
To round it out, here is a really fun and energetic holiday song from my favorite band of all time, AAA. Enjoy their song “Winter Lander!” from their 2009 tour!
Last but not least is a Christmas treat that my good friend Jon over at JANAiBlog shared with me when I brought up making a blog on Japanese holiday music to him. Enjoy “Holy Night”, an insert song from Toradora! sung by the seiyuu who does one of the main characters, Taiga:
If you want to share these songs instantly with your friends and family, you can just link whomever you wish to my YouTube Christmas Music playlist here.
I hope you all enjoy the music, and I wish each and every one of you a happy and healthy holiday season!
NaNoWriMo Update ~ Day 27 ~ VICTORY!
Posted by: Gina Giannetti on: November 27, 2009
After 27 days of complete abandonment of my free time, I have written 50,942 words, making me a winner of this year’s National Novel Writing Month!
I can’t express how amazing it feels to finally cross that finish line. I never believed that I would be able to take a story as far as I did in this past month. I defied every expectation of myself and proved to myself that I truly can achieve my dream of being a novel writer if I put my passion and effort into it.
Of course, all of those words that i’ve written are rough and unpolished, but now the process of editing starts. I have a wonderful program called KeyNote that is used by many writers all around the world. It allows you to lay out and manage all of your writing and ideas so that you can keep all of the craziness happening in the editing process in order. I think this program is absolutely necessary for me, because I am known for coming up with brilliant ideas and then subsequently losing them in the shuffle of everything.
I had a lot of amazing friends who were so supportive of me, some of whom were even participating alongside me, most notably my friend Megan from Washington state, who encouraged me to join NaNo in the first place. I can’t thank you enough for doing this side-by-side with me Megan, and congratulations on your win as well! We both definitely deserve it!
I also want to offer my congratulations to everyone else who participated in NaNo this year, whether you won or lost. Taking the leap of putting your life aside for a month to dedicate yourself to a craft you love can be a scary, overwhelming thing, but just by participating, we all have taken a step forward in our love for writing, and that is cause for celebrations all around!
For now, I will happily let my hands de-cramp from my keyboard and relax while I watch some anime. I think I definitely deserve a break!
NaNoWriMo Update ~ Day 18
Posted by: Gina Giannetti on: November 18, 2009
Writing a novel is such an interesting thing. For those of you who do not write, I’d like to share a fun story with you.
Sometimes, your characters can start acting on their own. Case in point, today as I was working on my NaNoWriMo novel, my villain, a demon named Antaeus, decided to stop flirting with my main character, Meredith, and started beating the ever-loving crap out of her.
This may seem like pretty normal behavior for a villain, but I didn’t expect it of him. I don’t want to give away too much about my story since it is still in such a raw form, but Antaeus has been sealed away for thousands and thousands of years, and so anything other than the place he’s been sealed in is like a breath of fresh air to him, understandably. Meredith in particular tends to be very cold and icy to people, but as she is growing and changing in the novel, Antaeus has begun to see her as a frost-bitten Winter giving way to a warm and blooming Spring. That intrigues him, and he fully plans to keep her as a slave/pet when his objectives are completed.
So, I didn’t want him to harm her, nor did he want to harm her until today. He suddenly got so frustrated that she wouldn’t do what he said that he snapped a bit. It doesn’t change the way that he feels about her, and it isn’t like I thought he wasn’t capable of violence, but he simply surprised me. It made me realize that his confinement has brewed a lot of dark things in him that he didn’t have before he was sealed, and I promise you, he was put away for a very, very good reason.
So now I feel compelled to explore his feelings and past, and I really didn’t plan for him to be anything beyond a simple villain. I’ve been thinking of doing a sequel to this novel where he wins instead of loses, and we see what would happen to the world if he had succeeded, but I’m not sure exactly how it would go. Would it be enough valid material for a whole other story, or even a novelette? I have no clue.
The hardest thing for me about NaNoWriMo is the inability to go back and edit. Technically I could, but it would mess with my word count and, quite frankly, NaNo is about quantity, not quality, and editing shouldn’t even be a thought in my mind, at least until November is over. Still, I cringe at some of the things I’ve written this month, and I find myself dieing for the opportunity to go back in and fix it all.
I also forgot how much my literary creations mean to me. I showed my girlfriend Leigh a part from my novel that I was insanely proud of. I thought it was one of the most alluring, provocative, and downright terrifying scenes I had ever written. When I asked her what she thought, she said ‘Honestly? Meh.’
I wasn’t upset with her at all. In fact, I feel blessed to have someone in my life who can be as honest about these things as she can. Still, it didn’t make it hurt any less. A writer’s work is a product of their soul, and when someone doesn’t like it, especially when that person is someone who is close to that writer and someone whose opinion is highly valued by the writer, it can be indescribably painful.
Still, every time I think on it and how much it hurts, I remember that I haven’t had a chance to edit it yet, and probably won’t for a while since that particular scene occurs more than half-way through my 50,000 word requirement, and I can tell already that I am going to keep the story going far beyond that requirement.
Other than that, NaNo is going very, very well for me! I was worried about finding time to write 2,000 words a day, but I didn’t write for three days due to a house party I held and I only need about 11,000 more words to reach my 50,000 goal. I have never produced so much before in my life writing-wise, but I think the method of NaNoWriMo is really working for my style of writing, and I fully plan to use said method in all of my future writing endeavors.
I will probably write more about my experience when I get to my 50,000 mark, and when I do, I will continue charting my word count until the end of November to give myself full credit for all the hard work I’ve done. I also think it would be interesting to blog about the editing process and whatnot. We’ll see how that goes.
NaNoWriMo Update ~ Day 1
Posted by: Gina Giannetti on: November 1, 2009
This year is the first year I will be participating in NaNoWriMo, and I thought it would be an interesting experience to blog about. So, here is my first entry!
For those of you who don’t know what NaNoWriMo is, it’s National Novel Writing Month, which happens to be November. To be part of it, you simply visit the website, sign up, and do your best to write a 50,000, 175-page novel in just a month.
Sound crazy? you bet your ass it is! However, what you should understand about NaNoWriMo is that it isn’t about the quality of the novel you write, its the quantity. The point of NaNoWriMo is to get aspiring writers to get off their asses, stop making excuses, and finally get that lingering story idea out on paper!
So, what do you get if you succeed? Well, there’s no prize for NaNoWriMo except for the satisfaction of having completed such a task and, of course, 50,000 or so words of your writing that you can then edit and add on to as you please.
Now, this is my first time participating in it so I don’t know what it’s like going through all of this, but that’s the point of this blog; to share the experience through the eyes of a first-timer.
First of all, the NaNoWriMo website is great because it has a lot of different groups you can join. They have groups for each area of America, and you can just join the one for the area you live in and chat with people near you who are participating, schedule meet-ups, brainstorming sessions, or support meetings, and just generally chat and give encouragement and ideas. It seems to be a very supportive community, which I love.
As for today…well, I’m known for coming up with novel ideas and never finishing them, so starting was tricky for me. For the past few weeks i’ve been going through all of the novel ideas I’ve had over the years and thinking ‘which one shall I choose to write for NaNoWriMo?’ and you know what? I didn’t choose a single damn one of them.
I woke up this morning with a fresh idea in my head. I still hadn’t decided on what to write, so I figured I’d go with it. I’ve done the math and I would have to write around 1600-1700 words a day to make 50,000 by November 30th, so I decided to shoot for about 2000 words a day. I do work full-time five days a week, plus I’m having a weekend house party this month, so I wanted to give myself some breathing room so I wouldn’t feel guilty about skipping a day or two of writing or not having time to squeeze out enough words on a given day; I want to take the time to dedicate to NaNoWriMo, but I don’t want to lose sleep over it or anything like that.
So I opened up Microsoft Word, saved the blank document, and decided to begin.
Now, any writer will tell you that a clean sheet of paper or a blank computer screen can be one of the scariest things a writer has to face; one never really does know where to begin right off the bat. One of the first things I learned when I decided to get serious about writing is that you have to pull a reader in, and that starts on the first page, so it’s very intimidating.
I’ll show you how I eventually decided to start my story:
I have a bad feeling about this.
Meredith couldn’t shake that thought from her head as she looked up the dark staircase. It was dark and seemed almost endless, and it probably would have scared just about anybody, but Meredith was never one to be scared, which is why the thought seemed so out-of-place to her.
She was seriously beginning to regret taking this job in the first place.
I was rather proud of myself when I sat back and read this introduction. This is something that could certainly pull a reader in. Where is this staircase? Where does it lead? Are Meredith’s feelings of apprehension founded, or is she just overreacting? And what job is she doing that is forcing her to encounter these stairs?
That is the kind of thinking, in my opinion anyway, that you want your reader to experience; you want to give them a reason to want to read more.
Anyway, I just continued after that, stopping briefly to come up with a name or think an idea through (which is a really bad habit for NaNoWriMo that I KNOW I’m going to struggle with the entire time), and after about 3-4 hours, I stopped at 2,355 words, and only did so because I had errands I really had to go and run.
One of the best pieces of advice i’ve heard about NaNoWriMo is to start off early writing as much as you possibly can, because having that extra padding in the beginning of the month can make things a lot easier. So, I’m off to try and write more! As I have time, I will continue to blog about the trials and tribulations of trying to write a novel in only a month’s time.
Now, I’m off to craft what is above that spooky staircase!
Anime Openings and Endings: My Perspective
Posted by: Gina Giannetti on: September 29, 2009
- In: anime
- 3 Comments
Anime Openings and Endings
~
I am a HUGE fan of Japanese music, mostly because of my friend Jon and his incredible taste in music. Because of this, I was happy to see his own blog post on anime openings and endings that he wrote a little over a month ago, and it got me thinking about my own opinions on openings and endings. While Jon shared videos of some of his favorite openings and endings, I decided to go a bit deeper into my thoughts on them.
An opening theme is the introduction to its respective show, and just like the few first paragraphs of a book, it needs to pull the viewer in and make you want to know more. In my opinion, you really shouldn’t judge an anime by its opening or ending sequences, but many people do just that. So, let’s take some time to discuss what makes an opening or ending sequence great.
The music is, in my opinion, the most important part. I think just about every anime fan out there can say they know at least a few opening or ending themes to shows they’ve never even watched, but are so catchy and distinctive that they can still recognize them. Also, in my experience, good opening and ending themes generally means good music within the series as well.
The other big factor is, of course, the animation. The desire to watch a series can be effected by not only the quality of the animation, but the quality of its contents as well. You want to see something that gives off an accurate vibe of the show and shows off its characters and some of its major themes, such as a big action sequence, a romantic gaze, or a hilarious pratfall. For the most part, the animation of an effective opening or ending theme usually can give you a good gist of what you’ll be seeing in the series.
The last part, of course, is making the two above pieces come together cohesively into an enticing package. Different effects such as lighting, color shading, or making the animation change or flash in time with the music can add to the overall enjoyment of watching an opening or ending sequence. In short, an effective opening or ending sequence will generally consist of music and animation that is of high quality and gives the viewer an accurate taste and feel of what is contained in its respective series.
To show what I mean in more detail, I would like to share with you all some of my favorite opening and ending sequences and discuss what makes them work so well.
Umineko no Naku Koro Ni
Opening Theme: “片翼の鳥 (One-Winged Bird)” by Shikata Akiko
Ending Theme: “la divina tragedia ~Makyoku~” by Jimang
Umineko is currently airing in Japan right now, so the animation is brand new, as is the music. What makes it so great, though, is the aura and emotion the opening and ending to this show give off with it’s stunning visuals.
Both songs have a very grand, epic feel to them, and the animation and effects are gorgeous, showing off all of the characters and giving you a good sense of the horror that lies within the show. Both songs are wonderful, although a few people I know of dislike the ending theme song (the singer reminds me slightly of Meatloaf, but that doesn’t bother me at all). I’d also like to point out that the ending sequence hosts a new trend I’ve seen in the past few years; the preview for the next episode is actually made a part of the ending theme itself, rather than being a series of clips after the ending theme is over. Even though they only display the name of the next episode, I think it works well.
So, here for you is a beautiful HD version of the opening and ending themes to Umineko. Enjoy!
Excel Saga
Opening Theme: “Ai (Chuuseishin)” by Mikako Takahashi and Yumiko Kobayashi
Excel Saga is one of the funniest shows I’ve ever seen, and it’s opening theme is the perfect example of how such a sequence can give the viewer a taste of what’s to come. This show is known for being zany and crazy, and the opening animation certainly shows that.
Also, the theme song itself is rather insane, but catchy and energetic, just like Excel Saga itself. I wanted to talk about the ending theme as well, but really, it’s just a dog barking to a tune as a woman speaks the translation of what he’s barking (he’s begging the listener not to eat him), and although it’s funny, isn’t very relevant to this blog. You can easily find it online, though.
Anyway, here’s the opening theme!
Ouran High School Host Club
Opening Theme: “Sakura Kiss” by Kawabe Chieco
Ending Theme: “Shissou” by LAST ALLIANCE
Ouran High School Host Club is a school days-type romantic comedy that’s very enjoyable to watch, but honestly, my favorite part about it is the opening and ending themes.
Both songs are very catchy, and they are a great study in how the animation of an opening and ending theme can be relatively simple in nature, but still effective and enjoyable to watch. There are some pretty effects, but for the most part it’s just shots of the characters, but it still gives you an idea of what kind of show it is and is enjoyable to watch.
So take a look, and be prepared; these songs won’t leave your head for quite a while!
Revolutionary Girl Utena
Opening Theme: “−輪舞−revolution (-rinbu- revolution)” by Masami Okui
Revolutionary Girl Utena is known for being a visually stunning (and sometimes downright confusing) series. It is truly a work of art, and it’s opening them is no slouch.
The opening theme for Utena uses the relationship between Utena and Anthy as a drawing point, as well as throwing in some scenes of Utena and the other major characters fighting. So, you can see the series will be beautiful and full of emotion and action as well. Very simple concepts, but still rather effective.
Catch a quick peek at how they did it below.
Bleach
Opening Theme: “Alones” by Aqua Timez
Ending Theme: “Houkiboshi” by Youhna
Bleach is a very popular anime of course, and it’s almost 240 episodes long at this point, so it’s had it’s fair share of opening and ending themes. However, all of them are beautifully done, so I picked my favorite opening and ending to show you.
I chose the opening that I did because it was the best balance of music and visuals I could find among them. The song is catchy and the animation displays a lot of the characters, as well as conveys a lot of the emotion and energy of the show. The visuals in this opening, like in most of the other Bleach openings and endings, are rather abstract, but pleasing to the eye nonetheless.
The ending I chose is probably the best anime ending I’ve ever seen. Not only is Youhna an incredible musical artist, but the ending is unique in that the animation is different at the end of every episode, featuring a different group of characters each time. Of course, this makes the viewer sit and watch the ending sequence each time to see the new animation, and it’s a very effective way of drawing the viewer in.
As a side note, I chose the 11th Division ending simply because they’re my favorite division of all. There’s no other reason behind it 
.
And this finally brings me to my last example: What happens when an opening sequence goes awry.
Berserk
Opening Theme: “Tell Me Why” by PENPALS
Berserk is one of my favorite shows of all time, and I mean that from the bottom of my heart; I watched it in 5 days because I couldn’t stop. It’s an incredible series. The opening theme, however, falls terribly short.
Now I know a lot of people who hold this opening sequence dear to their hearts, so I hesitate slightly to say that it’s bad, but…well, let’s just say there’s very little good about it. The song is rather catchy, but the lyrics are all in Engrish and the singer’s voice is rather whiny, and the backup singers have very shrill voices. As for the animation, although it features the main character Guts, it has nothing to do with the premise of the show, which is all about power corrupting as Guts and the mercenary group he’s a part of start currying favor and making their way to fame. It’s full of fighting, gore, and some rather twisted horror scenes, and the animation in the open sequence barely even alludes to that.
Check it out for yourself and draw your own conclusions.
So, there you go. Anime opening and ending sequences can be powerful tools to draw viewers to a series, or turn them completely away, depending on how good they are.
However, I do want to drive home my point that series should NOT be judged by it’s opening and closing sequences; Berserk is a perfect example of that, and I can think of many shows that are far, far better than their opening themes make them out to be. Hopefully, the next time you run into a bad anime intro, you’ll think about giving the show itself more of a chance.
