Trailer Tuesdays: Animal Crossing—New Leaf

I know this slot is usually used for upcoming movies and new seasons of popular television shows, but this week I’ve decided to use it for my own devious plans. Well, okay, it’s more like to pimp out the game that I’m super excited for.

After getting completely shafted at last year’s E3—don’t think we’ve forgotten or forgiven, Nintendo—the Animal Crossing fandom was sitting on the edge of their seats, foaming at the mouth for any mention of the long-awaited title. Or at least a goddamned release date. Many months we waited patiently (which is a relative term, I realize) and as the days passed, more and more information finally came to the surface. With the release date finally nearing—June ninth: two more weeks, only two more weeks—I feel that I can take a little time on this blog to gush about this game that I feel like I’ve been waiting for my entire life.

I love Animal Crossing. Seriously, it’s about my favorite game series (right under Dragon Age and Mass Effect) and why not? It combines the decorating/hoarding of The Sims and combines it with cutesy graphics and an easy-to-use interface. Its mechanics are simple to understand, so much so that my eighty-six year old grandmother, who is convinced that all video games everywhere are too high-tech for her, adores this particular game and plays it whenever she gets the chance. For a group of animals that follow the same six-ish base personalities, it’s strangely easy to get attached to them. (Some, instead, may be easy to hate and thus drive you to force them out of your town.)

Even though so much information has already been released, this trailer in particular does a rather good job at giving a brief synopsis of what a newcomer to the series can expect. Fishing, bug catching, swimming (a feature new to this game!), shopping, clubbing: truly you can spend hours, days meandering through your town and still find something entertaining to do.

I have to admit that I really hate the voiceover, though. Could you find someone to sound any more bored? I don’t think so. But, that’s just me being picky.

If this sort of game seems interesting to you, check out some of the sites talking about it! If you already have a 3DS, I’d highly recommend picking it up, even if you wait until the price drops. Or, you can be like me and just give Nintendo all your money for the 3DS bundle pack. Needless to say, when that glorious day arrives I’ll be glad to finally get my hands on the next game in this series I love.

Web Crush Wednesdays: A Game of Thrones Supplement

So, I guess Game of Thrones is pretty cool or whatever.

Okay, okay, fine. I love Game of Thrones. I love all the drama, all the dismemberments, all the scenery, and of course, all the fantastic characters. What I love most about it though, is the richness of its universe. It’s clear that there are hundreds of houses the audience may never know about or lands that may never be visited within the story that the audience is allowed to view, but it’s clear that they all play a role in things like how a character may strategize their tactics for battle or how they may choose their allies. While the show does a rather good job at giving the audience information on Houses, lands, and other such things that directly affect the main players, sadly there are many things that are resigned to staying questions in the viewer’s mind.

A good example of this: the other day I was talking to my girlfriend about the late King Robert’s rebellion and his relations to the Starks. Now, as someone who hasn’t read the books and doesn’t really have any plans to in the future, I know that Robert was in love with Ned Stark’s sister and eventually took the throne from the mad king, Aerys Targaryen. Little did I know all the extra delicious tidbits that had been left out of the show—no doubt due to time constraints—that she had only been too glad to tell me. Such as there being certain other, juicer elements at play during Robert’s rebellion (of course, when playing the game of thrones, nothing is ever as it seems). So while the show is wonderful, those of us who aren’t taking the literary pilgrimage presented by George R.R. Martin are dreadfully out of the loop on some things.

Though today’s webcrush may not fill this information gap entirely, it certainly is a great start. Today, I bring you youtuber gameofthronesfan94 and their stash of videos on the mythos of Westeros.

As much as some of us fans want to read the novels, we just don’t have enough time or the will to sit through those bricks (I proudly place myself in the latter category), especially not with all the ‘glowing’ reviews of Martin’s writing style. So, stumbling upon a channel with lore that I can watch, or at least listen to while I’m doing other things—guess what I’m doing right now?—is a godsend for me. Not only is the lore interesting, but I love the fact that these history lessons are given by the characters that know them best. A study on the Targaryens is given by the little shit Viserys and likewise the history of House Greyjoy is presented by the Greyjoy children. (And since I love House Tyrell, I’ll give you a snippet from them. Biases, ho!)

So, if you find your knowledge of the kingdoms of Westeros a little lacking but simply don’t have the energy to get into the books, I’d highly recommend taking a look at these videos. Now if you excuse me, I’m going to get back to my regularly scheduled sobbing over Theon.

Trailer Tuesdays: Ore to Omae no sa o Oshiete Yaru yo

You did it, guys. You climbed this whole mountain. …Almost.

This may look like a normal anime promo to the uninformed viewer, but what it is in actuality is an excellent example of how internet fans (and fans in general) can have a very large impact on the companies we thrive off of. A couple weeks ago, this trailer showed up seemingly out of nowhere with no information behind it and only the long winded title of Ore to Omae no sa o Oshiete Yaru yo (“I’ll Show You the Difference Between You and Me”), almost immediately affectionately nicknamed ‘Swimming Anime’. However, all was not as it seemed.

Web Crush Wednesdays: Rantasmo

Perhaps this is a little cliché—or perhaps it was just inevitable, I haven’t yet decided— but the time has come to pay partial homage to one of the most, if not the most popular internet sites for nerdy introspection on various media outlets. To get technical, I suppose it would be a partial-partial homage. If you are familiar with the site ‘That Guy With the Glasses’, then I’m quite sure you’re aware of Lindsay Ellis, more commonly known as The Nostalgia Chick. Today’s web crush is from her own site, Chez Apocalypse  which leads us to this startling conclusion: Lady Geek Girl and Friends needs more gay.

Honestly, before I watched this video, I had nothing outside of a vague idea of the entire Chez Apocalypse line-up (despite watching a hefty portion of them on TGWTG). So, I guess thanks to my undying love of analysis on every nook and cranny of Disney movies I’ve been exposed to the wonderful Rantasmo. It’s disappointing that I’ve never even so much have heard of the series before especially considering how wonderful the title is and that he’s been putting out episodes for almost three years.

His series ‘Needs More Gay’ explores the effect the gay community has had on various media—the results sometimes being just as favorable as unfavorable—and in turn how some of those outlets have affected the said community at large. He also discusses how, while more out in the open, the LGBT* community is still not exactly being given a fair shake at exposure, especially when most of said exposure is being done through subversive means.

I have to be honest, this section of social justice is certainly not one I’m as well versed in as I would like or probably should be. What Rantasmo does in comparison to some other commenters on the web is initiate a dialogue that is simple to understand and doesn’t go on for terribly long. Clocking in at around four minutes each, his videos are a lovely and pithy way to get your feet wet in the vast sea of LGBT* discussion. Also, in true TGWTG style, he manages to insert humor into his videos so it doesn’t seem like you’re taking that media class that you scheduled at eight in the morning for some reason (it seemed like a good idea at the time). Plus the topics that he chooses to cover have a nice range from the more obvious topics—see: Lady Gaga—to lesser discussed topics such as television horror shows.

So if you have time, of which I’m sure you have at least four minutes to spare, I’d check out one of his videos. I’ll post one of my favorites below. (Okay, so it might be the newest video posted, but I think it’s a really interesting look at one of the movies I wanted to see but never got to.) And who knows, you might just find that you yourself just might need more gay.

Generation Avex: Sistar19′s ‘Gone Not Around Any Longer’

This is not the song I expected to see at the top of the charts this week.

While it’s hardly contestable that Valentine’s Day in America has become an overblown marketing scam for Hallmark and Hershey’s, its basic significance has not been lost on the rest of the world. From dramas and anime alone (and probably from a culture lesson in Japanese class if you’ve been able to take one) it’s clear that Japan has its own traditions concerning the holiday and it’s largely the same in Korea. The pattern is Valentine’s Day on the fourteenth of February, White Day, a female oriented Valentine’s Day, a month later and, perhaps a Korea-specific holiday, Black Day (bemoaning one’s single-ness) a month after that. So, it’s strange to me to see that, while this kind of holiday is clearly celebrated and holds importance in a romantic sense, during the week of this love-love holiday a song about a break-up shot up five spots on the Mnet chart.

Generation Avex: ‘Return’ by Seung Gi Lee

If you would have asked me, I would have sworn that the song that would be at the top of the Mnet charts would be a Christmas song, but that song has been relegated to the number two spot. This week’s number one is something a little different. Something a little more sentimental.

This is my first time hearing something by Seung Gi Lee, charming crooner that he is, and I hate to say it but his voice reminds me of every other Korean male pop singer in every band ever. This isn’t to say that it’s a terrible voice; indeed, it suits the song quite nicely and is pleasant to listen to, but if you played it against other males around his age in the pop scene, I wouldn’t be able to tell them apart. For a sentimental song like ‘Return’, though, I think the unobtrusive vocals really lend itself to the believability of the song as a whole.

Musically, ‘Return’ is a nice ballad song that sounds as if it could easily be used as an image song for a drama—which makes sense as Seung Gi has stared in a couple dramas and seems to be more actor than musician—or easily inserted in any romantic movie at the point when the heroine is either a) left by male love interest or b) surprised by the return of said male love interest. The usage of the latter option would show that the lyrics were totally ignored, but when have lyrics ever stopped anyone? There’s ultimately nothing new going on here, though, as the piano parts are very simple and swell in the places where you’d expect them to. Yet, I do feel like the simplicity of the instruments also lends itself to the piece: ‘Return’ is first and foremost a song about the memory of love, not the exciting, new feelings that come with love but a somewhat wearied look back on a relationship that was sweet and confusing. Simple. The music reflects that. We all know that feeling, so the music should follow suit and be something we can recognize not in a boring way, but in a nostalgic fashion.

Whereas the music is so perfectly planned, the lyrics have a gorgeous sense of imperfection in them. This ballad, while still about being in love, is not a straight up declaration of eternal longing. The first line sets this up perfectly with:

The mysterious end of that season

I think, did I really love you?

All in all, the song is a bittersweet reminder of that relationship that maybe didn’t work out, but still had an impact on your life. About that person you’ll never forget because they were important but the reality of the world is that you both had to go your separate ways. These feelings can be complicated, and indeed the lyrics present this (although simplified due to the fact that it’s a song) which is why pairing them with the simple melodies of the violin and piano is a perfect compliment.

The video also fits well, being a short about an awkward, bumbling high school romance where thing don’t work out. It’s clear that there are a lot of miscommunications between the two characters, but none of them leave the relationship feeling slighted. They both still appreciate the other one despite having to leave each other at the end. Stylistically, the muted colors and the very slight sepia filter adds to the sense of nostalgia. While, again, it’s nothing new, it’s very well thought-out.

In the end, I can see why they chose to release this song during this season and also why it over took a more holiday-inspired song in popularity: this is the time of the year where people get introspective about what they’ve done in the past year and just the past in general, making promises based on them for the new year. For doing what it set out to accomplish, I give ‘Return’ four out of five piano keys: as much as I like the song, I wanted it to do a little bit more (even though it makes me tear up every damned time). Give a little bit more feeling. However, without a doubt this song will find a home on my iPod and make me cry while I’m driving to visit people in the new year.

You Get an Earworm! And You Get an Earworm! And You…

A belated Merry Christmas to all you Christmas celebrating readers out there! I was going to give you guys some good old fashioned social justice for the holiday, but that will have to wait as I just finished roughly fifty Christmas cards all in one fell swoop. As you can probably guess, my writing drive is resting at ‘slim to none’ currently. Rather than that, I thought I would bring you another K-pop review, but it seems that I’m too tuckered out even for that. Man, these holidays are really awful for being productive members of society! So, instead I come bearing gifts of cheesy Christmas songs straight from the homeland of SM Entertainment itself. Yes, this is the post of all the Christmas songs you love to hate, but in Korean.

I do have to wonder if they play these songs incessantly in every store, on every radio station, in every space that could possibly be devoid of sound from the middle of November until Christmas itself like they do in the States. I wonder if any country is as annoying with their schmaltzy holiday music as this one, honestly. If any of our international readers have an answer to this, I’d really love to know. I’ve never been overseas during a major holiday, but somehow I find it difficult to imagine walking around a store hearing one holiday song, then leaving and turning on the car radio to hear a cover of the same exact stupid song, then going into another store and hearing another remix of the SAME DAMN SONG OH MY GOD THIS SEASON IS THE WORST FOR MUSIC.  But let’s face it: it wouldn’t really and truly feel like the season unless we were all sick of these songs by the end of November.

Okay, okay, I’ll stop digressing further and further into meaningless ramble and finally post the videos. Truly I hope that you all—dearest faithful readers, new comers, and darling haters alike—have a most glorious holiday. See you all next—wait, I have another post this week. Suckers.

An ‘ElfQuest’ Movie? Be Still, My Beating Heart

Earlier this week—Monday to be exact—my secret love for the comic series Elfquest finally became known to the public. However, thanks to the ever-watchful Lady Saika, now I have something more to fangirl over! Despite the idea for an Elfquest movie being continuously shot down by larger studios like Warner Bros., two wonderful independent producers, Stephanie Thorpe and Paula Rhodes, have taken it upon themselves to make this long awaited dream a reality.

Their trailer (posted below) not only shows some beautiful costume work and settings, but also that these ladies have a great appreciation for Wendy Pini’s series. Almost every scene they’ve choreographed I can match exactly to a scene from the series meaning that they know what they’re doing. I’m a little disappointed that, while the Elfquest ladies certainly are badass and deserving of all screentime, we don’t get to see what the dudes look like. However, if the interpretations of Leetah and Clearbrook are anything to go by, I have no worries. And that Winnowill is perfect.

Although the public will most likely have to wait several years before this fantasy hits reality, it will be well worth it to finally see them in all their glory on the big screen.

Read the full article here via The Mary Sue.

The Road So Far: Heartache Review

WARNING: SPOILERS BELOW! READ AT YOUR OWN RISK, IDJIT!

This week’s episode was all about Sammy and a little about Dean, and how their past year apart is leading them both down radically different paths. All this emotional turmoil is the juicy center of a chocolaty treat…er, I mean, Sam and Dean fight off the god Cacao.

Chocolate: Will make you stronger and healthier. Eat it!

Cacao is a Mayan god of maize… corn. I was confused too. Wikipedia informed me that Supernatural‘s writers aren’t entirely off base with this. There is something about Cacao or some god with a similar sounding name that is a corn god, but I also saw a lot of sites about the Mayans and cacao, as in chocolate, not a god. So sorry guys, but I have no idea what to tell you about how accurate the portrayal of this Mayan god is. The most I know about Mayan gods and culture comes from grade school history classes, The Road to El Dorado, and the brief internet search I did before writing this review. Anyway, the actual god does not feature, but a football player (that Sam apparently idolized as a kid) was an ancient Mayan athlete that made a deal with the god Cacao for strength and eternal youth so that he could continue being a star athlete. The only catch was to appease the god he had to sacrifice hearts to Cacao, by ripping them out of someone’s chest and eating them.

I just really wish someone had made a joke about chocolate and the god Cacao, because the whole time I was thinking about chocolate and wishing my candy bars would make me more athletic.

No, Seriously. Let Me Tell You

If you’ve been following what I’ve been writing on here for any length of time you would have heard me bring up the webcomic Homestuck, each time ending whatever explanation I may have put with “it’s complicated”. And it is, but at the same time I believe that’s it’s one of the most defining pieces of art of our generation. So, to further expand on the explanations that I couldn’t provide, I have some links for you guys today. Let them tell you about Homestuck.

A couple days ago Brian Lee O’Malley, the author of the popular series Scott Pilgrim, conducted an interview with Andrew Hussie, the author of Homestuck. Both being moderately similar in topic and style, it’s not only a wonderful conversation between like-minded people—discussing everything from work schedules to shipping—but also an eye-opening look at internet culture and how it not only influences modi of storytelling, but how people relate to each other and the characters on a different, and perhaps confoundedly closer, level than ever before. Give it a read at the Comics Alliance here.

On the complete other end of the spectrum, we have this video which I think is how many people feel when reading Homestuck for the first time, or just from hearing about it from Tumblr or their friends. It’s hilarious not only because how confused they are, but how some parts of that confusion ring so close to home.

No matter which side of the coin you may fall concerning this series, it has to be conceded that the internet is becoming a huge part of entertainment and with that comes not only memes and feels, but also a sociological bridge to other cultures and subcultures. I believe that more technologically savvy entertainment is paving the way for future endeavors, whether they use it by advertising or entertainment. Homestuck‘s importance is its place in the evolution and acceptance of this trend.