Moonies Rejoice! Sailor Moon Re-release Coming to a Computer Screen Near You

Looking back, I find it humorously convenient that our own BrothaDom wrote a post about nostalgia only last week, and now here I am, standing in the aftermath of one of the hugest nostalgia bombs to go off in my fandoms in a while. As with many kids of my generation, we grew up watching DBZ and Sailor Moon in the wee hours of the morning before school, during that wonderful block of programming called Toonami. Today, I’m more than happy to announce that we Moonies will be able to re-live our childhood with an entirely new dubbing of the original series!

TFW all your dreams come true.

If you’ve been keeping up with the Sailor Moon buzz, you’ll know that Sailor Moon Crystal is coming out soon as well. To distinguish, Crystal is an entirely new series which takes the original Sailor Moon formula and brings it up to date with a new cast of girls that bear a striking resemblance to their predecessors. While I’m excited for that as well, I’m much more excited for this revamp of the original four seasons.

What We Can Learn From the Ashes of Polaris’s GAME_JAM

In any type of entertainment, advertising is one of the necessary evils of the trade. In the more indie scenes like YouTube—although I hesitate to call it indie these days—making the decision to monetize one’s channel is almost treated like an offense against the purity of the art. No matter what viewers may think, people do like getting paid for their efforts. And for the most part, advertising affiliates and subsidiaries don’t actually impact the quality or content of the videos they pay for. However, sometimes things can go wrong. In the case of Polaris’s newest venture, dreadfully and horridly wrong.

For fans of Let’s Players such as Game Grumps, Markiplier, and TotalBiscuit, the monetized conglomerate of gamers and gaming news on YouTube known as Polaris isn’t anything new or particularly amazing. It’s almost frightening how quickly the group gained power and popularity, to be completely honest, but not entirely surprising. (With the sudden Let’s Play boom, companies would have to be stupid not to try and capitalize on the audience.) I’m not a fan of the channel itself per sé, but its content is usually good, if not entertaining. In fact, it’s really one of the main places where viewers can see an equal distribution of male and female gamers. And get this, they even interact with each other. It’s fucking amazing.

If nothing else, Polaris is clearly comprised of people that do their damndest to make sure all types of gamers are presented, and given their subscriber count of 500,000, this can have a dramatic impact on the perception of gamers as a whole (it’s not just a sausage fest, isn’t that obvious by now?). The channel doesn’t go out of its way to promote equality; it just happens. So when higher ups at Polaris decided to create a show about indie game development—dubbed GAME_JAM—that happened to include two very talented women in the industry, the point was clearly to showcase these ladies’ talents as developers, not to have token females.

Diversity Blooming In Future Game Title

There hasn’t been much to look forward to in terms of short-term releases in the hideously underwhelming selection of launch titles for the Xbox One and PS4. However, the future just keeps getting brighter and brighter, and not just for graphics and processor capabilities. This new video gaming era seems to also be a new era of inclusiveness within the medium itself.

Back in December, developers at Studio Fawn met the goal for their Kickstarter to fund their game Bloom: Memories, a fantasy adventure RPG taking its cues from games like Fable and The Legend of Zelda. Additionally, the game managed to get Greenlit on Steam as well, already ensuring the game’s exposure to a wide PC gaming audience. But what drew people to this game so readily and excitedly?

Dark Souls 2: What to Worry About

A short time has passed since the announcement of Dark Souls 2 at the VGAs, and the community has been busy digesting all of the information we’ve gotten so far. There have been some strong reactions, particularly regarding the potential changes. In fact, EpicNameBro has already posted several videos digging into what we know so far. Most of these reactions center around the reality that Hidetaka Miyazaki, the creator and director the entirety of the Souls series thus far, will not be directing Dark Souls 2.

Instead, Dark Souls 2 will be directed by Tomohiro Shibuya and Yui Tanimura. Although Miyazaki is devoting the majority of his attention to another project, he is still supervising Dark Souls 2’s development. As supervisor, Miyazaki has said that he is making it a point to protect the core aspects of the series. In contrast, however, Shibuya said that he is much more direct and open than Miyazaki, and that this is sure to be apparent in the finished product.

 

So, am I worried? Hell yeah, I’m worried, but I’m not scared. Dark Souls is precious to me. I have no problem saying that it is my favorite game of all time. In fact, Dark Souls has been an important point of reference and enjoyable experience for me as I have struggled with PTSD for the past year. My experience with Dark Souls is more meaningful to me than any other gaming experience I’ve had. Naturally, I am extremely excited for Dark Souls 2. I want my experience with it to be nostalgic and cathartic, but I still want it to be new and surprising. Of course I’ll worry about Dark Souls 2 as I anxiously await its arrival with my seemingly paradoxical desires, but I feel secure despite all of the reasons there are to worry so far. Dark Souls 2’s new direction will be more a result of its new directors, who are new to the Souls series, than anything else. Second to that is the extra staff they have working on the game, who are also new to the series. Given these factors, what have I got to feel secure in?

Theatre Thursdays: Princess Mononoke, the play?

According to Crunchyroll and a number of other outlets, the classic Studio Ghibli film Princess Mononoke is being adapted for the stage in London by the Whole Hog Theatre company. In keeping with the ecological themes of the movie, the puppets used to portray the various nature deities will be made of recycled material. Although I’ve pointed out my opinion on the use of puppets in theatre before, hope springs eternal. If I had some way to get to London to see this next April, I’d be all over that.

(Via Crunchyroll)