ICARO

fidchell @ 2008-09-28T05:22:00

2008-09-28T02:24:43Z

This is mostly posted because someone on dgrayman asked me to.

As some of you may know, D.Gray-man anime was canceled this week in Japan. Many fans may claim 'good riddance'. Others may rejoice. Opinions may vary. Personally? I'm amazed and frustrated that it lasted this long. The series suffered from poor ratings and reviews. It had little presence on the fanwork market and minimal merchandise. 2channel hated it.

Why? Obviously, because it was terrible. This may be a terrible thing to say, but D.Gray-man anime is pretty much a tutorial in how to not produce a decent action anime. Even someone without an education in animation can say tell that. Allow me to explain the reasoning.

First of all, D.Gray-man anime lacks ambition. Ambition is an important thing because it shows how much effort you put into being noticed. You have to be ambitious or you'll be buried. One Piece and Naruto are ambitious in their faithful rendition of manga atmosphere. Fullmetal Alchemist and Soul Eater went beyond that by trying to develop their own unique personalities.

Bleach is not ambitious, but unlike D.Gray-man, it doesn't show off despite being half-assed. More on that later.

First of all, adapting the atmosphere is very important. It demonstrates your respect and love for the series. All series listed above managed that. Bleach got pretty lazy and cliche about it, but it still succeeded. It kept the original designs, at least.

D.Gray-man anime failed at that. In fact, it altered the character design for the protagonist, abandoning his wide-eyed, bishonen appearance for the sake of a generic shonen face.

It also ignored most weapon coloration. The light effects on all Innocence in the anime, including Crown Clown? Are off and show that they didn't bother asking Hoshino for guidelines. This demonstrates their lack of care and scares away hardcore fans of the original source.

Filler episodes enhance that outlook. As many can confirm, many people dropped the series once it hit the fillers. Among different fillers, there were two particularly glaring issues.

First of all, fillers took several stories from light novels and altered them into generic action. Second, several original stories ignored the setting rules established by the manga. This disrespect for the original showed even less care for it and scared off even more fans.

They probably attempted to be like Fullmetal Alchemist there. What they ignored is that Hiromu Arakawa personally requested for FMA anime to be different from the manga and said so in a public interview. Unlike with FMA, they had no backing from the original author.

Next! Next part would be sound. Music in D.Gray-man is completely boring and simply utilizes Generic Gothic Music Sound. It's not awful, but it lacks ambition. The Musician's Score is easily remembered and played, but doesn't provide the atmosphere and complexity required from such an important piece. Theme music for Allen attempts to resemble circus music, but it lacks the hopeful, gentle outlook expected from the character. Earl's theme lacks menace. All music is too slow to be used for action, which is crippling for an action series.

Voice acting is a worse can of worms. In every shonen, you can approach the choice of seiyuu in two different manners. You can simply go and choose perfect available voices from the generic seiyuu roster. It won't provide a unique sound, but it will prove effective in the long run. Bleach and Naruto did that, and they succeeded nicely.

On other hand, you can really dig around, attempt to recruit rookie actors and cast certain people out of type, and create a new, fresh sound with its own personality. Fullmetal Alchemist and Soul Eater did that to critical acclaim.

D.Gray-man half-assed that. It attempted to cast seiyuu out of type, but it used a generic seiyuu list and it did that sloppily. It succeeded with Kanda and Lenalee because it hired seiyuu who voiced such roles before, thus making them the most solid actors as far as acting goes.

But then, it went and hired Sanae Kobayashi to voice Allen Walker. Sanae Kobayashi is best known for voicing Lucy in Elfen Lied. Most of her time is spent voicing generic fourteen-year old girls with boring squeaky voices. I understand that she was cast out of type in order to provide a fresh sound to the protagonist, but she was glaringly struggling with the role for most of the series. In the end, casting her out of type wasn't worth it. They could hire a generic name like Akira Ishida and the character would become much more attractive.

In 2007, Code Geass came out and became famous for its unusual acting process, where numerous seiyuu were forced to drastically alter their voice in order to create a unique sound for their characters. D.Gray-man obviously saw that method and attempted to cash in on it. So they hired Saiga Mitsuki and Hiroki Tochi, seiyuu known for their deep, soft voices, and made them force excessive screech into their roles as Debitt and Cross Marian. However, Osamu Nabeshima is not Goro Taniguchi, seeing as his entire existing record consists of directing Hamtaro. He obviously failed at this.

Finally, animation. Animation in D.Gray-man is special because it manages to fail terribly at most basic animation rules. Normally, when the series' budget is too limited to provide fluid motion, it will resort to stylized still frames and highly stylized jerky animation in order to preserve a sense of style. It will then channel spare budget into particularly violent action scenes, thus making them look particularly vivid and memorable. It's a simple method that worked numerous times.

Animators in D.Gray-man used another famous method. It's known as 'turn down the brightness in frames and make them almost black in order to save money on detail'. It's a method that works on a technical level, but looks terrible on the aesthetic one. Normally, it's only used by complete amateurs in series like Shining Tears X Wind that nobody watches anyway. Even series that happen mostly at night, such as Trinity Blood and Soul Eater, avoid that method because it's terrible and makes the scene both blurry and boring to watch.

And because they don't bother pacing themselves, they end up not having enough budget for brightly lit and colored scenes that require more complex artwork. As a result, colorful scenes like the Ark look horrible because of awkward anatomy. Fail.

In conclusion, there is a certain moment of merchandise failure in D.Gray-man. This moment is called Lenalee Lee, the female lead of the entire series. You see, it is law that anime is watched both by men and women, no matter the genre. As such, you need characters who all kinds of audience could associate with. You need to give them merchandise accordingly. You need to reach out to everyone.

Lenalee is largely ignored by the merchandise staff in favor of her male companions. She is eerily absent from most keychains, bookmarks and everything else beyond group posters and trading cards. As the main female lead, she would be a perfect character for the teenage female audience to associate with. However, she is given zero merchandise, thus making it difficult for fans to show their appreciation of her. Even in the filler episodes of the anime, she is treated as nothing more than the generic romantic interest. By focusing on bishies, the production team alienated the female audience. Good job, guys.

And that's about it. As you can see, my opinion on D.Gray-man anime and its production methods is largely vicious and sometimes insulting. Unfortunately, little could convince me about it being wrong. Everything about its production was wrong and we can only hope that some other studio will intercept the rights before the series hits the TV screens again.

That is all. Sorry for tl;dr.

fidchell @ 2008-09-27T07:02:00

2008-09-27T04:07:58Z

PREMISE

Once upon a time, in a land far, far away there existed a place known as the Garden of Sky...

Jardin du Ciel is a prestigious academy designed to provide education to people of all ages and social classes. It stands in the center of a beautiful port city... A city that seems to exist separately from the rest of the world. Newspapers don't speak of the world outside the city and news never appear on TV. The technology looks and feels like early 21st century, but architecture is whimsical and old-fashioned.

Jardin du Ciel feels like it exists in a world of its own.

One day, something happens in this isolated world. All over the town, students awaken and realize they don't remember anything before their life in the academy. They remember their names and their roles, but their lives before the academy are a perfect blank. Personal possessions are only barely familiar, and there's an empty sensation of something missing...

As they proceed with their daily routine, this sensation grows stronger. Everywhere is alien and unrecognizable, and most other people are merely blank shadows. As they seek answers to their questions, they find themselves caught in the midst of a strange game orchestrated by 'the end of the world'. They are to fight each other on the secret arena behind the school. The prize is their lives, their memories and the power to revolutionize the world.

But what does that mean? Who or what is the end of the world, and what is that mysterious power it promises? Why do they have to fight? What is the importance of the rose brides? And why, exactly, can they find nothing more than splinters of their memories?

The fairy tale of their lives is only beginning...

THE GAME

Jardin du Ciel is a multi-fandom, multi-universe role-playing game based around the concepts and themes from the animated series Revolutionary Girl Utena. We accept characters from all fandoms and mediums, with both options of playing the original version of the character and an alternate universe one. We also allow original characters created by the player, although we may be strict concerning those.

Interested? Then check out the rules and the FAQ for more information!

THE LINKS

COMMUNITY
MAIN + OOC

CHARACTER
TAKEN + RESERVED + REQUESTED + APPLICATION

RULES
RULES + CHARACTER + POSTING + TIMELINE

SETTING
DUELIST GAME + SETTING + CAST PLACEMENT
KASHIRA BLOG + REVOLUTION RECORD

fidchell @ 2008-08-13T02:00:00

2008-08-12T23:00:41Z

Once upon a time, I had this idea for a story based on D.Gray-man. I pitched it to Momo and Sarah because I'm interested in it, but prefer RP over fic. It might become something more one day, but I'm not sure yet. In fact, I'm honestly not sure this is ever going to get past the prologue.

Now, without further delay...

It's been seven years since Allen Walker disappeared into the light.

Ever since the end of that war, things have been changing constantly. The world changed its shape every passing moment until it became utterly unrecognizable. The inventions that were once held in secrecy by Vatican, now inhabit every corner of the streets. Firearms and death machines have drained all sense of morality and justice from war and left behind bloody tactics and heartless weapon races. Politicians found lying more useful than keeping keeping secrets. From a cruel and romantic fairy tale, the world has turned into a perfect well-oiled machine.

Sometimes, it feels like the only ones who never changed are us. The ones who witnessed that war and remained behind to remember the day when Allen Walker disappeared into the light.

Last week, I received a postcard from Komui... A small hand-made painting of the Chinese countryside on one side and a letter that smelled of fresh ink on the other. It arrived on a small golem that could travel faster than sound. Even in these changing times, his efforts are astonishing and his words summon a nostalgic smile.

He wants us to celebrate the western New Year together. In small letters written in graceful cursive, he complained about how boring it is to hide in China, where his hometown only summoned a small margin of fascination the London streets gave him. He had no choice, he knew that. Vatican was always on his tail ever since the day when he celebrated the end of the war by turning his back on all but people who he cared for. They couldn't stop him. It would take a single essay of his to bring down the entire church. But they could try to silence him through people he held dear, and he couldn't risk that.

Speaking of people, it seems that our sweet Lenalee has baked a birthday cake this Christmas once again. It was a chocolate cake decorated in white crowns and roses. When Komui tasted it, he felt disappointed. Once again, she refused to add even a single droplet of liquor. He tried to complain, but that got him nowhere. Lenalee refuses to change that recipe. Every year, when asked to do so, she says he wouldn't like it. Of course. Among all of us, she was the first to reach to him. Even now, she's still waiting for him to come back for his birthday.

All of us are waiting.

Well, except maybe Yuu... He was never the kind to wait for luck to shine down on him. When I passed through Germany last week, I ended up staying at Miranda's. Yuu was there mere days before me. At first, the two of them barely spoke... Even Marie couldn't force a word from his old friend. But one day, they were awakened by loud noise in his room and rushed to his help, only to find blood all over the sheets. That's right... The scar he received that day is still hurting.

Maybe that's why he cannot wait like we do. He has something to always remind him of those days. That's why, even if all of us are resigned to waiting, he will always search for his own answers.

"What are you thinking about, Bookman?"

A deep, soft voice echoes through the carriage and makes me abandon the world in the distance in order to focus on the world in front of me. The first thing I notice is a tall pale man smiling at me from the door. That's right... Krory. On that day seven years ago, Krory lost his reason to fight. Somehow, in the end of that very long day, we made our first step in the same direction and, with one thing following another, found ourselves traveling together for all these seven years.

"Nothing worthwhile, Krorykins," I mutter in a dull voice and give him a lopsided grin, easing away his worries. He answers with a smile of his own, and then suddenly raises his hand in a quick motion. A small object travels through the carriage and lands onto the cloth in my lap with a soft thud.

"Look at what I found," he speaks and I answer by lifting the object in order to look it over. On the cover of a large book bound with a thick silver-gray cover, beautifully printed letters invite me to read 'The Millennium War, or the fantastic tale of the boy who killed time'.

"They even have it in Russia," I comment off-handedly as he climbs into the carriage and spreads his tall, thin figure all over the opposite seat, making sure to brush every little bit of snow off his clothes as he does so. I look at the book one more time, flip through several pages to find perfectly familiar words and letters, and finally offer the book to him.

"Did you like it?", I inquire as he wraps his gloved fingers around the book and pulls it closer.

"With the story told in this book left so long behind us..." He sighs softly as he raises the book over his head and swings it open. "...it reads like a beautiful fairy tale. I truly hope a lot of children read it and grow up to be like him. I'm sure he would like it, too." He pauses for a brief moment, and then allows himself a dull chuckle. "I'm surprised grandfather let you publish it, however."

"I'm surprised, myself," I echo through a peaceful grin as I follow his cue and move to make myself more comfortable. The peaceful rhythm of the moving carriage hits my mind like a bottle of good wine, and I find myself drifting into sleep.

"Hey, Krorykins..?", I mutter sleepily.

"Yes?", he echoes as he flips the page of my book.

"Could you read the last paragraph to me?"

"Of course," he answers through in dull amusement, and then flip another few hundred pages until he reaches the very final one. His expression hardens into the kind I rarely see these days, with his fang digging into his lower lip in that manner where I almost wonder if he's going to bite it through. His eyes darken and, a harsh sigh later, he starts reading.

"And now, those gentlemen and wonderful ladies who have honored and graced me with their attention by reading this book, listen to this plea. If, in your travels through this life, you ever find yourself visited by a clown with a scarlet star carved into his forehead, please do as I request. Tug on his silver cloak and tell him to abandon all he does and, next New Year, visit a small village in the north of China, where mountains and rivers are still pure and violet butterflies will guide his way. Tell him to pay a visit to a small town in Germany where time once stood still and visit a couple running an antique store. Or better yet, tell him to come to London and visit the house on the corner of Baker Street where windows shine every midnight.

"And if he asks you why, do look at him sternly and remind him that there are those who remained behind on the day when time was killed, those who are still waiting for him."

That's right. Even if seven years have passed and the world changed completely, time was killed for us on that day. Even if our war seems to have ended, we never received our promised happy ending.

We are still waiting for the boy who killed time.

For Allen Walker to return from that light of seven years ago.

fidchell @ 2008-05-10T19:07:00

2008-05-10T16:22:54Z

Another week passed by. I am beginning to seriously hate my university. While I enjoy my classes, some of them are simply not worth taking. Ukrainian Business Language is an irritating pain in the arse, and Latin is completely ruined by our teacher being a jackass of the massive variety.

I'm in this entirely for languages, Culture Study and Literature, just so you know.

To make the week worse, I've been suffering from manga withdrawal. For some reason, last week's Shonen JUMP skipped D.Gray-man. Thankfully, the chapter 158 is out now and it's gorgeous, but I'm still not sure if making the fans wait for two weeks was worth it.

In other news, jardin_du_ciel went through a redesign in terms of posting format and narrative. Several important NPC's will be introduced tonight, and the story is expected to take off next week. So if you were confused by the flaky posting structure before, please, take another look at the game.

Other than that, not much interesting happened. I'll be posting lots of fandom ramblings soon, but that's about it.

Until next time, folks.

fidchell @ 2008-05-09T02:54:00

2008-05-08T23:55:17Z

I just stayed up until 3AM putting the finishing touches onto the Neku application for Template. I could casually finish it during weekends, but nooo, my inspiration had to hit right now.

One day, I'll learn to manage my time properly.

fidchell @ 2008-05-06T21:26:00

2008-05-06T18:37:19Z

Everyone has a favorite movie.

I'm not talking about a movie that you consider the most superior in terms of narrative, visuals or acting. I'm not talking about a movie that is the most intelligent you've ever seen. No, I'm talking about your pet movie. That movie you truly love from the bottom of your heart even now. The one that may not necessarily be perfect in any manner, but that awakens in you a kind of rampant favoritism, makes you biased and illogical about it, no matter the proof at hand. The kind you've seen a long time ago, maybe as a child, but you can see it numerous times and still be fascinated with it. It always brings a smile to your lips and tears to your eyes, making you destroy its container with repeat watchings and then buy a new copy. The kind that made your heart flutter numerous times and continues to do so again.

It isn't easy to find that kind of movie. It is very hard, sometimes impossible, to let go of it once you have found it.

Why am I talking about it?

Tonight, in a video store, I found a 20th anniversary DVD of Adventures of Baron Munchausen, directed by Terry Gilliam. It is a movie most doubtfully remember, but it's that one that always makes me happy. And now I can finally watch it without ruining my ancient video tape.

I have no time during this week, but this weekend is promising to be the most fascinating and exciting I've had in months.

fidchell @ 2008-05-05T07:46:00

2008-05-05T04:59:22Z

The more I'm doing story design for my characters on Jardin, the more I realize I accidentally ended up patterning my story themes as 'fake identity and memories versus real ones'.

Allen dedicated his whole life to fighting Akuma and he never once regretted it, but this is the only chance at a normal life he ever had. It'll be a punch once he recovers his memories.

Lelouch considers his memories and identity to be some of the most precious things he has, and realizing his were faked is sure to set him on scorching the entire academy and the revolution game. Same goes for Haseo, who treasures his identity and friends much more than he lets it show.

Serenade has always dreamed of this kind of normal, peaceful life, but many decades ago, he has abandoned it on the side of the road and walked away. He never turned back since. But now that he has what he wanted, he can't help but feel wrong and already seeks his lost memories.

Minato and Saya are the only characters who don't have that streak, and they pale when I consider that my other character ideas are Neku Sakuraba (The World Ends With You), Lenneth Valkyrie (Valkyrie Profile) and Kuroki Kaze (Final Fantasy : UNLIMITED).

I'm not sure about this yet, but I hope I can make the pattern worthwhile.

fidchell @ 2008-05-04T20:34:00

2008-05-04T19:30:38Z

Okay, so the one week break from university has come to an end. As fitting for someone of my hobbies, I spent this week either roleplaying, or playing Persona 3 and The World Ends With You. I'll expand on my feelings concerning the second one later, when I have my feelings arranged and the Secret Reports filled out. But for now, I'll ramble about something the usual stuff.

i_s_l_a_n_d_rp is becoming my main RP, mostly because it consistently delivers good threads. It has the best DOGS cast I've ever seen, and both D.Gray-man and Soul Eater players are wonderful. Incidentally, it filled my desire to RP Soul Eater; we already have 90% of the cast's good guys. I wish we could find Sid and Thompson sisters somewhere. My favorite character is still Allen Walker, but that's because wearing his skin for me is like breathing. It's like I'm back playing X, but with more delicious canon.

template_rpg has a good chance of devouring a huge chunk of my soul, as well, provided I can easily get into playing Neku. He's a char I can easily get into, but I reserve the right to judge until I actually find myself writing him.

jardin_du_ciel is finally getting off the ground, but I'm still not content with its speed and very small cast. We can run it, but not at the pace I would find comfortable. I still wish Allen would stop being the sole representative of the D.Gray-man fandom, and for us to get more chars from Persona 3, Code Geass and .hack, but I can live with it for now.

I guess I should try advertising again.

Anyway, time for me to do my homework. If I don't come back tomorrow, it means I finally snapped and destroyed my Latin teacher for crimes against humanity.

fidchell @ 2008-04-28T17:20:00

2008-04-28T14:20:48Z

It's been ten days since I touched this thing. I know I had several new people friend me and should be doing an introduction post, but I've been in a mood too foul to do anything productive. I haven't been updating FRAGMENTS for over a week, and while the promised fic is moving, it's moving very slowly. Sometimes, I go online and just wonder if I should bother hitting the 'enter' button at all.

I find myself intellectually starved. These days, my biggest pleasure in life is story-driven RP. However, it's been the longest time since I got to do any of that. I find myself so starved where RP is considered, the gears of my mind refuse to turn at all.

Don't get me wrong, Island is a fascinating game. I love the people, the action and everything else. I even somehow managed to score a popular character. However, it's still a crack RP and I'm in it for the people and for the fun. It cheers me up a great deal, but it doesn't really have what I'm looking for.

Jardin du Ciel, on other hand, fails me because it is nearly dead. Every day, I find myself considering a post that would close the game, and only Lieke's interventions keep me from doing so. Finding players proved to be an awkward and often hellish experience. The few we have are great, but I keep worrying that even they will lose interest due to lacking activity and wander off.

It pains me, because it is my game and I put tons of effort into it. However, launching games and finding players is extremely difficult if you're not popular in fandom, and I'm anything but that.

I considered applying to other games, but I still don't know about that. I mostly play popular characters who are already taken on every game out there, and the more obscure choices of mine usually fail to generate interest. Rather than try and fail, I would rather not try at all. I know it's a morbid outlook, but lately, I find it more comfortable to be a fatalist than to be myself.

I find it tiring that a hobby of mine is giving me so much stress. I should've picked one with less chance of error.

fidchell @ 2008-04-18T22:23:00

2008-04-18T19:41:25Z

I love how every time a story arc in D.Gray-man ends, I find tears coming to my eyes. Chapter 156 begins with a beautiful collage of the entire Exorcist cast and then moves into one of the most heartbreaking chapters of the series. I slowly realize that I would cry over this series the most on the day it ends.

The World Ends With You is like a massive apology for everything Tetsuya Nomura did wrong after Parasite Eve. It's a gorgeous game with excellent gameplay and rich, engaging characters who I absolutely love, except for a few completely annoying ones. I'm looking at you, Joshua.

Lieke has made an advertisement for jardin_du_ciel. You can copy it from the text box below. If you're on the game and/or want to help in advertising and making it bigger, use it as much as you want.

<tr><td bgcolor="#3E81BD" align="center">PREMISE</td></tr>

<tr><td> On a prestigious academy in what seems like a normal city, strange things are happening. All over campus, students are waking up, and realising they don’t remember a thing from their lives before they came to the academy. Slowly but surely, through discovering hints of their past in the streets, they’ll find themselves trapped in a game led by the mysterious End of the World, who promises them the power to revolutionise the world—but at what price?

Determined to reclaim their memories, all use the key to open the door to their past and the other riches they will receive if they win— however, they’ll have to fight for it! </td</tr>

<lj-cut text="the power to revolutionise the world?"><tr><td bgcolor="#3E81BD" align="center">THE GAME</td></tr>

<tr><td>Jardin du Ciel is a multi-fandom, multi-universe RPG based on concepts and themes from the series Revolutionary Girl Utena. We accept characters from all fandoms and mediums, with the option of playing the original version of the character and the alternate universe one. We also accept original characters created by the player.

Interested? Then check out the rules and the FAQ for more information!

<tr><td bgcolor="#3E81BD" align="center">THE LINKS</td></tr>

<tr><td>Rules - You can read the general rules of IC and OOC conduct in <a href="http://jardin-mod.livejournal.com/656.html">this post</a>.

F.A.Q. - You can read the details concerning characters and applications in <a href="http://jardin-mod.livejournal.com/1005.html">this post</a>.

Setting Information - You can read more about the game world in <a href="http://jardin-mod.livejournal.com/1061.html">this post</a>.

Application Post - You can apply the character you're interested in playing in <a href="http://jardin-mod.livejournal.com/1306.html">this post</a>.

Taken Characters - You can read the list of characters present in the game in <a href="http://jardin-mod.livejournal.com/1784.html">this post</a>.

Maintenance Center - You can reserve characters, add them to your wishlist, etc. in <a href="http://jardin-mod.livejournal.com/2019.html">this post</a>.</td></tr></lj-cut>

To all those who answered my offer to request fic, I'm currently working on it, so just be patient. Meanwhile, feel free to request more fic for me to write.

I have an exam in culture study tomorrow, so I better abandon the computer now. Until later.

fidchell @ 2008-04-17T01:03:00

2008-04-16T22:20:16Z

This is an insane thing of me to do, considering that I still have to finish tons of stuff for the meme on fandomsecrets (Iris, fic to two of your requests is coming up sometime this week), but I figure it won't hurt too much.

You see, I've been feeling like writing fic lately. I've been writing a lot of it, and while it's not as filling as good RP, it's good as a secondary meal. Thus, I give you an offer. Leave me a comment with a story request here, and I'll write a one-chapter fanfic for you.

What kind of request? Anything. As long as it's a fandom I'm familiar with and can write it, I'll do it. If it's a crossover, I'll also do it. I'll do pairing fic and, if you ask nicely, maybe even smut. If you're not sure if it's a fandom I'm into, comment here and I'll clarify. In the end, if it's a fandom I know, I'll happily write about it.

The only rule is that I won't take a character OOC for any purpose.

Also, I'll accept FRAGMENTS-related requests, but this would only affect Lieke and Rai, since they're the only ones who follow that series. 8|

fidchell @ 2008-04-16T15:38:00

2008-04-16T12:53:16Z

One important thing to understand about Shoji Kawamori is that his work is like fine wine. He gets truly better with age, and every next attempt of his shines with experience gathered from previous ones. The sophisticated militarism of Armored Core, elegant fantasy of Escaflowne, whimsical rebelliousness of Eureka Seven, graceful idealism of Sousei no Aquarion. Everything he touches seems to shine like gold and diamonds, except that it has much more substance.

That said, Macross Frontier is perfect. It is an animated series about a Kabuki actor, a galaxy-traveling pop-songstress and a waitress dreaming of a singing career saving the universe with a transformable mecha and music composed by Yoko Kanno. I tried looking for flaws, and there are none. Nothing is out of place. Much like, many years ago, Kawamori began his path to brilliance with Super Dimension Fortress Macross, he now soars to perfection with Macross once again.

Even if you're not a fan of mecha, give this series a chance. I guarantee that it'll change your perspective of the genre.

fidchell @ 2008-04-13T09:06:00

2008-04-13T06:15:41Z

After the second half of 2007 and the torrent of crap someone confused for animated series, I was almost not expecting anything good from 2008. I could endure one thousand of date-sim series, but Rosario+Vampire was an outright offense to every sensible soul and a true proof why GONZO should not be allowed to adapt manga into animation.

You know, if the disastrous treatment of Chrono Crusade and Bokurano didn't already prove that.

But this season is damn good. xxxHolic KEI apologises for all the disasters done by the first season by accurately following all important stories of the manga, and even adding actually amusing content. Tower of Druaga : Aegis of Uruk strokes one's fantasy-based nostalgia by proving tha some people still not only remember, but are fond of good RPGs as ancient as 1984. KURE-nai brings forth rich, engaging human drama by adopting its original work's personalities and ideals faithfully and carefully, once again proving that light novel series are good. To-LOVE-Ru proves that fanservice can still be amusing, while Chi's Sweet Home proves that a two-minute slice of life series can be more pleasant and welcome than any engaging story in the market for someone who wants to relax after work.

Most importantly, Soul Eater brings back the BONES teams who worked on Ouran Host Club and Fullmetal Alchemist, along with the composer of Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, and shows everyone how to make rich, intelligent, visually and atmospherically exciting stories with great characterization. I had hoped that D.Gray-man animation would do that, but Soul Eater is similar enough in themes and style to take over its spot quite nicely.

This is a good year. I look forward to it.

fidchell @ 2008-04-08T06:37:00

2008-04-08T03:44:08Z

I refuse to watch D.Gray-man animation because it ruins the manga's atmosphere terribly, but god, I get giddy like a kid in a candy store every time the new opening is leaked to YouTube.

I don't know what's wrong with me. The anime is terrible when compared to the manga, but the opening themes are always good and I cannot help but follow them. D.Gray-man is one of the most wonderful series I've discovered this year. It helped me pull through some horrible times with its ability to remain optimistic even during the darkest story arcs. Even if I'm cursing about how the cliffhangers and short chapters suck lately, getting a new chapter every Saturday is one of my greatest pleasures.

I might actually end up watching the anime to get my Allen and Lenalee fix, now that the manga is back on hiatus. ;_;

fidchell @ 2008-04-06T22:09:00

2008-04-06T19:09:56Z

ALL HAIL BRITANNIA! \o/

fidchell @ 2008-04-02T13:45:00

2008-04-02T11:10:32Z

Dear dad,

This may come off as a shocker to you, but there is one thing about being a man that instantly decides his worth as a person, his success in business and his appearance in front of others.

A man never does anything for the sake of being thanked or appreciated. A man doesn't bribe people to gain love and respect. A man doesn't beg others for recognition. And he most certainly doesn't openly blackmail people by withholding aid and demanding respect in exchange for that. No. Real. Man. Ever does such things. Only the lowest of the low resort to such actions. They do it because it is the only way to stroke their ego.

A man helps those who need help because they need help. A man does things because they need to be done. A man lies only to protect his friends, never his worthless pride. A man only raises his fist to protect people and beliefs precious to him, never to bully others into agreement and respect through fear and pain. A man doesn't buy affection and gratitude because it's his job to love, to protect and to learn gratitude by being a shield for his family and friends.

If you want to open your mouth and claim you are a real man, try to fit at least one of these points. Protip : insulting a fifty-year old woman who is twice smaller than you, dropping a bucket of dirty water on her and then going into your son's room to bitch and moan about her like a retarded passive-aggressive teenager is not the way to do it.

Being a man is a harsh, thankless path. There are no shortcuts or easy choices on it. You grit your teeth, stand your ground and move or you shut up and bow out of the race. You can't have both things at once.

Now shut the fuck up and get off the road. There are more worthy people out there who deserve to walk the path of heaven.

Come back when you're something more than a petty cockroach.

fidchell @ 2008-03-31T21:38:00

2008-03-31T18:59:51Z

Alright, so jardin_du_ciel begins tomorrow.

I am excited, except for one tiny detail. Nobody, including me, has finished all of the applications for their reserved characters.

So, for those who already reserved their characters, I'm making everything a bit easier on you. Because I already know everyone who applied as good, skilled players, you are free to make your character journals and begin your game already, as long as you finish your applications and apply those characters by May 1st. I think giving another month for simply filling in your character information is more than enough time.

The other rule is that you must run the list of your characters' possessions past me so I can tell which will be confiscated for the beginning of the game and which will remain by their side. In other words, things that actually matter IC.

So if you're worried about starting tomorrow because your applications aren't finished, worry not. Everyone who already joined in, can start off tomorrow.

FFT : War of the Lions - on Power-Leveling

2008-03-29T18:09:59Z

fidchell: My current party is:
Ramza. Squire : Mastered. Knight : Mastered. Monk : Level 8. Current Class : Monk.
Agrias. Half-mastered Holy Knight.
Mustadio. Half-mastered Mechanist.
Generic Black Mage, almost Mastered.
Generic White Mage, almost Mastered.
Geomancer who is also a Mastered Knight and Level 8 Monk.
fidchell: Who should I switch out?
fidchell: I like the Geomancer because she's on high levels, but considering that Ramza and Agrias are raep tiem nao in anything that even remotely resembles close combat, I'm considering instead moving in Mustadio and training him to be a NINJA.
zanma: i'd switch Ramza to Thief, so he can unlock Ninja
zanma: i find that Mustadio is most useful with a gun, honestly
fidchell: I'll definitely work Ramza over to Ninja so I can get Dark Knight on him, but I want to master the Monk.
fidchell: Mustadio is useful with a gun, but I think it would be hilarious to have a ninja Mustadio.
fidchell: Not to mention that Mustadio's options with a gun are kind of limited, so adding up Ninja skills on him could be epically useful.
zanma: yeah, but i don't especially like throw, honestly >_>;
fidchell: Yeah, but it would be hilarious and I'm so not training him for an Arethmitician.
fidchell: Not after I spent 10 hours getting just one spell set for my Black Mage, who is my plan for the Arethmitician.
zanma: so then Chemist is probably out of the question
fidchell: Actually, a Chemist is another good idea.
fidchell: Because I need someone to Throw those items.
fidchell: I should totally turn Mustadio in this kind of epic tosser.
fidchell: Who tosses everything and anything.
zanma: that just makes me lulz
fidchell: You know it's the best Mustadio ever.
zanma: Mustadio is a natural born tosser
fidchell: He can even toss your mom.
fidchell: Ramza : I beg you, not my dear mother in heaven, God bless her soul.
zanma: poor Ramza

fidchell @ 2008-03-28T14:34:00

2008-03-28T12:55:41Z

The local media store got another influx of anime-related goodies.

Now, I have no idea if their chief has no clue what he's doing or what. The figurines they received this time are a set of Onimusha 2-3 figurines and another set dedicated to Samurai 7, GONZO's remake of an Akira Kurosawa classic. While both series are excellent and shine with brilliant character design, neither is particularly possible. In the end, the only people who'll touch them are people who think they look cool... Or dedicated nerds like me.

Samurai 7 figurines are definitely the highlight of the new party. The set contains figurines of all seven protagonists, posed with their weapons of choice. The detail in clothing and faces is excellent for something of merely three inches tall. Unfortunately, Heihachi and Kyuza figurines were already grabbed by someone by the time I discovered the collection. Thankfully, I'm not all that attached to either character.

In the end, I made off from the store with figurines of Katsushiro, Kanbei and Kikuchiyo. Kikuchiyo is easily my favorite achievement. I loved the character in the actual series, and even though his death was destined to happened due to canon, it still crushed me. Having him pose on my shelf, his clothes flowing, his giant sword pointing proudly and his red helmet glistening in the lamplight, is an incredible pleasure.

Onimusha figurines got off worse. The collection lacks any mention of Jacques, Jean Reno's character from Onimusha 3. It does have a figurine of his girlfriend, but she's a minor character who is only in the set for the tits. The Genma form of Nobunaga Oda is flashy, but not that particularly interesting. Onimusha forms of both Jubei and Samanosuke were too bleak to catch my attention. The combo figure of Kaede and a ninja-type Genma was impressive, but Kaede was never my favorite character. The figurine would be less wasted if they'd use a popular character like Kotaro Fuuma. Other fan favorites, such as Magoichi, were also eerily absent.

In the end, I made off with the figurine of Oyu of Odani, the female lead of Onimusha 2. Her figurine proved the most sophisticated one, and I did always like the character.

In the end, I do have four figurines on my shelf, so I can't complain. My shelf looks much better now.

I look forward to what series they purchase next. I really wish for D.Gray-man. :X

fidchell @ 2008-03-27T20:19:00

2008-03-27T18:44:16Z

Recently, certain things about video game music annoyed me beyond belief.

Let us take, for example, Drammatica. For those not in the know, Drammatica is a compilation music of music by Yoko Shimomura, best known for her work on Kingdom Hearts, Parasite Eve, Legend of Mana, Heroes of Mana and early Front Mission games. To call Shimomura a talented composer is to downplay her talent. Legend of Mana is easily one of the best soundtracks on PS1, and Parasite Eve has the only survival horror soundtrack worth touching.

Parasite Eve is nowhere near Drammatica. Instead, it has four tracks from Kingdom Hearts, which doesn't have that much good music. It does have two tracks from Live-A-Live, though, so thank god for that. In either case, the content also ignores many of Shimomura's more intense music, so it seems chosen more for publicity than actually showcasing the diversity of her skills.

Even worse is when Square decided to release this. Yoko Shimomura has been with Square since SNES, and is currently the only high-profile composer they have left since that time. However, she only receives enough recognition for a compilation album after all the overhyped names like Nobuo Uematsu and Hitoshi Sakimoto abandon Square and turn to freelancing. Did she not deserve recognition before, or is Square full of shit? My bets are on the second.

A different kind of complaint is reserved for The Black Mages III : Darkness & Starlight. Now, I'm somewhat biased about this one. You see, I completely adore Final Fantasy VI. Love for that game is coursing through my veins like blood. It's the only game in the series beyond Ivalice ones that I truly and love.

For that reason, there are some things in that game I consider holy. For example, I cannot stand hearing Aria di Mezzo Carattere, the famous opera performed by Celes, arranged and altered in any way beyond bumping it from SNES hardware to live orchestra. That song is so perfect and complete, hearing remixes of it drives me up the wall. It's even worse when remixes are too pretentious to be even remotely considered good.

Darkness & Starlight, the title track of BM3, is one such remix. It's one thing that Nobuo Uematsu goes and alters the main melody to symphonic metal. Under some other circumstances, it could even be forgivable that he placed the horrible vocalist who did the heart-breaking Skies Above from the second album onto this one. At least Skies Above could grow on you because it's only a couple minutes long. Darkness & Skylight, however, is a whopping fifteen minutes long. Fifteen minutes of raping the sound of Final Fantasy VI to something only recognizable to fans because the vocalist maintains the original melody.

In conclusion, video game music is in a sad, sad place.

I can't wait for .hack//G.U. TRILOGY O.S.T. to come out and soften the pain.

fidchell @ 2008-03-26T23:22:00

2008-03-26T21:22:32Z

Bear with me, guys, the RP launch isn't done yet. Six days until Jardin du Ciel begins, I've run into the last problem. D:

It isn't the players behind reserved characters not submitting even half of their apps yet; if too many people fail to make it on time, I'll allow them to apply with the note that they must fill in the application later. My main problem is NPCs. Out of required 13 NPCs, I have only 10. I need another 3, but I'm honestly out of ideas. I need villains. I already have many vicious and manipulative ones, so I'd like to have someone tragic or misunderstood. Someone stopping whom wouldn't really please anyone. A bonus point if they're an evil scientist or can spam the area with monsters.

The character cast we have right now is...

SUPPORTING CHARACTERS
Aries - Anthy Himemiya - Revolutionary Girl Utena
Aquarius - Clow Reed - Card Captor Sakura/xxxHolic/Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle
Sagittarius - Igor - Persona
Taurus - Solid Snake - Metal Gear Solid

VILLAINS
Ophiuchus - Akio Ohtori - Revolutionary Girl Utena
Leo - Dorian Gray - The Portrait of Dorian Gray
Scorpio - Kefka Palazzo - Final Fantasy VI
Pisces - TATARI - Tsukihime/Melty Blood
Cancer - Odio - Live-A-Live
Capricorn - Ganondorf - Legend of Zelda

Few of these characters actually help each other, so I don't have to worry about compatibility. Also, there is a reason for Anthy and Akio being set on opposing sides and it'll make sense fairly quickly. Also, Rai offered Knives from Trigun, but I'm not sure we need more overpowered loner villains than we already have.

Come on, guys, we only have Libra, Virgo and Gemini left to fill out. If there's an NPC you would like to play a big role in the game, now's the time to mention them. D:

fidchell @ 2008-03-22T15:20:00

2008-03-22T13:20:12Z

Alright, here go some more notes concerning jardin_du_ciel and how I expect plot to run on it. I realized that I mostly talked of mechanics so far, and never the story of the game. I think it's about time to fix that.

- I don't think I need to mention it, but the school is nothing more than a setting. School activities will be used for interaction and comedy material, but unless other players take it upon themselves, I won't make them stand out. My main focus will remain on duels and the story.

- The passage of time won't correspond to the real one. There will be a notice on how much time each storyline takes and how much time is spent between them, but it will be left just vague enough to create a timeline. Otherwise, real-time progression puts too much strain on the narrative and the players.

- I, personally, will create thirteen story arcs. They'll make up the bulk of the game's main story and contain several key events that'll make the game progress. Each one will be coded after a sign of western Zodiac, with the thirteenth being coded after Ophiuchus/Serpentarius.

Events made by other players will also count as part of the story, but those will be made by me so even if the players don't feel like making up new events, there will be something to react to.

Each storyline will have several NPC's at the core of its events, and they will be driving the story. Some of them will be OC's, most of them will be existing canonical characters. I'll be posting a list for which character corresponds to which Zodiac sign later, so others who join will know which spots are free.

For now, I can tell that the character strongly associated with Aquarius chapter will be Clow Reed of Card Captor Sakura/Tsubasa Chronicle/xxxHolic, while the key characters behind Ophiuchus will be familiar to all those who watched Utena in their own time. I only have vague ideas for other signs for now, so if you feel like offering a fandom you'd like to see in a storyline, go ahead and do so.

Well, that is all for now. As usual, comments and feedback are welcome.

fidchell @ 2008-03-22T10:50:00

2008-03-22T08:50:42Z

My real life has been devouring me for the last week.

As some already might know, my mother left for Sankt Petersburg to check on grandma, whose eyesight has been turning worse and worse lately. I do not mind her lack of presence, since I'm self-sufficient enough, but there's a certain something that makes everything more painful. My father returned home two weeks ago.

My father is a bizarre creature who is treated with confusion, disgust or shock by most members and friends of the family. It's one thing that he loves ordering people around, it's another that he's incompetent at anything beyond his job. He tends to wake up at 10 o'clock, he can barely cook, he never washes dishes after himself or cleans the house, he doesn't water the plants or feed the cat. He also has an ego the size of Death Note fandom and has a bizarre belief that it's alright to not be discreet about one's sex life. In other words, he is the direct opposite of me.

We don't get along a whole lot. He doesn't give a damn about anyone, but he demands that everyone gives a damn about him, even if people have neither the time nor the strength for it.

He started tonight by tossing a shitfit because I didn't worship him for finally buying a new photo camera. Geez, what an epic development. It's not like our old one is fifteen years old.

On the good side, I did very well on the seminar concerning medieval French literature. Knight romance, to be specific. I prepared for the seminar really well, I read all the required texts and I was all ready for it. I provided an epic character analysis for Tristan and Iseult, and then finished it off with analysis of Ywain. :3

On the next day, the literature teacher - who I never got along with - stopped me in the hallway, told me I was all the talk among our literature teachers because I prepared well, and congratulated me. It felt really nice. ♥

That's about everything interesting that happened in my real life in the last week. Prepare for me spamming this journal with two more posts, though, since I still have to ramble about video games and RP, and I'd rather not mix all the topics in one post. :X

LiveJournal vs. InsaneJournal?

2008-03-14T17:47:26Z

No, I'm not talking about abandoning the blog itself. My question is much more simple and directed specifically at the players behind jardin_du_ciel and its potential members.

Following LJ's decision to ban Free Accounts from being registered and thus raise potential issues for registering new character journals, would you like to have the game moved to another blog system, such as InsaneJournal? I personally have no preference for any website at all, so this is more of an offer for those people who would be more comfortable on the game without filling their character journals with advertisements.

As a moderator, I consider the best choice to be the choice preferred by the players. Tell me your opinions and I'll support them all the way through.

fidchell @ 2008-03-12T23:37:00

2008-03-12T21:41:08Z

After writing this application in about an hour, I feel vaguely insane. I suddenly realize that I can write applications really fast when inspiration hits me, which makes me wonder why the hell I have yet to finish most of my applications for Jardin.

I don't expect much of this application because of how quickly I finished it, but man, I can't help but be hopeful. XD;