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FInished playing ABZU. Wonderfully immersive and scenic taking video game as an artsy type to the next level. A bit short clocking about less than 5 hours, but it's got replay value.

Started playing something old school called Final Fantasy 9. It's my first time playing it and so far, not bad at all.

I saw the movie Your Name the 2nd time last night which was the dubbed version (screw you AMC for your format showtime mix up).

First time I saw was the debut showing that was held at Anime Expo 2016. After seeing it again, it still holds up as one of my favorite anime films of all times. An emotional roller coaster and a well executed concept of romance tucked under the gorgeous visuals. Whether you're an anime fan or not, it's something that's a must watch.

The dub is actually tolerable, just a some cringy lines here and there but the overall experience still retain itself from my first viewing.

I've only seen a handful of Japanese movies. So far, the performances in the live action Rurouni Kenshin did well in my eyes. 

If you can recommend a few titles for me to check out with the best Japanese acting, I'll check them out when I have time. Thanks!

Yes, I am. Maybe I'm just not used to it but nothing was memorable to me.

Saw Ghost in the Shell last night. Live action of course.

Before I give my thoughts, here's a disclaimer. I went into this movie without any presupposition or expectations. I believe it's fair to judge a movie by its own merits rather than comparing it to its original source. Because going to see the movie with those preconceived mindset will automatically disappoint viewers. With that out of the way, let's dive into this.  

My first impressions on the movie: Good! This has one of the best dystopia cyberpunk setting I've seen in a movie next to Bladerunner.  Yes, it is infested with CG but my goodness, that cinematography! It's jaw droppingly beautiful, it also does a great job with the world building. It's such an incredible visual treat. The music is another thing that deserves a mention. As far as I know, Kenji Kawai wasn't the main composer for this but his most well known track is used for the ending credits. I think the movie did an amazing job with the shelling sequence in the beginning of the movie. What's interesting about the story here is that it may be the most character driven for Major since she's facing her internal struggles questioning what or who she is and searching her lost memories. Even though she still kicks ass, we see her in the most vulnerable state when personally conflicted. There's a certain critical part of the story that reveals what Major was before her brain was transplanted in the body she uses now. As for as the acting goes, Scarlett did a fine job as the Major. I honestly don't think there's any other actress that could've pulled it off both physique and acting wise. Still not sure about that hair though (lol). The actor who played Batou was perfect. Aramaki who was played by Takashi Kitano only spoke in Japanese but had some cool lines. The action scenes are well done for the most part. There are slowmo scenes used but done tastefully. The water fight may be my favorite.

Unfortunately, this movie isn't safe from Hollywood's meddling with the script. My biggest problem is the end villain. Very typical hollywood corporate villain. I would prefer the first antagonist because the motive behind his actions played a more interesting role that wasn't a straight up villain and he had a connection with the Major. Thematically, the movie gets a little muddled. There were times where it tries to get the psychological thing down on humanity and AI, but that later gets ditched after the 2nd act for the sake of Major's personal identity quest. While Takashi Kitano as Aramaki fits well in the physical department, I'm not sold on the acting. Then again, Japanese acting has always felt subpar to me. The CG may be a miss in some areas. The scene with Major chilling under water with jellyfishes in the background was the most obvious CG looking thing by far. You can tell it won't age well. There was one action scene in the 2nd act that nearly gave me a seizure thanks to super bright flickering stun batons.

Overall, I enjoyed it. I'm not sure if this is worth the full price of a movie ticket but I do recommend seeing it on the big screen. Don't judge a book by its cover.

Rating: 7/10

The titles I suggest below are a bit subjective in terms of adult or mature. So hopefully, some of these have the elements you're looking for. I'll put a brief description for each but it's best to watch a couple eps since my explanation don't do justice.

Black Lagoon - If you like gun action, crime syndicates , mobs, and a society that works under subjective morality, then give this a shot. The violence levels are above the norms and there are a lot of comedy that doesn't have the typical anime expressions. Somewhat a Cowboy Bebop-ish. All adult main cast thankfully.

Jormungand - A team of mercenaries and ex-military specialists led by an arms dealer on a quest for world peace, if that makes any sense. So yes, another gun blazing anime. This show is somewhere on my top 10 list. I really like the depiction of a child soldier here and you got a cast of mostly adults. It has a similar style to Black Lagoon when it comes to characters.

Speed Grapher - This anime is quite depraved and sick because debauchery one of the main themes of this series. Your main character is a cameraman that's got a fetish for taking pictures of dead bodies. He sneaks into a secret cult where only rich and famous are allowed, and in that cult is where people indulge in their desires in depraved levels. The thing I like most about this series is the villain. He's sympathetic and does one of the most satisfying things in the series climax that justifies his actions.

Blue Gender - One of the few mecha anime that's brutally violent. Think of it as Starship Troopers but not awfully written.

Bubblegum Crisis - An oldie from the 80s, good one though. Cyberpunk themed. I'm not sure if the 80s had different standards for content but it was gory at times. Can't really say it's an adult type of show but borderline mature.

Moonlight Mile - Two men with a goal of being astronauts and womanizing.

Scum's Wish

Guardian of the Spirit

Baccano!

Mardock Scramble (movie trilogy)

Yosuga no Sora

Sorry, I'll edit this post when I have time. Need to sleep now.

Just bought 3 movie tickets to the anime film Your Name coming out in April 7th. Can't wait to see it again.

I see this particular release more than a cash grab because the band has spent actual effort  by rerecording all the songs which most other bands lack doing whenever a compilation album is released. So I'll give Gazette props for that regard.

I didn't realize ep 10 of Konosuba S2 was the final one. I really hope for a season 3 cuz this show has been so entertaining. This dysfunctional rpg party is so lovable.

Last night, a friend invited me to go see the SAO movie. If you're a fan of the franchise, you'll enjoy it. But for me, it gave me brain damage. At least the tickets were paid by my buddy.

Logan

I'm not an Xmen fan but I really liked this one because it wasn't a superhero film.

The newest Dance with the Dead album came out recently which is called B Sides: Volume 1 and it's pretty darn sick. My favorite track so far would be Venom. I love the aggressive guitar play in the middle of the song. Check it out!

On 2/24/2017 at 0:41 PM, YuyoDrift said:

Been playing Titanfall 2 for a bit.

Had to stop b/c it keeps crashing after the 2nd or 3rd mission. Anyone know why?

 

Never had that issue, I'm actually on my 2nd playthrough currently on the 5th mission. Can you please post the specs of the PC? Maybe I can help troubleshoot your issues. Also let me know what OS you're running.

Last night, I finally saw the anime movie, Harmony. With its cyberpunk dystopia setting, there was a lot of potential. However, there was so much philosophical babbling that loses my attention more than once. There was a very interesting theme laid out when it came to humanity's will affecting society worldwide that reminded me of Phillip K Dick novels, but it doesn't give a payoff it deserves as it reaches the climax. It was unfortunately disappointing overall. For a 2 full hour anime movie, a lot could've been achieved. If they simplified the half the dialogues, then it might've been better. What I liked about the movie is the animation that was a blend of cel and CG that was similar to Berserk movies, except a lot more subtle. Character designs looked great considering that it's the same guy who did Guilty Crown. Music was average, nothing to write home about other than the ED song by Egoist. Other than that, I can't recommend this movie.

Rating: 5/10

Started playing Megadimension Neptunia VII. It packs a lot of content but man its incredibly tedious dialogues makes me skip half the cut scenes (and in doing so, barely anything develops). So much moe moe & teehee talk. I guess this is what I get for buying it from the steam sale.  

Some shows I'm watching this season:

Chain Chronicle: The Light of Haecceitas

I'm a sucker for fantasy genre. I've only seen the first ep but from what I saw, the animation was pretty nice. Need to catch up on this soon.

GRANBLUE FANTASY The Animation

Another fantasy! Read some of the manga chps in prior to this. I'm really liking the detailed animation on this one, no shortcuts used.

KonoSuba: God's Blessing on This Wonderful World! 2

Enjoyed the first season, so obviously I must continue this. Still hilarious! Though I keep questioning if Aqua is wearing panties at all or did the visuals make it look like she doesnt...

Scum's Wish

Another show where I've read the manga years prior to the show. Despite of it being in school setting, it's mature in its content and it's something I can tolerate. 

Seiren

Let's just call it this one a guilty pleasure. Innocent ecchi romance I guess. Reminds me a lot like Amagami SS.

Tales of Zestiria the X 2nd Season

Mainly watching it for ufotable's incredible visual. I like to call it Unlimited Budget Works. 

6 hours ago, Original Saku said:

I definitely recommend upgrading to 1440p 144Hz, it's so great and just a overall game changer (quite literally lol) also Gsync is a must imo. They're not that expensive anymore, the monitor I got is only $399 on Amazon right now (It was actually $150 more when I bought it), and you get 144Hz 1440p and Gsync, granted it's a TN panel and not IPS, it's still an amazing LCD for that price with a ton of features.

 

https://www.amazon.com/Dell-S2417DG-YNY1D-24-Inch-LED-Lit/dp/B01IOO4SGK

 LOL! "Only" $399. Bruh, with my income, I can't afford that.  

I'm still using my old Z97 board with i7 4770k Haswell cpu, and I find no reason to upgrade to the later gen parts. I'm gonna run this thing to the ground until it dies. The difference in cpus of my Haswell and Kabylake is very minimal. My PC hardly had any hiccups in terms of performance.  I recently formatted my PC and reinstalled Win7 which made the performance even better! I have more than enough on my rig to satisfy my needs. 

If there's anything I need to upgrade, that would be my monitors. Having a 144hz monitor will make a substantial difference but man they're pricey AF.

Long story short: My GTX 780ti died on me couple weeks ago. Sent it in to EVGA since I still had 50 days left for warranty and got the GTX 980ti as a replacement.

I have not seen that many good flicks in 2016 all thanks to working full time so I only got 3 on my list. I've already expressed my thoughts on these films several pages back so I'm not gonna repeat myself here.

Best of 2016:

Hacksaw Ridge

Captain America Civil War

Star Wars Rogue One

Worst movies of 2016:

Batman V Superman

Star Trek Beyond

Movies I want to see:

Zootopia

Arrival

Silence

Fences

The Nice Guys

Sausage Party

I saw Rogue One last week. Great flick. Finally, a Star Wars prequel that's actually good. First half of the movie felt pretty typical Star Wars but the 2nd half was brilliant. Honestly, there wasn't a single character I felt invested in which I think that may have been the whole point because it was solely focused on moving the plot along. Some CG was good but others were just distracting in a bad way. More specifically, a certain princess. Also, is it just me or did the star destroyers looked like lego models? Lol. I do need to mention that the space battle here is the 2nd  best after Return of the Jedi.

Not gunpla but it's mechs!  

Both of these are Revoltech figures. One is from Macross Plus which is the YF-19, the other is Dangaioh with the same title name. Note that I was actually playing around with the lighting positions.

I finally bought the game thanks to the $30 sale for the standard version.

My battle.net ID is cyberxspeed#1484

I saw and finished Drifters and I thought it was above average at best. I liked it was gory fun at times but in other eps it was boring AF with too much dialogue. I had a hard time keeping myself awake in the final episode.

Honestly, the one show that took me by surprise was Girlish Number. Just by the looks, it was way outta my radar but after giving it a chance, I was hooked. It reminded me of Shirobako, except it was focused on voice actors. It may look like a moe show but man it's subtlety depressing with hints of hope.

Just a few pics here. I'll update this post sometime later.