Redpanda

So you finally started a recruitment thread huh.

I wasn't even aware of this oh well

I was half-way done writing a complete review when I felt it was against my better judgement to do so. So I thought of something else. This will take a long time and plenty of re-watches but I plan to do it either way. My opinions about Hoshi wo Ou Kodomo is a bit conflicted. Sometimes I think it was slightly above mediocre. Other times I think I should appreciate more what the movie tried to do regardless of failing but then again, I feel that showing such leniency would harm my overall 'constructive criticism' and would feel very much subjective and personal than one needs to be. I hope these things clears up as time passes. As for the recommendation, Shiki would be it if it counts as horror that is. Always wanted to watch it but could never find a good incentive. Now would be the time I suppose.

Luck is a skill. I don't know if that answers is perfect or ironic with the Kaiji avatar Why do you always have avatar of someone smoking?

Did you even read what OP posted? This is where you will find true 'open Internet'.

How did this dead thread even got noticed?

I feel stupid now...

Why do you have your Vsync on? From the above post it looks like you are having low framerate issues, enabling Vsync will just result in more lagging if your fps doesn't remain consistent. If you have no screen tearing then enabling Vsync is pretty much useless since it forces your fps to match with your monitor refresh rate and it increases input lag on an already 30 fps locked game. If you still have lower fps than your refresh rate with the Vsync enabled then the worst that could happen is your fps would drop to 20 or even 15 just for the sake of maintaining every frame to be displayed twice. And it goes without saying that one would prefer higher fps over some minor screen tearing. Note that Vsync never increases fps and instead lowers and locks it. Unless you have a G-sync monitor or a game that has some weird bug that doesn't let the Vsync function like it should (i.e. it makes the game have higher fps than before), enabling it to increase your fps is just not practical.

I realize that I'm late on addressing this matter since the game already got released a few days ago but here I go anyways. Most Japanese ports were originally built from the ground up to run at 30 fps since those games were only intended for consoles/handheld devices and the accepted standard fps limit for these platforms are 30. Now when these games are ported to PC, the developers usually lock them at 30 fps instead of optimizing to 60 fps since the game will have all sorts of problems with the game mechanics, graphical settings, control inputs, missing textures, etc when it is played on fps higher than originally intended. One of the most common issue is that the game physics are tied to the framerates. This means that the speed of the animation being played out in the game directly correlates to it's current fps limit. So when a game in 30 fps is modded to 60 fps or more, the whole game moves in an unintended fast-motion. It feels like you're fast forwarding a game instead of a movie. I think it's best to show than just explain for a better understanding. As you can see, the above game called Toukiden runs 4x times it's original speed when unlocked at 120 fps from 30 fps. Now to optimize this problem the developers have to rebuild the in-game physics from scratch or in best cases, they just have to modify some coding for the physics. But this takes time and effort and costs more plus all the other aforementioned problems so developers are better off locking the game at 30 fps rather than optimizing it to 60 fps without much incentive. This kind of thing isn't uncommon even on western pc gaming market. Need for Speed Rivals had the same issue where the game's speed increased along with it's fps. This was reversed in the case of BIoshock where the game ran fine with 60 fps but the animation in game still played out like it ran at 30 fps thus making the game physics look weird and in slow-motion. So far, I couldn't find any thread or video claiming to have unlocked Tales of Zestiria 30 fps caps to 60 fps and the lets play videos of the game at 60 fps simply uses interpolation and post-processing to give it an illusion of running at higher framerates than 30 fps. Even if someone did unlocked it, I think the game would have similar problem of in-game speed increasing if the quotes in this article are said to be true. I hope I'm proven wrong. Either way, this 'physics tied to framerates' is a very outdated technique for simulating time in game engines while synchronizing them to rendering framerates and there is no good excuse for not optimizing it. Most AAA game developers avoid this but Japanese developers uses this since it takes less effort in coding and calculation done in-game and is effectively cheap in terms of costs.

Makoto Shinkai produces animations with qualities that are arguably the best in the industry. I can already imagine people giving 10/10 in the animation category. But unfortunately, his skills as a writer falls too short. Movies like Byousoku 5 Centimeter, Dareka no Manazashi and the more recent Kotonoha no Niwa are just amazing to look at. But their writings doesn't stand on its own. It's not extremely bad but not that good either. So you can understand me being skeptical with Children who Chase Lost Voices. Those movies weren't worthy for just the eyegasms for me but I hope this one be at least something if it wins. EDIT: Dammit bhra! All you had to do was follow the damn thread!

I don't have anything in particular to say but it felt inappropriate to not say anything. So I'll just say this. I'm gonna miss you Ren. I really appreciate what you did for this community and it's members. Hopefully, I'm speaking for most of the people here on fuwa.

Ah, Kotaku. What have you done now?

This is really depressing. I don't even know what to say. He and his channel is a very important part of my life. Talking about ethics in gaming journalism, WTF series, pre-orders, DLCs, port report, content patch, and many more. He is considered by many to be the face of PC gaming journalism, the one who represents us PC gamers, the martyr for free speech and exposing dishonesty in the gaming industry. He possibly is one of the most intellectual game critic available who brings up topics that actually matters and should be discussed upon spreading awareness among gamers. For me, no one can replace him. I really hope he outlives this average life expectancy. First, this stupid cancer, then his team Axiom closes down, then (on an unrelated note) ELF announces departure from the vn industry. I'm too depressed and frustrated to even think straight. I'll rage somewhere else. This really has been a very shitty day fellas.

Thanks Celphas. Even if we failed to reach a mutual understanding, this whole conversation proved quite educational to me. Of course, the main topic Weabooism included. Now I know where to look if I ever wanted my one dimensional mind to have different interesting and genuine perspectives.

https://www.apstudynotes.org/us-history/sample-essays/american-foreign-policy-isolationism-to/ I don't know about being natural but since World War II, US has been an interventionist. Before that, yes, America was the epitome of isolationism. An isolationist to it's core since the Founding Fathers of the United States promoted isolationism. But now it's different. Globalization is ubiquitous and a must if the said state or country wants to stay developed and remain in power. All those first world countries (US included) practices and promotes globalization at every turn. America applies brinkmanship in larger scale concerning outer dispute and conflicts (sometimes they fail with horrible ramifications) with the help of it's foreign policy and the CIA. Espionage carried out on business potential lands leading to the competitor's ultimate capitulation is done openly (or without much secrecy). Lots of obvious evidences can be found throughout history. To say that the US practices isolationism currently in it's foreign policies would be to deny the facts. But I agree with you that Xenophobia is currently present. If I'm understanding this post correctly, due to political indoctrination the common people think that there is no conflict between interventionism and isolationism? (Person being completely unaware of the contradiction, that's caused by doublethink right?) And that interventionism is promoted as a necessity for achieving isolationism? I find this rather ambiguous. Either way, Interventionism is the opposite/antithesis of Isolationism technically (filtering out individual subjectivity).

It's not a matter of who was in the wrong more but more so of what was the reason, petty or not. (My original post seems suggestive now that I look at it. I'll modify it if any confusion arises or I get trapped in an unwinnable argument ). And yeah, I agree with you. It's not fair to just blame one side. Whether 'theft' was intentional/committed or just the leaders were looking out for their own country during the cold war is a discussion for another day.

I don't think the rest of the world would characterize the US as """isolationist""". Especially those who don't like the US. Oh no. The US isn't isolationist in anyway. The CIA made sure of that throughout the cold war to this day. Ever since President Truman signed the National Security Act of 1947, US have been an active interventionist effectively through CIA across the globe especially the Middle East. Prime examples would be - Unfortunately, these large economical and influential countries are more paranoid and gluttonous than xenophobic as one would propose.

Reminds me of SOPA they tried to pass a few years back. This generation is barely making out of the government's plans to privatize everything (especially the internet) and censor freedom of speech. I can only imagine what the next generation has to go through now that they start exploiting loopholes of consumer friendly principles. Ever since the creation of East India Company by the British Crown, corporations have found solid precedence for big businesses today. From the Industrial Age to the Information Age, we can connect and communicate with the ever increasing convenience. Digital revolution opened a whole new realm for humans to explore and experiment within or, possibly, beyond our capabilities. But now the oligarchy wants to capitalize all that into individual ownership rather than a public one and the mass being aware of that just chooses to ignore it and let the activists take action. For all I know, this world is finished. So long liberty, as you become more of an illusion than an idea of our fundamental birthright by our own fault. I would've preferred a full-scale nuclear warfare from the Cuban Missile Crisis incident rather than us living in an Orwellian dystopia in the near future. Might as well be a cyber vigilante by now if we are waiting for one of our greatest invention and means of communication (i.e. the internet) to get censored and owned completely.

You should give it a try. Don't know if you would like it or not but it definitely won't feel like a waste of time according to my extrapolated confidence (although I think you've already been spoiled by now). It's not a masterpiece but it still is an enjoyable show. Thanks. Fixed it

Finished writing a review (more like nitpicking) for Shingeki no Bahamut.

NOTE: This isn't what I would call a review. More like nitpicking useless stuffs hence the title. I'm hoping that you people are intelligent enough to not take my work too seriously as I proceed. Also, massive spoilers. Shingeki no Bahamut: Genesis is an anime adaptation of a mobile game with the same name. The anime was produced by studio MAPPA who are mostly known for working on titles like Zankyou no Terror and Garo: The Animation. The anime opens with an epic battle scene happening between a dragon and some omnipotent beings just to show you exactly what to expect from it in the future. While it succeeded in capturing many with gasp and awe, it wasn’t exactly what I would call a ‘good opening scene’ per se. The scene left me mostly in confusion rather than working as an establishment of a fictional world. I couldn’t figure out or even get a general idea of who was supposed to be whom and what was going on. Only on the later episodes it was revealed that Zeus and Satan apparently worked together to seal Bahamut. Zeus and Satan? They aren’t even of the same mythology. It would had made more sense if it was Hades instead of Satan. Well, the mixing of pantheons isn’t exactly a con in terms of storytelling so….yeah, I’m just nitpicking. The show evokes the feels and tones of a 17th century Spain with its arts, settings and music. A fantasy swashbuckler anime that draws inspirations heavily from other fantasy swashbuckler western movies like the Pirates of the Caribbean series. The big wheel scene in episode 1, the zombies, the pirates, the entangled ships, the fight on top of the mast, sea monster and tentacle all in episode 4 are some of the homage it delivers sweetly. The orchestrated scores are just perfect for the tone. They don’t stand out much but, as a certain someone pointed out, it’s for the best since it immerses you to the story well without fail and that’s definitely a plus for me. The OP and the ED were the ones that I completely skipped. I wouldn’t go as far as saying that they were bad or even mediocre at best. It’s just that it failed to grab my attention for the first few minutes or I simply didn’t gave it a second chance. It felt weird to see Amira’s personality change in episode 2. In the first episode, she was shown to be less talkative and gave an aura of a stoic person plus the badassery when fighting with the summoned demon (the cinematography used in this fight scene was excellent compared to all the later unimaginative fight scenes). But in the middle of episode 2, her personality changes to a childish one. A dojikko trait. It’s not a matter of Amira opening up to the main protagonist Favaro because she acts childish and vulnerable even in front of strangers and mere acquaintance when staying in the Anatae city. It felt like the change to her dojikko personality was just there to appeal the otaku fans. Also, what’s with her imprisonment? The angels ordered the king to keep Amira under heavy guard (can’t they just send their own infinite supply of angels to protect her?) and the King swore to guard her with his life but where are is the heavy guard? Her room is kept on watch with only two generic guards with distorted facial features. Why does she roam freely around the castle for whole three episodes without anyone even noticing or objecting? There were some little issues with the pacing like how quickly things were resolved when in episode 5, the demon Azazel manipulated Kaisar (other protagonist) into fighting Favaro. The Anatae arc slowed things down distracting us away from the main plot. I think it was done so that they have enough material to reach the twelve episode mark in other words, fillers. But these things not only slowed down the pace, it also added new conflicts that only complicated the overall plot unnecessarily. Like the king being poisoned by paranoia or Jeanne D'Arc (the badass) transforming into a demon. Also, the clichéd ‘most trusted guy is the one behind everything’ plot twist. Lavalley falls victim of this trope. This plot twist fails for me as it felt unnecessary and didn’t really shocked me at all and it also created unintentional plot holes which I’ll get into later. Kaisar (other protagonist) also had some character inconsistency like how much is his vengeance important? At first, it seems like a running gag for him to chase and fight Favaro but later it is revealed that it’s much more serious than that and Kaisar (other protagonist) would never forgive him. But then again, he suddenly becomes very cooperative with Favaro for little to no reason. When falling down, Kaisar (other protagonist) can slow down time and talk at lengths in mid-air. In the last episode he gets his hand (the one where he wears the bounty hunter bracelet) cut off by Favaro to trick Lavalley and seal him off. Couldn’t they just pretend to fight and get close to him in acceptable range and simply seal him off there? Damaging Kaisar (other protagonist) seemed like an unnecessary attempt to make him look like a badass. Jeanne D'Arc (the badass) was just cast off as a minor side character even though she had huge potentials and was shown to be someone really important to the main plot in the early episodes. The CGI effects were surprisingly good when I expected them to be awkward except for the green dragon. That was awful enough. And let’s not forget the great Bahamut himself (or itself). CGI Bahamut stuck out like a sore thumb too. They could have used more tweening for smooth animation flow but it was above good nonetheless. I would have expected more from studio MAPPA since they did some fantastic animation in Zankyou no Terror but I guess they were running out of money and manpower in addition to the dead line. Plot holes left unanswered: If Lavalley was the one behind everything, then why did he left the childish Amira all by herself to find Helheim? How in the world could he predict that some random afro would help Amira to get to Helheim at all cost? Couldn’t he just kidnap Amira by his own when she was roaming freely around the castle for whole 3 episodes? It seems like a much more logical and easy solution than trying to trick her with all the pendent stuff. It was revealed that Amira’s memories were fabricated by Beelzebub and he recreated Amira from Nicole (Amira’s supposedly mother) as an imitation vessel to release Bahamut. It was showed clearly that Amira was a full grown adult when she was being separated from Nicole. Now the cocoon excuse falls flat. If she was an adult from the beginning then how come her personality be childish? She wasn’t grown inside a cocoon from childhood to adulthood so where did this clumsy personality come from? And keeping her inside the cocoon even when she was an adult (also making her a child when she was already an adult) would just seem like a waste of time and not logical. Her acting childish throughout the show felt like they underutilized her potential as a character just like they did with Jeanne D'Arc (the badass). When Amira hugs Nicole, she calls out Amira’s name and dies in peace. How did Nicole know that her supposedly daughter’s (more accurately, her clone’s) name was Amira? And why did she lovingly call out her name if she knew that Beelzebub created the clone by force? Wouldn’t Nicole just hate Amira more for that? Beelzebub and Lavalley released Bahamut by using Amira as the key. Then the Bahamut fatally wounds Beelzebub. Why was Beelzebub so sure that he could control Bahamut if he releases the dragon? Even if Lavalley lied to him that he could control Bahamut, wouldn’t he at least be suspicious because Bahamut was so powerful that even Zeus and Satan could barely seal him off let alone control him? Looks like Beelzebub trusts and gets tricked by people easily despite him being the devil. Also: I think the show would have turned out great if the plot twist never happened. If Lavalley really was the virtuous human who protected Nicole and Amira from the demons, if Martinet (Lavalley’s disguise or his other personality?) never even existed, if Nicole really did gave birth to Amira instead of cloning, all of the above plot holes could’ve been avoided and made this journey more emotional and satisfying than it currently is. Despite me cherry picking all that stuff, I still enjoyed the show. It undoubtedly is in the leagues of one of the best animes of 2014 if not ‘the best’. Quality animation, great slapstick comedy that doesn’t gets old, an emotionally invested epic journey, almost no pacing issues, fillers (subplots) that tied to the overarching plot, good action scenes, Favaro, and the Dragon are just some of the many things that this anime has to offer. I’m definitely hyped for when the next season comes out. And by that time, I hope that they had learned from their mistakes. Q: Where are the review scores? A: It's against my policy to give generalized metric values to a piece of art or literature or any kind of entertainment medium....actually, I just suck at math...I'll start rating things with numbers when I get a PhD in Mathematics or something.

This is a sore reminder of why I should resume my Kanji studies soon.

Some kind of sly advertisement? More hits for the blogs? If not, then the lack (abundance in my case) of convenience is aggravating here.

I'm such a stickler for perfection when it comes to writing some piece of literature or analysis. I would proofread my own stuff daily until I get it all right. And if I do miss something, there is no need to worry as I don't plan to post any of that online for people to read (too embarrassed). I believe the term you're looking for is Productive Laziness. Our minds are lazy by nature avoiding unnecessary work but in smart way. It can't be helped, this is our default mind after all. And it's actually one of our biggest strength as sentient beings.

The idea here is to make an anime in a documentary style with two cours. You know, it would still be an interesting idea to make a small 4 episode OVA in documentary style about some real life events or even about the history and evolution of anime itself.