I was randomly surfing the Internet and discovered information about the manga/anime Bokurano the other day.
"Bokurano," which could also be parsed as "boku-ra no," means "ours." (More or less.) Its significance comes from the introductory songs for a number of lighthearted children's series which depict children controlling multiton engines of destruction, or as they are affectionately known, super robots-such songs describe the robot as "ours."
If you pay attention to the lyrics (even without the plethora of rather upset-looking children), it makes it clear that this isn't a lighthearted series; in fact, Bokurano was created by someone who is known for making depressing and horrific works (depressing and horrific works starring children, at that). I prefer the following translation to the one above, which is both indicative of the nature of the series and rather funny.
"It came from beyond the extreme reaches of our reality/It came to laugh at our naive existences."
It's talking about the robot the kids control, if rather figuratively and poetically.
And here, in case you're curious, is the Masaaki Endoh cover of the song, for a somewhat more energetic rendition. Masaaki Endoh doesn't do depressing even if the lyrics are crushing, though this is nothing like his usual style.
Although every time he says "uninstall" it sounds so much like "burning soul" (a phrase he uses a lot in his songs) that I do a little doubletake.
-Signing off.
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Galactus Totally Walked Into That One
This video seems to be controversial amongst the comic book crowd because (as the title says) Ghost Rider "pwns" Galactus.
They say that there should be no way that the penance stare should work on Galactus; he's "too big" to feel guilt blah blah whatever.
Me, I've always interpreted the penance stare as inflicting pain proportionate to the evils its victims have committed. Galactus might find planets without sapient life less satisfying, but he could still preferentially go after them; instead, he seems to preferentially go after inhabited worlds. When you eat planets on a more-often-than-yearly basis, that choice in cuisine is pretty darned evil.
I find it perfectly legitimate-it's like Ghost Rider is the paper to Galactus's figurative rock. Just because Galactus has a big, heavily armored (once again, figuratively speaking) mind doesn't mean he can shrug off a demon-powered guy who specializes in that kind of punch, especially since he's pretty badly weakened in this scene (he's both hungry and recovering from food poisoning).
Not to mention it's satisfying seeing the big goof take one to the chin like that.
-Signing off.
They say that there should be no way that the penance stare should work on Galactus; he's "too big" to feel guilt blah blah whatever.
Me, I've always interpreted the penance stare as inflicting pain proportionate to the evils its victims have committed. Galactus might find planets without sapient life less satisfying, but he could still preferentially go after them; instead, he seems to preferentially go after inhabited worlds. When you eat planets on a more-often-than-yearly basis, that choice in cuisine is pretty darned evil.
I find it perfectly legitimate-it's like Ghost Rider is the paper to Galactus's figurative rock. Just because Galactus has a big, heavily armored (once again, figuratively speaking) mind doesn't mean he can shrug off a demon-powered guy who specializes in that kind of punch, especially since he's pretty badly weakened in this scene (he's both hungry and recovering from food poisoning).
Not to mention it's satisfying seeing the big goof take one to the chin like that.
-Signing off.
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Invid's Guide to the Star Wars Universe: Alien Species (#44)
431. Hig. Hig apparently are slender blue "humanoids."
One Hig who appeared was a military guy, and another one knowingly donated the use of her cargo ship to terrorists.
Rating: 2/5. They get that extra point because the two who have been seen have enough separating them that it won't encourage people to make them all simple copies of the originals (because I hate that). Of course, they were both incredibly minor characters...
432. Hiitians or Hiit. Hiitians are big, scary "avian" guys. Interestingly, their first contact with the galaxy at large was with a catlike species. Their homeworld was annexed by the Corporate Sector... somehow... and this made them hostile with the Corporate Sector Authority. (The reason I have that reaction is because the Corporate Sector is supposed to be a region of space that has no native sapient species for some reason, and this is the second species that has somehow been mixed up with them in such a fashion.)
At least one Hiitian was known to have been in line to become a Jedi, and another was known to be a bounty hunter.
Rating: 3/5. That odd bit with their history bothers me, but I like how they look-not very typical for a bird species at all.
433. Hill people. The hill people are related to the Galacians. The Galacians treated the hill people badly until they adopted democracy. At that point, it was revealed that technically, the heir to the Galacian throne was actually the leader of the hill people, and I've pretty much given up caring.
Rating: 2/5. Ah, children's books. Sometimes, they give us insipid stuff like this or the Mofference, and sometimes they give us POISON PIE.
434. Hiromi. The Hiromi invaded Zeltros. This is notable because the Hiromi are known to be incredibly cowardly and to really, really dislike pain. They also go "YAAAAAY" a lot and believe themselves to be great warriors.
Shortly after their attempted invasion, another alien race invaded Zeltros. Then, a third alien race that had been chasing that race invaded. The Zeltrons (Zeltros's inhabitants) didn't mind, as they're apparently pretty open to invasions andwild polyamorous relations free-for-all battles.*
Rating: 4/5. A race of delusional cowardly would-be conquerors? Sure, why not?
435. Ho'Din. The Ho'Din are tall, spindly guys with goofy tendril hair (sometimes that can look cool, but it doesn't here) who are renowned for their medicinal and gardening skills. They're also basically hippies who believe that their religion's equivalent to Mother Nature changed them from being plants as punishment for them sinning against the land and that technology is evil (off their homeworld, a necessary evil, but still evil).
Rating: 3/5. Eh, some parts of that annoy me, but I'm about as amused as I am offended. Whatever, silly space hippies. Whatever.
436. Hogusses. One attacked some Jedi with an axe once.
So apparently they're of exceptionally low intelligence?
Rating: 1/5. Yawn.
437. Holessians. Holessians treat law as something a sport, regarding judges as nearly gods and lawyers as celebrities. They probably have big floppy ears and are probably short (although there's no way to be sure on that) because they're supposedly related to a race who is known for being short and having big floppy ears.
Rating: 3/5. If they actually worshiped practitioners of law, I'd make a joke about a religion of evil or something.
438. Holwuff. Holwuff... are guys who exist, and are rather large and imposing. They apparently were wealthy and interested in joining the Separatists, doing so at some point.
Rating: 2/5. Not much, but not nothing.
439. Homanans. They're ambiguously canonical size-changing shapeshifters.
Rating: 1/5. There are plenty of perfectly canonical size-changing shapeshifters, thank you very much.
440. Hoojibs. Hoojibs are little furry things. This means, of course, that they're potentially insanely dangerous, and they're telepathic, able to drain energy from machines, and fast. Of course, they're friendly, too. One of them may have been propositioned by a Zeltron.*
Rating: 4/5. Eh, entertaining enough, I suppose.
*Zeltrons are known for being... friendly. I only mention it because, well, it'll probably be a while before I get to their entry.
-Signing off.
One Hig who appeared was a military guy, and another one knowingly donated the use of her cargo ship to terrorists.
Rating: 2/5. They get that extra point because the two who have been seen have enough separating them that it won't encourage people to make them all simple copies of the originals (because I hate that). Of course, they were both incredibly minor characters...
432. Hiitians or Hiit. Hiitians are big, scary "avian" guys. Interestingly, their first contact with the galaxy at large was with a catlike species. Their homeworld was annexed by the Corporate Sector... somehow... and this made them hostile with the Corporate Sector Authority. (The reason I have that reaction is because the Corporate Sector is supposed to be a region of space that has no native sapient species for some reason, and this is the second species that has somehow been mixed up with them in such a fashion.)
At least one Hiitian was known to have been in line to become a Jedi, and another was known to be a bounty hunter.
Rating: 3/5. That odd bit with their history bothers me, but I like how they look-not very typical for a bird species at all.
433. Hill people. The hill people are related to the Galacians. The Galacians treated the hill people badly until they adopted democracy. At that point, it was revealed that technically, the heir to the Galacian throne was actually the leader of the hill people, and I've pretty much given up caring.
Rating: 2/5. Ah, children's books. Sometimes, they give us insipid stuff like this or the Mofference, and sometimes they give us POISON PIE.
434. Hiromi. The Hiromi invaded Zeltros. This is notable because the Hiromi are known to be incredibly cowardly and to really, really dislike pain. They also go "YAAAAAY" a lot and believe themselves to be great warriors.
Shortly after their attempted invasion, another alien race invaded Zeltros. Then, a third alien race that had been chasing that race invaded. The Zeltrons (Zeltros's inhabitants) didn't mind, as they're apparently pretty open to invasions and
Rating: 4/5. A race of delusional cowardly would-be conquerors? Sure, why not?
435. Ho'Din. The Ho'Din are tall, spindly guys with goofy tendril hair (sometimes that can look cool, but it doesn't here) who are renowned for their medicinal and gardening skills. They're also basically hippies who believe that their religion's equivalent to Mother Nature changed them from being plants as punishment for them sinning against the land and that technology is evil (off their homeworld, a necessary evil, but still evil).
Rating: 3/5. Eh, some parts of that annoy me, but I'm about as amused as I am offended. Whatever, silly space hippies. Whatever.
436. Hogusses. One attacked some Jedi with an axe once.
So apparently they're of exceptionally low intelligence?
Rating: 1/5. Yawn.
437. Holessians. Holessians treat law as something a sport, regarding judges as nearly gods and lawyers as celebrities. They probably have big floppy ears and are probably short (although there's no way to be sure on that) because they're supposedly related to a race who is known for being short and having big floppy ears.
Rating: 3/5. If they actually worshiped practitioners of law, I'd make a joke about a religion of evil or something.
438. Holwuff. Holwuff... are guys who exist, and are rather large and imposing. They apparently were wealthy and interested in joining the Separatists, doing so at some point.
Rating: 2/5. Not much, but not nothing.
439. Homanans. They're ambiguously canonical size-changing shapeshifters.
Rating: 1/5. There are plenty of perfectly canonical size-changing shapeshifters, thank you very much.
440. Hoojibs. Hoojibs are little furry things. This means, of course, that they're potentially insanely dangerous, and they're telepathic, able to drain energy from machines, and fast. Of course, they're friendly, too. One of them may have been propositioned by a Zeltron.*
Rating: 4/5. Eh, entertaining enough, I suppose.
*Zeltrons are known for being... friendly. I only mention it because, well, it'll probably be a while before I get to their entry.
-Signing off.
Monday, May 28, 2012
Friday, May 25, 2012
Game Review: Epic Combo Redux
Epic Combo Redux is the "sequel" to Epic Combo. If you've never heard of Epic Combo, go read that review first.
Back? Okay, good.
Epic Combo Redux is basically just a remake of Epic Combo.
More turtles, more diverse and interesting gadgets, and a bigger hammer.
Also more bright green flashes of light.
The new set of gadgets includes some of the old ones and new more different ones, while eliminating the redundant and/or boring ones. From the looks of things, the game also includes a better counter system (the old one had big, awkward numbers that started sliding off the screen after a certain point). Also, despite the game having a base goal of one million instead of ten thousand, it feels, at least, like it goes rather faster.
However, just like the original, the game involves lots of sitting around waiting for your combos to resolve, because seriously.
I think I'd recommend this game over the older one for the most part, as it takes less time to set up the infinitely sustainable combos that will carry you for most of the game and the game is prettier to watch; then you can watch the turtle carnage. You probably don't want to waste more than an afternoon, if that, playing it, however.
-Signing off.
Back? Okay, good.
Epic Combo Redux is basically just a remake of Epic Combo.
More turtles, more diverse and interesting gadgets, and a bigger hammer.
Also more bright green flashes of light.
The new set of gadgets includes some of the old ones and new more different ones, while eliminating the redundant and/or boring ones. From the looks of things, the game also includes a better counter system (the old one had big, awkward numbers that started sliding off the screen after a certain point). Also, despite the game having a base goal of one million instead of ten thousand, it feels, at least, like it goes rather faster.
However, just like the original, the game involves lots of sitting around waiting for your combos to resolve, because seriously.
I think I'd recommend this game over the older one for the most part, as it takes less time to set up the infinitely sustainable combos that will carry you for most of the game and the game is prettier to watch; then you can watch the turtle carnage. You probably don't want to waste more than an afternoon, if that, playing it, however.
-Signing off.
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Beast Wars Megatron Is The Best...
...and this other guy isn't too bad, either. (Note that I haven't really had the opportunity to watch Transformers: Animated, but that I've heard good things about it from most people. I mean, my older brother seems to hate it, but he wants his Transformers HARDCORE GRIMDARK SCARYFACE and his favorite Megatron is the one from Transformers Prime, who is basically a big scary vampire lord robot.)
They've got nothing on this guy for comedy value, though.
-Signing off.
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
This Is Presumably a Parody, But I Like Bagpipe Music
Perhaps more notable is that this trailer is just under a minute and has two instances of fairly crude humor, and it's for a Disney/Pixar animated film.
(The kilt flash around 0:15 and the boob gag around 0:50, if you somehow missed them.)
-Signing off.
(The kilt flash around 0:15 and the boob gag around 0:50, if you somehow missed them.)
-Signing off.
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Invid's Guide to the Star Wars Universe: Alien Species (#43)
421. Harf. Harf have long snouts and massive arms, and shiny red goggle-eyes. They... can also get drunk.
One was witness to the only time the bounty hunter Bossk (the big lizard bounty hunter from The Empire Strikes Back) managed to one-up Boba Fett (though it may just have been because Fett was tired and in a hurry that day-I don't recall the details, and Wookieepedia isn't terribly forthcoming at the moment).
And that's all.
Rating: 2/5. Not much to go on, but at least there's more than nothing.
422. Haserians. They can play a sport called shockball, and Rodians (Greedo's species) are apparently willing to play it with them.
Rating: 1/5. Are the Rodians willing because of comparable physical abilities, or because if they lose they intend to hunt them down in backalleys later and shoot them in the back? (I kid, I kid.)
423. Hasikian. Hasikians are apparently humanoid, with very obvious scales on their heads.
Rating: 1/5. I've gone on my "humanoid is much too vague a term" rant too often to dredge it up again.
424. Hassarian. They're from Hassaria, and they're members of the New Republic.
Big whoop.
Rating: N/A. Next.
425. Hemes Arbora. The Hemes Arbora are/were a nomadic species that apparently wandered around influencing other cultures.
Rating: 2/5. That's an interesting idea, but we don't get any more information on it.
426. Hendanyns. Apparently, the Hendanyns make/made death masks that apparently absorb the memories of their wearers, preserving them for later generations.
How delightfully creepy.
Rating: 3/5. Finally, something that is actually a thing.
427. Hepsalum Tash, or "The Tash." Apparently, the Tash were created for the "Design an Alien" contest that's been mentioned a few times. They live on Dagobah and are at least eight meters (26 feet, over four times my height) tall.
How did we miss that?
Their design is ugly but interesting. I'm under the impression that the picture was created by the entrant, and said picture is pretty well done. Let's see more art by the guy-I'm curious, anyway.
Rating: 3/5, despite the improbability.
428. Herglics. Herglics are rather large whaleish humanoids. Apparently, they were among the first species to take to the stars, already having hyperdrives of their own when the Duros met them (early Duros hyperdrive travel was contemporary with the earliest recorded history of the Star Wars galaxy, as was human hyperdrive travel, meaning Herglics have been at it for some time). They apparently are sensitive about how big they are compared to most species. (They're much bigger than Wookiees, incidentally.)
Rating: 4/5. They look pretty awesome; there's really not much more to say, although I appreciate them being huge and physically imposing and not only not stupid but accomplished enough to be contemporary early space travelers alongside human-shaped races.
429. Hethas. They ugly. One of them was a gangster.
Rating: 1/5. How much time would I have saved at this, I wonder, if I just listed most species with minimal information that way? "They [insert appearance note]. One of them was a [insert occupation that would probably turn into a stereotype for the species if they ever appeared again]. Rating: Lame/5."
430. Hewett. Hewett make poison pies. Qui-gon Jinn once nearly ate such a poison pie, but somebody pointed out to him that it was a poison pie. The Hewett apologized for nearly serving him a poison pie. Poison pie.
Gosh, sometimes children's books make up for all the nonsense they put me through other times.
Oh yeah, they're also "non-humanoid." That may irritate me more than the vagueness of "humanoid."
Rating: Poison pie/5. Interpret that how you will.
-Signing off.
One was witness to the only time the bounty hunter Bossk (the big lizard bounty hunter from The Empire Strikes Back) managed to one-up Boba Fett (though it may just have been because Fett was tired and in a hurry that day-I don't recall the details, and Wookieepedia isn't terribly forthcoming at the moment).
And that's all.
Rating: 2/5. Not much to go on, but at least there's more than nothing.
422. Haserians. They can play a sport called shockball, and Rodians (Greedo's species) are apparently willing to play it with them.
Rating: 1/5. Are the Rodians willing because of comparable physical abilities, or because if they lose they intend to hunt them down in backalleys later and shoot them in the back? (I kid, I kid.)
423. Hasikian. Hasikians are apparently humanoid, with very obvious scales on their heads.
Rating: 1/5. I've gone on my "humanoid is much too vague a term" rant too often to dredge it up again.
424. Hassarian. They're from Hassaria, and they're members of the New Republic.
Big whoop.
Rating: N/A. Next.
425. Hemes Arbora. The Hemes Arbora are/were a nomadic species that apparently wandered around influencing other cultures.
Rating: 2/5. That's an interesting idea, but we don't get any more information on it.
426. Hendanyns. Apparently, the Hendanyns make/made death masks that apparently absorb the memories of their wearers, preserving them for later generations.
How delightfully creepy.
Rating: 3/5. Finally, something that is actually a thing.
427. Hepsalum Tash, or "The Tash." Apparently, the Tash were created for the "Design an Alien" contest that's been mentioned a few times. They live on Dagobah and are at least eight meters (26 feet, over four times my height) tall.
How did we miss that?
Their design is ugly but interesting. I'm under the impression that the picture was created by the entrant, and said picture is pretty well done. Let's see more art by the guy-I'm curious, anyway.
Rating: 3/5, despite the improbability.
428. Herglics. Herglics are rather large whaleish humanoids. Apparently, they were among the first species to take to the stars, already having hyperdrives of their own when the Duros met them (early Duros hyperdrive travel was contemporary with the earliest recorded history of the Star Wars galaxy, as was human hyperdrive travel, meaning Herglics have been at it for some time). They apparently are sensitive about how big they are compared to most species. (They're much bigger than Wookiees, incidentally.)
Rating: 4/5. They look pretty awesome; there's really not much more to say, although I appreciate them being huge and physically imposing and not only not stupid but accomplished enough to be contemporary early space travelers alongside human-shaped races.
429. Hethas. They ugly. One of them was a gangster.
Rating: 1/5. How much time would I have saved at this, I wonder, if I just listed most species with minimal information that way? "They [insert appearance note]. One of them was a [insert occupation that would probably turn into a stereotype for the species if they ever appeared again]. Rating: Lame/5."
430. Hewett. Hewett make poison pies. Qui-gon Jinn once nearly ate such a poison pie, but somebody pointed out to him that it was a poison pie. The Hewett apologized for nearly serving him a poison pie. Poison pie.
Gosh, sometimes children's books make up for all the nonsense they put me through other times.
Oh yeah, they're also "non-humanoid." That may irritate me more than the vagueness of "humanoid."
Rating: Poison pie/5. Interpret that how you will.
-Signing off.
Monday, May 21, 2012
Friday, May 18, 2012
Best Kinds of Consultants Ever
If I went back and edited posts, these would probably make it into my old "Quotable Transformers" post. Presenting Sixshot, best consultant ever.
(Seriously, that is how the Autobots do things. It's probably why the war is taking so long, since it means they rarely ever harm the Decepticons.)
Cyclonus is not nearly as awesome a consultant.
For those who are wondering, these clips are from the RTM 1/Omni Productions dub of the Japanese Transformers cartoons, which are often affectionately known as the "crackhead" dubs.
As noted on the Transformers Wiki (on the aforelinked page): "Characters seem unable to show even the most basic emotion convincingly."
It actually really, really reminds me of Space Thunder Kids (which I sadly don't have a category for). I swear they've got some of the same voice actors in there.
-Signing off.
(Seriously, that is how the Autobots do things. It's probably why the war is taking so long, since it means they rarely ever harm the Decepticons.)
Cyclonus is not nearly as awesome a consultant.
For those who are wondering, these clips are from the RTM 1/Omni Productions dub of the Japanese Transformers cartoons, which are often affectionately known as the "crackhead" dubs.
As noted on the Transformers Wiki (on the aforelinked page): "Characters seem unable to show even the most basic emotion convincingly."
It actually really, really reminds me of Space Thunder Kids (which I sadly don't have a category for). I swear they've got some of the same voice actors in there.
-Signing off.
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Well, She's An Artist
My sister recently became aware of a character and actor, and... went on a picture-getting spree. (And this is a screenshot of one of her folders.)
Now, this might look kinda weird, but she really likes the actor's face because he's so expressive and wanted to learn to draw him. (The character is Ankh from Kamen Rider OOO.)
-Signing off.
Now, this might look kinda weird, but she really likes the actor's face because he's so expressive and wanted to learn to draw him. (The character is Ankh from Kamen Rider OOO.)
-Signing off.
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Invid's Guide to the Star Wars Universe: Alien Species (#42)
(Note: I made a judgment call and decided that, despite them being listed as a species by Wookieepedia, the Hapan do not strictly qualify as such. They're just a nationality/ethnicity of human, albeit a significant one.)
411. Gwngi. The Gwngi have a ceremonial dialect.
Nice to know... I guess.
Rating: 1/5. That's not much to go on. I kinda like their name, though, even though I've got no idea how to pronounce it.
412. Gwurrans. The Gwurrans are a subspecies of Ansionian (if you don't feel like reading the entry, all I had to say was "they're ugly") who are short, furry, long-tailed, and treated badly by other Ansionians. In other words, they're subject to racism. They apparently live hobo/gypsy lifestyles.
Rating: 2/5. Poor so-and-sos.
413. H'drachi. The H'drachi are "cameloids" who seem to prefer a rather Arabic mode of dress. They apparently have the ability to see the future through the Force, and get better at it the more they do it.
...I'm not even sure how to respond to that.
Rating: 2/5. Really just because camel aliens have to be some of the rarest out there.
414. H'nemthe. Heh heh, the H'nemthe. (Gosh, that name is unintuitive to type.)
The H'nemthe like to seek romance. Male H'nemthe don't do this as much, because there are lots and lots of them relative to females, and the females gut them with razor-sharp tongues reflexively when they mate.
Two of the ol' cantina aliens are colloquially called "the Lovers." One of them was a male Gotal, and the other was/is a female H'nemthe. Note the past tense on the Gotal.
Rating: 3/5. I found the story featuring the H'nemthe to be grimly comedic; really, the H'nemthe are grimly comedic on the whole, even though they're rather gentle-natured and sweet other than the whole disemboweling with razor tongue thing.
415. Habassa. Apparently, the Habassa allied with the Rebel Alliance and provided them with a base for a while; when that went bad, they pointed out the Hoth system as a potential location for the next base.
Kind of a bad choice, methinks.
Rating: 1/5. There's really no information on the Habassa themselves. I can imagine several things that them pointing the Rebels at Hoth might mean, such as "well, who'd ever look on such a nasty little snowball" and "eh, they got us attacked, why not send them somewhere they'll all freeze?"
416. Habeen. The Habeen and their close neighbors, the Nharwaak, developed a new kind of hyperdrive that apparently was useful for starfighters, as the Empire attacked them to acquire this hyperdrive, and decisively trashed them.
Rating: 2/5. I give them an extra point because of the idea of the Habeen and Nharwaak (who have an awesome name) collaborating to invent something is unusual in the Star Wars setting and should happen more often.
417. Hakarians. Hakarians are swarming insectoids created for a story written by Tom DeFalco (yes, that Tom DeFalco). They were taught by Jedi how to defeat battle droids, which may mean that battle droids are officially the weakest mooks in all of fiction.
Rating: 3/5, if only because I got to type that sentence.
418. Hamadryas. Mostly, they're ugly humans who apparently don't have "true" carotid arteries and don't need to blink.
Rating: 2/5. For the "huh?" factor.
419. Harch. The Harch are handsome six-armed spider folk who are apparently slightly related to Aqualish. The Harch have classified discussions of their relationship to the Aqualish obscene, however, so don't bring it up.
Rating: 4/5. I wouldn't want to be associated with the Aqualish either.
420. Hardex. Apparently, they really don't like jokes involving themselves and banthas, or at least, one of their ambassadors didn't.
Rating: 2/5. I'm trying to figure out why someone would be enough of a jerk to tell a Hardex ambassador an ethnic joke about Hardex.
-Signing off.
411. Gwngi. The Gwngi have a ceremonial dialect.
Nice to know... I guess.
Rating: 1/5. That's not much to go on. I kinda like their name, though, even though I've got no idea how to pronounce it.
412. Gwurrans. The Gwurrans are a subspecies of Ansionian (if you don't feel like reading the entry, all I had to say was "they're ugly") who are short, furry, long-tailed, and treated badly by other Ansionians. In other words, they're subject to racism. They apparently live hobo/gypsy lifestyles.
Rating: 2/5. Poor so-and-sos.
413. H'drachi. The H'drachi are "cameloids" who seem to prefer a rather Arabic mode of dress. They apparently have the ability to see the future through the Force, and get better at it the more they do it.
...I'm not even sure how to respond to that.
Rating: 2/5. Really just because camel aliens have to be some of the rarest out there.
414. H'nemthe. Heh heh, the H'nemthe. (Gosh, that name is unintuitive to type.)
The H'nemthe like to seek romance. Male H'nemthe don't do this as much, because there are lots and lots of them relative to females, and the females gut them with razor-sharp tongues reflexively when they mate.
Two of the ol' cantina aliens are colloquially called "the Lovers." One of them was a male Gotal, and the other was/is a female H'nemthe. Note the past tense on the Gotal.
Rating: 3/5. I found the story featuring the H'nemthe to be grimly comedic; really, the H'nemthe are grimly comedic on the whole, even though they're rather gentle-natured and sweet other than the whole disemboweling with razor tongue thing.
415. Habassa. Apparently, the Habassa allied with the Rebel Alliance and provided them with a base for a while; when that went bad, they pointed out the Hoth system as a potential location for the next base.
Kind of a bad choice, methinks.
Rating: 1/5. There's really no information on the Habassa themselves. I can imagine several things that them pointing the Rebels at Hoth might mean, such as "well, who'd ever look on such a nasty little snowball" and "eh, they got us attacked, why not send them somewhere they'll all freeze?"
416. Habeen. The Habeen and their close neighbors, the Nharwaak, developed a new kind of hyperdrive that apparently was useful for starfighters, as the Empire attacked them to acquire this hyperdrive, and decisively trashed them.
Rating: 2/5. I give them an extra point because of the idea of the Habeen and Nharwaak (who have an awesome name) collaborating to invent something is unusual in the Star Wars setting and should happen more often.
417. Hakarians. Hakarians are swarming insectoids created for a story written by Tom DeFalco (yes, that Tom DeFalco). They were taught by Jedi how to defeat battle droids, which may mean that battle droids are officially the weakest mooks in all of fiction.
Rating: 3/5, if only because I got to type that sentence.
418. Hamadryas. Mostly, they're ugly humans who apparently don't have "true" carotid arteries and don't need to blink.
Rating: 2/5. For the "huh?" factor.
419. Harch. The Harch are handsome six-armed spider folk who are apparently slightly related to Aqualish. The Harch have classified discussions of their relationship to the Aqualish obscene, however, so don't bring it up.
Rating: 4/5. I wouldn't want to be associated with the Aqualish either.
420. Hardex. Apparently, they really don't like jokes involving themselves and banthas, or at least, one of their ambassadors didn't.
Rating: 2/5. I'm trying to figure out why someone would be enough of a jerk to tell a Hardex ambassador an ethnic joke about Hardex.
-Signing off.
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Random Transformers-Related Note
Had some weirdness in my schedule today as well as getting distracted by the good old Transformers Wiki (seriously, it just keeps getting better), and so I leave you with this semi-related music video and an idle comment.
The idle comment is that I really like the way the Transformers franchise handles alternate realities within its borders, that being that the reality that is most aware of said alternate realities has a classification system which allows the interested reader to reverse-engineer what the terminology means.
It incidentally makes allowances for the real world in this alternate reality system. (It also covers things that weren't originally Transformers, such as GoBots [Tonka, which made GoBots, was acquired by Hasbro] and Robotix [you can click the label to see previous posts by myself on the subject] but which have since been retconned to be Transformers. Yes, really.)
That is awesome.
-Signing off.
The idle comment is that I really like the way the Transformers franchise handles alternate realities within its borders, that being that the reality that is most aware of said alternate realities has a classification system which allows the interested reader to reverse-engineer what the terminology means.
It incidentally makes allowances for the real world in this alternate reality system. (It also covers things that weren't originally Transformers, such as GoBots [Tonka, which made GoBots, was acquired by Hasbro] and Robotix [you can click the label to see previous posts by myself on the subject] but which have since been retconned to be Transformers. Yes, really.)
That is awesome.
-Signing off.
Monday, May 14, 2012
Actually, This Was A Well-Written Series
And then there was the time a bunch of sea ghosts healed a cyborg zombie whale.
Specifically, this is from the Brave Robots series Brave Police J-Decker, which, despite being a show where a 9-year-old leads a squad of giant robot police, is really well-written. (I mean, really. The early '90s don't really have a reputation for having quality robot anime, but this series is funny, intelligent, and serious all at once, and was technically written for kids. I wouldn't show it to anyone less than fifteen myself because of a few... odd incidents in it, but still, it's great. The finale particularly is pretty incredible.)
And then there are these sea ghost things.
Unlike the rest of the series, which has explanations for things, even if they don't make real world sense, the only explanation is that these are probably ghosts, and they, um, "live" underwater. And they come out of absolutely nowhere.
We know that they're "ghosts" because one of them might have been the deceased son of the (still living) researcher who made the cyborg zombie whale.
Yes, really.
-Signing off.
And then there are these sea ghost things.
We know that they're "ghosts" because one of them might have been the deceased son of the (still living) researcher who made the cyborg zombie whale.
Yes, really.
-Signing off.
Friday, May 11, 2012
Yeah, That Guy's A King, We Get It
Super Robot Wars: Not exactly subtle.
Yes, that giant robot has an enormous crown sticking out of its back. Yes, it belongs to a king.
No, I'm not giving you context if you don't have it. Do you really need it?
-Signing off.
Yes, that giant robot has an enormous crown sticking out of its back. Yes, it belongs to a king.
No, I'm not giving you context if you don't have it. Do you really need it?
-Signing off.
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Ghostbusters Vs. Ghostbusters
Have you ever wondered why the cartoon based on the Ghostbusters movie was called "The Real Ghostbusters?"
Back in the day, I'd always kind of cocked my head and wondered if they were taking a jab at the movies, which did not make sense to even my totally insane little kid self.
No, they were taking a jab at this contemporary series.
And do you know why?
In order to make the Ghostbusters movies, they needed to obtain the rights to the Ghostbusters name, which was already trademarked by Filmation because they'd made a low-budget live action TV series of the same name years before.
Filmation was perfectly happy to grant the rights to the name for the movie-they'd make money, after all-and were eager to do a cartoon adaptation.
Except that, when the adaptation came around, the decision was made to cut Filmation out of it.
So Filmation said "Eh, screw it" and made a Ghostbusters cartoon anyway (based loosely on the original TV show).
The name "The Real Ghostbusters" was both a jab back at Filmation and a way to get around the trademark, which Filmation of course didn't grant for use in their cartoon.
So now you know. And knowing... is half of some other cartoon's PSAs.
-Signing off.
Back in the day, I'd always kind of cocked my head and wondered if they were taking a jab at the movies, which did not make sense to even my totally insane little kid self.
No, they were taking a jab at this contemporary series.
And do you know why?
In order to make the Ghostbusters movies, they needed to obtain the rights to the Ghostbusters name, which was already trademarked by Filmation because they'd made a low-budget live action TV series of the same name years before.
Filmation was perfectly happy to grant the rights to the name for the movie-they'd make money, after all-and were eager to do a cartoon adaptation.
Except that, when the adaptation came around, the decision was made to cut Filmation out of it.
So Filmation said "Eh, screw it" and made a Ghostbusters cartoon anyway (based loosely on the original TV show).
The name "The Real Ghostbusters" was both a jab back at Filmation and a way to get around the trademark, which Filmation of course didn't grant for use in their cartoon.
So now you know. And knowing... is half of some other cartoon's PSAs.
-Signing off.
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
And That's Why I Love Anime
So imagine that you hadn't seen the preview image or the first few seconds of this clip from an anime (which I don't even know the name of, FYI).
Would you have expected it to involve a kid who uses a top and a very creative pentagram-like symbol to summon a giant robot head from underwater, which transforms him into an armored persona while itself transforming into a robot, so that he can defeat a giant robot whose body is a horse head?
Me either.
-Signing off.
Would you have expected it to involve a kid who uses a top and a very creative pentagram-like symbol to summon a giant robot head from underwater, which transforms him into an armored persona while itself transforming into a robot, so that he can defeat a giant robot whose body is a horse head?
Me either.
-Signing off.
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
RELAXINATE
Found this a while ago, forgot about it, remembered it again.
If this is what Daleks find "relaxing," I think it might explain a thing or two about them.
-Signing off.
If this is what Daleks find "relaxing," I think it might explain a thing or two about them.
-Signing off.
Monday, May 7, 2012
Pterosaur Vs. Cowboy
It seems that the cowboy wins every time.
Of course, it seems the pterosaur wasn't very bright and hurt itself trying to steal a kid...
This scene is almost too realistic for my tastes, actually. (The fact that the pterosaur wasn't strong enough to take off with that load makes sense-even the largest pterosaur weighed only about as much as a grown man despite having a plane-like wingspan-and once it's on the ground, those hollow bones would make it pretty easy to kill.)
-Signing off.
Of course, it seems the pterosaur wasn't very bright and hurt itself trying to steal a kid...
This scene is almost too realistic for my tastes, actually. (The fact that the pterosaur wasn't strong enough to take off with that load makes sense-even the largest pterosaur weighed only about as much as a grown man despite having a plane-like wingspan-and once it's on the ground, those hollow bones would make it pretty easy to kill.)
-Signing off.
Friday, May 4, 2012
Armor Heroes Have Annoying Voices
Actually, I doubt it's their actual voices so much as spoken Mandarin (possibly combined with the videos' poor audio and the effect they've overlaid on the characters' voices) that bothers me*, but whatever.
The Armor Hero series seems to be one of the bigger tokusatsu series produced in China.
The most awesome guy is the big one with the axe blade thing on his helmet. (His solo fights start at 2:08 in the above video and 1:58 in the below video.)
To be fair, his design looks like it's probably derived from a specific Kamen Rider (scroll down to any picture labeled "axe form"), and the others are pretty close imitations of other tokusatsu heroes I've seen out of Japan. But at least they're trying. And I will give the Chinese tokusatsu this: Even if they're usually derivative (and it's not like the Japanese industry is known for not doing that as well), their designs are nice.
And there we have it: Unofficial Tokusatsu Week is concluded.
*Just to be clear: I just find the sound grating; this isn't an attack on the language. (Also, it isn't exclusively the sounds of these characters' voices; I've been annoyed by other Chinese-language audio in the past.) I'm sure a lot of people have languages they don't like listening to (and I'm sure that English is on many people's annoying language lists). I actually find a couple of other languages to be grating when I've encountered them in the context of a TV show; as an example, for some reason, every Italian dub of an anime I've ever heard sounds incredibly wooden and emotionless.
For the record, I love listening to a lot of foreign languages, and I probably listen to more Japanese and German music on an average day lately than I do to English music.
-Signing off.
The Armor Hero series seems to be one of the bigger tokusatsu series produced in China.
The most awesome guy is the big one with the axe blade thing on his helmet. (His solo fights start at 2:08 in the above video and 1:58 in the below video.)
To be fair, his design looks like it's probably derived from a specific Kamen Rider (scroll down to any picture labeled "axe form"), and the others are pretty close imitations of other tokusatsu heroes I've seen out of Japan. But at least they're trying. And I will give the Chinese tokusatsu this: Even if they're usually derivative (and it's not like the Japanese industry is known for not doing that as well), their designs are nice.
And there we have it: Unofficial Tokusatsu Week is concluded.
*Just to be clear: I just find the sound grating; this isn't an attack on the language. (Also, it isn't exclusively the sounds of these characters' voices; I've been annoyed by other Chinese-language audio in the past.) I'm sure a lot of people have languages they don't like listening to (and I'm sure that English is on many people's annoying language lists). I actually find a couple of other languages to be grating when I've encountered them in the context of a TV show; as an example, for some reason, every Italian dub of an anime I've ever heard sounds incredibly wooden and emotionless.
For the record, I love listening to a lot of foreign languages, and I probably listen to more Japanese and German music on an average day lately than I do to English music.
-Signing off.
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Stupid, Stupid Monsters
One of the things about giant monster movies is that the monsters tend to display radically varying intelligence. Sometimes, they display adaptability and tactics that are admirably clever. Other times, they pull stupid stunts that make it clear why there's only ever one of the darned things.
Stupid behavior: Displaying interest in humans. Why? Despite this clip, we're not exactly ideal prey animals.
Zedus there, from a Gamera film, ought to be looking for better prey. In a fairly literal sense, we're pretty buglike (not to mention bony and full of gristle) next to a monster that size, and we probably shouldn't draw much of its interest except when our tanks and planes start pounding on it. Imagine going around scraping up clusters of ants and shoveling them into your mouth. Does that sound appealing?
It gets sillier, of course, when a truly large monster like Godzilla displays that much interest, though in Godzilla's defense, he seems to be smart enough to draw some form of amusement from stomping things, and he's never wasted time or energy eating them. (That, of course, opens up the question of what he does eat; in a discarded scene from an '80s-era Godzilla film, he killed and ate a smaller monster, and the much-maligned creature of the American film explicitly ate fish, but there's not really an official explanation of how he nourishes himself.)
And here's a clip from a film wherein the monsters just plain stink at fighting (1999's Reptilian, a remake of a film called Yonggary about a monster named Yonggary). Terrible aim, clumsy attacks, and... What the heck is up with Cykor's (the bigger, uglier monster's) not being impeded by losing its head, but exploding when a fireball (which it could produce itself) went down its throat? (Okay, so that's got nothing to do with intelligence, per say, at least not that of the monster...)
I mean, I appreciate that this is an inventive fight (and it is), but it's also just bad (and it really is, as numerous YouTube commenters and a really, really large number of reviewers, critics, and monster fans will attest).
Also, has anyone else noticed that Asian studios are usually really bad at CGI?
-Signing off.
Stupid behavior: Displaying interest in humans. Why? Despite this clip, we're not exactly ideal prey animals.
Zedus there, from a Gamera film, ought to be looking for better prey. In a fairly literal sense, we're pretty buglike (not to mention bony and full of gristle) next to a monster that size, and we probably shouldn't draw much of its interest except when our tanks and planes start pounding on it. Imagine going around scraping up clusters of ants and shoveling them into your mouth. Does that sound appealing?
It gets sillier, of course, when a truly large monster like Godzilla displays that much interest, though in Godzilla's defense, he seems to be smart enough to draw some form of amusement from stomping things, and he's never wasted time or energy eating them. (That, of course, opens up the question of what he does eat; in a discarded scene from an '80s-era Godzilla film, he killed and ate a smaller monster, and the much-maligned creature of the American film explicitly ate fish, but there's not really an official explanation of how he nourishes himself.)
And here's a clip from a film wherein the monsters just plain stink at fighting (1999's Reptilian, a remake of a film called Yonggary about a monster named Yonggary). Terrible aim, clumsy attacks, and... What the heck is up with Cykor's (the bigger, uglier monster's) not being impeded by losing its head, but exploding when a fireball (which it could produce itself) went down its throat? (Okay, so that's got nothing to do with intelligence, per say, at least not that of the monster...)
I mean, I appreciate that this is an inventive fight (and it is), but it's also just bad (and it really is, as numerous YouTube commenters and a really, really large number of reviewers, critics, and monster fans will attest).
Also, has anyone else noticed that Asian studios are usually really bad at CGI?
-Signing off.
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Random Korean Tokusatsu
This guy is hilarious.
I think the funniest part of all this is that the villains remind me a bit, in terms of tone, of the villains from the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon. (That, and the fact that a bit later on, all of them suddenly realize they can shoot lightning and lasers and whatnot at each other, when they'd all been running around in madcap antics without them for presumably hours beforehand.)
This video is a trailer for a series that may or may not ever come out. If it did come out, I'm inclined to say that it would be pretty great, because I like this trailer a lot.
This is very efficient storytelling here, and also the chick in armor is incredibly sexy.* (I'd go into it more deeply, but I'm pretty much out of time here. That's my reaction in a nutshell.)
*I can't quite put my finger on it or describe it, but it's got something to do with the fact that she's using masculine mannerisms, but it's somehow emphasizing how feminine she is. Also, the fact that she just straight up punches the bad guy when the guys are using swords makes her that much cooler.
-Signing off.
I think the funniest part of all this is that the villains remind me a bit, in terms of tone, of the villains from the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon. (That, and the fact that a bit later on, all of them suddenly realize they can shoot lightning and lasers and whatnot at each other, when they'd all been running around in madcap antics without them for presumably hours beforehand.)
This video is a trailer for a series that may or may not ever come out. If it did come out, I'm inclined to say that it would be pretty great, because I like this trailer a lot.
This is very efficient storytelling here, and also the chick in armor is incredibly sexy.* (I'd go into it more deeply, but I'm pretty much out of time here. That's my reaction in a nutshell.)
*I can't quite put my finger on it or describe it, but it's got something to do with the fact that she's using masculine mannerisms, but it's somehow emphasizing how feminine she is. Also, the fact that she just straight up punches the bad guy when the guys are using swords makes her that much cooler.
-Signing off.
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
His Name Is Actually Guilala
But they also call him Monster X. (No relation.) Particularly, the title of the movie he's in is "The X From Outer Space," which is hilarious.
Also hilarious is Guilala's design, which looks rather like somebody jammed an alien spaceship on a Godzilla-like monster's head.
What's even funnier, though, is that forty years after the first movie featuring Guilala, they decided it was time for a sequel...
...and there was basically no change to the special effects or the monster.
Possibly the funniest part, however, is that at the climax of the movie, the day is saved by a benevolent giant monster named Take-Majin, who is based on and portrayed by a very famous Japanese filmmaker/actor/comedian/basically everything to do with entertainment named Takeshi Kitano, better known as "Beat Takeshi."
I'm reserving judgment on how great that actually makes Guilala, but it's a funny story if nothing else.
-Signing off.
Also hilarious is Guilala's design, which looks rather like somebody jammed an alien spaceship on a Godzilla-like monster's head.
What's even funnier, though, is that forty years after the first movie featuring Guilala, they decided it was time for a sequel...
...and there was basically no change to the special effects or the monster.
Possibly the funniest part, however, is that at the climax of the movie, the day is saved by a benevolent giant monster named Take-Majin, who is based on and portrayed by a very famous Japanese filmmaker/actor/comedian/basically everything to do with entertainment named Takeshi Kitano, better known as "Beat Takeshi."
I'm reserving judgment on how great that actually makes Guilala, but it's a funny story if nothing else.
-Signing off.
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