Board 8 > Jeff & Leon Return to Games and Anime in the Same House [JZLF]

(+) Yeah! (+)

Fun fact: Persona 5 was delayed 2 months to add more voiced lines to the game. Imagine what it would've been like without that... (or Atlus just lied about why it was delayed).
---

Mac Arrowny posted...

Imagine what it would've been like without that...

Silent protagonists shouldn't extend to their casts!
---

Been doing Loyalty Missions in Andromeda lately. I've done three so far, and they're all pretty great! You can tell they put a lot of extra effort and flair into them, and they're really fun and engaging as a result.
---

also I think I'll name the P5 protagonist after myself because I got a nice kick out of it in P3 and P4 seeing my very clearly Irish last name get honoriffics attached to it
---

Once I finish Andromeda, there will be no Mass Effect for the next handful of years. That's a bummer.
---

My favorite bits of the Anime are the sexy children and the Big ass robots (gundamn in japanese) how about you Bros

My favorite bits of the Anime are the deep, compelling plots and choices that matter. how about you Bros
---

Time for some more Assault on the Titanic!
---

All right, we only got to watch one episode of Attack on Titan tonight because that's as far as the dub has made it so far. Pretty good episode, and Krista is involved with that wall cult...somehow? I'm not totally sure.

The show is setting up some major trouble flags with all the EREN WE REALLY NEED YOU TO KEEP YOUR EMOTIONS UNDER CONTROL AND NOT SCREW UP THIS TIME OKAY talk.

Since we only got in one episode of AoT, we decided to watch an episode of Kanon! Should be fun to watch this a second time and catch all the foreshadowing this time around, including an interesting thing Jeff Zero said as we were watching it!
---

I said something interesting about Kanon? I find that hard to believe! I did enjoy it, though. I like that it's winter-themed and I miss the 1991-2003-ish art styles (this was just at the edge, with 2002) so I dig the look of the show.

Yeah, Attack delivered with another strong episode. Third in a row. Well, more like eighth in a row, since S1 ended fairly well. You know what made me laugh? Eren remembering the key and the cellar and all that jazz. Wasn't this where S1 was headed until it got sidetracked by HALLOWED ARE THE ANNIE? Maybe we'll actually make progress on that thread this year!
---

yes you did

I posted about it to remind myself you said it when the time is right
---

There are two version of Kanon. The original anime back in 2002 and the remake in 2006. I believe you are actually watching the 2006 version.
---

Having just looked up episode counts, I think you're right. I'm also LOL @ myself for specifically citing a made-up "era" of anime art that doesn't track to the reality of what I'm watching. Oh well, I still like the look. :P
---

Tag for potential fma:b
---

Pokalicious posted...

Tag for potential fma:b

if this is the only reason you're here don't get your hopes up
---

Yeah, I mean, I really wanna get Leon started on it but I give him ~40% odds of liking it, Poka.
---

I'm here for Attack on Titan talk

good write ups so far!
---

Unfortunately, Maria, I can testify that the Titan write-ups will be a bit slow since we seem to have reached the end of the weekly Season 2 dubs already. We'll get to another one within a few days, though.
---

oh

huh

well I mean even if it's like 3 or 4 episodes behind it's still impressive to me that the series already has a dub while still airing in japan.

I mean I remember watching repeats of DBZ for huge stretches of time just to wait for them to come out with a small batch of new episodes. what a different world we live in.
---

Oh for sure. The proximity of this so-called "Simuldub" (what a marketing term) really is superb. It's a testament to the popularity of the brand and Funimation's desire to give it marquee treatment on their streaming service. Dragon Ball Super is probably even more popular (it literally delivers some of the highest cable ratings on Saturday nights regularly) but even that show has to wait for its dub stuff, I think. (Don't quote me on it.)
---

I played some P5 yesterday morning and a tiny little bit today too. Time for another update!

So I've officially recruited Ann. Lots of scenes happened from where I last left off, most of which furthering along Kamoshida's advanced case of TPS (Terrible Person Syndrome). He's a complete scumbag who has turned people's lives into his playthings. Because this is Japan, that means students at school, and it's... honestly pretty tough to watch some of this stuff. I had a feeling he was sexually abusing Shiho, and now it's confirmed and she's in a coma following a suicide attempt. This game don't mess.

This is something I want to mention now, though, before I get too much farther ahead: I am glad 5's tone is so dark thus far, but I won't hold out hope that all the dark themes it strives to tackle will be handled deftly. There were some aspects of 4 that had me rolling my eyes pretty hard, after all. That said? I still enjoyed 4. And the opening hours of 5 are doing a lot more for me than the opening hours of its predecessor. So this isn't so much a statement of "I will be very angry and quit the game if complex themes aren't handled with care" -- that'd be dumb -- it's just a preemptive "I'm glad they're willing to write this stuff but I'll be floored if it all clicks with me."

I digress.

The game is rock-solid right now. Apart from the amount of unvoiced scenes, I can think of no complaints. (And given the strength of presentation in literally everything else, up to and including the animations in the unvoiced scenes, it's picky of me to remark on this in the first place. I just love me some voice acting.)

Hmm. Standout stuff so far... I really enjoy the Persona negotiation system. I can definitely see it getting old eventually, but for now at least, it's golden. (No, it's crimson! AH HA HA HA HA!) I also love how alive the school feels. And the train station, too. Talk about NPC overload. It's great! Man, I remember in like 2000 I was so against cel-shading. Has it just improved a hundredfold or did I become woke and stop being sheeple? I was slave. And... well, I wanted emancipation.

Igor's new assistants are completely ehhh so far. I miss Marie. ;_; And Elizabeth, too, from what I saw of P3. (That's the one with Elizabeth, right?) Maybe they'll surprise me though, I mean, I've only seen them twice. But the design is nope central.

Well, next time I play it may be time to return to the castle again. We got sidetracked saving Ann, but given how badass her transformation was, who's complaining? Kamoshida's trying to get Akira and Ryuji expelled, though, and that's like a WWII tank "trying" to crush an ant with how ridiculous this place is, so we had best act fast.

*TAKE YOUR HEART*
---

tag slash welcome back slash okaeri
---

yay slash gratzi slash arigatōgozaimashita
---

...I should have known that wouldn't copy properly.
---

Jeff Zero posted...

yay slash gratzi slash arigatōgozaimashita

Same

Oh right, I guess I need to do my anime tiers, with a couple of updates since last time:

Loved it, seen it more than once

Clannad
Cowboy Bebop
Full Metal Panic!
Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun
Higurashi
Kawai Complex Guide to Manors and Hostel Behavior
My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU
Persona 4 The Animation
Sailor Moon
School Rumble
Steins;Gate
The Disappearance of Yuki Nagato
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
Toradora!

Really liked it, will watch again

Ace Attorney (when the dub comes out)
Attack on Titan
Baccano
Kanon (in the process of watching again, in fact)
Planetes
Working!!

Liked it, but probably won't watch again

Air
Azumanga Daioh
Great Teacher Onizuka
Love Hina
Mobile Suit Gundam 00
Ouran High School Host Club
Trigun
Your Lie in April

Didn't like it, definitely won't watch again

Beyond the Boundary
Code Geass
Persona 4 The Golden Animation

Dropped it, never finished

Fullmetal Alchemist
Gurren Lagann
Slayers
---

And as a special bonus to long-time fans because I'm afraid of trying to rank all anime I've watched I'm happy to rank just about anything y'all ask for except all anime I've watched (that would be scary).
---

well I'm not ranking so much as tiering

they're not ordered within the tiers
---

I'd be terrified to tier them, too! Mainly because I'd have to remember all the shows I've watched. Yikes... I suppose if I scrubbed my brain really hard I could do it. Hmm...
---

Oh hey it's back

How long is Jeff staying this time?
---

trdl23 posted...

How long is Jeff staying this time?

Greater than a week, significantly less than eternity. (It probably goes without saying, but I'm working on establishing a sense of stability sorely lacking throughout my twenties and earlier. It's an interesting challenge for someone whose adolescence and young adulthood have been so... diverse.)
---

LeonhartFour posted...

Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun

my man
---

aw yeah

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1qrQWyuM3U
---

Psycho-Pass begins...now.

To be followed by an episode of Eureka Seven.
---

That was... something
---

I feel like Psycho-Pass is going to be a lot of "perception vs. reality" and "thinking for yourself vs. following the system," based on the first episode anyway.

Now it's time for Eureka Seven. Man, I missed this OP.
---

The Psycho-Pass world is definitely an interesting one.
---

Man, I've missed how absurd and surreal Eureka Seven is.

I also forgot how excellent the soundtrack is.

Now time for some Andromeda.
---

Psycho-Pass is off to a decent start. The atmosphere is pretty good and there's a lot thrown at us at once but it doesn't feel terribly convoluted. The world is a real draw here. It may sound odd for me to say this given I can tolerate stuff in Game of Thrones but I could have done without the actual drawn representations of that dude abusing the woman. Other than that, strong premiere. I'm cautiously intrigued by this series.

And yeah, it feels good to be back with Eureka Seven. Funimation's got subtitles, which seems to be helping me a lot with all the heaps and heaps of out-there terminology. I actually followed this episode well, ha! The music really is excellent, as is everyone's blatant yet understated obsession with pizza.
---

I loved the first ep of psycho-pass and then never continued watching it

#MariaChronicles
---

I wouldn't count the series among my favorites, but I'm pretty interested to hear your guys' thoughts on Psycho Pass (and the sequel if you get there) regardless.

Also Jeff I in response to your Persona 5 writeup: I think Persona 3 handles dark themes a lot better than Persona 4 does, so I wouldn't say that it's something the Persona series is incapable of doing. I haven't finished P5 yet so I couldn't comment on how it's handled in this game, but it's certainly something Persona has done well before. (but not really in persona 4 imo which is the only one you've played I think)

Also on that note basically every time I've heard you talk about the Persona series it's made me think you would love P3 if you ever got around to playing it. I think I've said that before, but something in the writeup made me want to repeat it.
---

He's watched me play most of Persona 3 and he agrees with that assessment.
---

MariaTaylor posted...

I loved the first ep of psycho-pass and then never continued watching it

#MariaChronicles

How far'd you get with Deep Space Nine and Farscape? lol

pyresword posted...

Also Jeff I in response to your Persona 5 writeup: I think Persona 3 handles dark themes a lot better than Persona 4 does, so I wouldn't say that it's something the Persona series is incapable of doing. I haven't finished P5 yet so I couldn't comment on how it's handled in this game, but it's certainly something Persona has done well before. (but not really in persona 4 imo which is the only one you've played I think)

That's really good to hear. I agree with you about 4.

Also on that note basically every time I've heard you talk about the Persona series it's made me think you would love P3 if you ever got around to playing it. I think I've said that before, but something in the writeup made me want to repeat it.

Yep, what Leon said.
---

Jeff Zero posted...

How far'd you get with Deep Space Nine and Farscape? lol

first season and first season. I do this a lot with shows. I'll watch one season and take a SUBSTANTIAL break before continuing. I'm about 4 or 5 seasons into Major now and it has taken me around 4 or 5 years to get that far, I think?
---

MariaTaylor posted...

Jeff Zero posted...

How far'd you get with Deep Space Nine and Farscape? lol

first season and first season. I do this a lot with shows. I'll watch one season and take a SUBSTANTIAL break before continuing. I'm about 4 or 5 seasons into Major now and it has taken me around 4 or 5 years to get that far, I think?

Ah, well. So long as you get back to DS9 eventually! Seasons 4-7 have literally never let anyone I've told to check the show out down. KBM was actually my most recent friend to sprint through the series and she's pretty bummed now that it's over, haha.
---

Brief Persona 5 update for today.

I got a chance to chill around the city and stroll however I please for the first time and Holy Hannah, there is so much here. The switch from P4's small-town feel to P5's scale is quite a thing! There are so many shops! I love it! This kinda reminds me of the early days of my youth, getting lost in New York City. The creative decision to portray distant crowds as grey silhouettes is fabulous. Not only does it cut down on processing needs to keep things running smoothly, but the game's style perfectly suits it, so it doesn't even look like a corner-cutting measure.

I hopped back into Kamoshida's Castle the very first day it was available. (I like how the dungeon timer is "Days to Expulsion.") I'd planned on clearing it in one day, but no dice. My SP ran low so I got to the apparent midway point and called it quits. I know this makes things harder to master thanks to the series' timer systems, bit I don't much mind. (Watch me eat these words later on.)

The Persona dungeons in 4 were mostly a source of detriment for me, as I don't care for stuff that looks (and is) procedurally generated. A couple of the later dungeons were good, but mostly I just wanted to get out and get on. This first "Palace" is vast, but I'm actually digging it. I can tell it's handcrafted and I enjoy the bells and whistles. I'd have made it shorter if I were designing this game, but then, I reckon most fans are glad I'm not.

*TAKE YOUR TIME*
---

Persona 5

Yeah clearing the early dungeons in one day is pretty difficult due to how little SP you have with no real ways to mitigate SP usage. It becomes much easier to do that later on.
---

Played a little more Andromeda this evening. I think I'm getting fairly close to the end of the main storyline. No telling how many sidequests are still out there for me to do though.

also I guess I should do bigger updates like Jeff Zero but I'll save it for when I finish the game maybe
---

LeonhartFour posted...

To be followed by an episode of Eureka Seven.

Where are you guys at with this again?

I want to say you were around Episode 15-20ish last time, but who knows maybe I'm way off?
---

We weren't sure ourselves. We knew we were in that same range, too, so I picked episode 19 to start us off. Turns out we had seen it already, but I think the next one is new because it didn't look familiar.
---