October’s here and my usual box of varied and unique snacks from Japan has arrived.
As usual Japan Crate includes a mini-manga that explains what each item is, has instructions for the DIY kit, and various additional context, pictures and promotion. The bonus item for the Premium Crate this month isn’t food, but a Food Dog Gashapon. Yes, little keychain figures of puppies inside food items. So odd, but it’s a suitable inclusion that will amuse some.
Now let’s look at the 11 edibles.
The Excellent
As I’ve mentioned before I adore soda flavored candy, and this month provided me with a lot of it to enjoy. Mysterious Soda Balls (gotta love that translation), one of the Premium exclusives, are like soft Skittles flavored like various Japanese sodas. Poifull Soda Beans are excellent soda flavored jelly beans.
Another great Premium exclusive is Sour Fruit Gummies. There was just a hint of sour to these, and the flavor and texture was fantastic. Vitamin C Lemon Drops are exactly what they sound like – a lemon flavored hard candy loaded with Vit C. Interesting and cool inclusion.
Moving on to the savory side of things, Tohato Caramel Corn is what would happen if Cracker Jack replaced the popcorn with carmel flavored cheese puffs. Quite tasty. Chocolate Mini Pancakes is another snack exactly as advertised. Tastes just like two tiny pancakes with chocolate filling between them.
The Decent
This month’s Premium Crate’s drink is Bireley’s Orange. The book explains it’s a drink that originated in California but was discontinued and is now only made in Japan. The origin makes sense, as this kind of tastes like a soda version of Sunny Delight. Rich Cheese Scones are exactly as described – essentially Cheetos with a more creamy and buttery cheese taste.
I got Strawberry Soft Candy (Rum Raisin was the other possibility), a pleasant chewy candy in the described flavor. Grape Gummy Ribbon has a nice, slightly tart grape flavor and a very unique soft, almost dough-ish texture.
The DIY kit this month was Chitto Soda DIY, which is intended to create mochi with a ramune flavored glaze. This was an intriguing one and I had fun attempting it. The texture was a bit odd, but that was likely due to me having some trouble mixing all the powders properly (my candy certainly didn’t turn out particularly pretty). It was a little bit bland, as the glaze needed a stronger flavor, but a neat experiment with a fine end product overall.
The Meh
I give Gyutan Umaino Stick points for trying, and letting us sample the cow tongue flavor is exactly the type of absurdity I want from Japan Crate. But while the airy corn stick did actually manage to capture the flavor of cow tongue, I found it an odd combo and these were also way too salty for me.
Conclusion
Still really enjoying my Japan Crate shipments. Even the snack I didn’t like was interesting to try, and there were a lot of great things in this month’s box. The Premium exclusives continue to provide some of my favorites, and the upgrade is easily worth the additional $5. I continue to be impressed with the variety of selections, not only within each box but across the shipments I’ve received. Highly recommended.
Legend Chigusa Nagayo humbly thanks the crowd for attending.
I thoroughly enjoyed Marvelous Puroesu USA’s first event at the Queensboro Elk’s Lodge in August was quite excited for their second show. I’ll admit a little bit of reservation when I found out Iroha wouldn’t be back for this one and Chigusa wouldn’t be wrestling (in fact of the five wrestlers introduced at the first show as the “core roster” only Penelope Ford wrestled), but a variety of great talent filled out the card nicely and the show delivered. Chigusa also explained during the show that Iroha and others were training, learning, and performing in Japan and she promised to bring them back for the next show in 2016.
A screen was set up to show highlights of Chigusa’s recent exploding barbed wire match before the show.To open there was a ceremony introducing everyone who would be wrestling.
As with the debut show there was a lot of fanfare, which helps set these shows apart from the normal US indie shows and adds a lot to the atmosphere. After showing highlights of Chigusa’s recent exploding barbed wire match in Japan, there was a ceremony in which the entire roster was introduced in the order they’d be wrestling on the card. After that was a MMA demonstration by a local dojo (there was also one before the first show). As I said overall this was a unique and interesting way to start the show, although the MMA demonstration was a bit out of place. You could tell the participants were excellent, but honestly pro-wrestling is about people coming to see professionals who are experts on making “fake” combat look real, so opening with experts on real combat doing a practice version of it complete with soft phantom punches doesn’t really fit. But it was short and the grappling was quite good, so no real harm done.
The first wrestling match was a fantastic back and forth affair between “The Man of Steel” Mike Verna and “Wrestling’s Only Male Gymnast” Timmy Lou Retton. Verna’s gimmick is amusing, as his t-shirt bares a Superman style symbol on the front with an “M” instead of an “S,” and “Steel your hopes, Steel your dreams, Steel your girl, Steel your protein” on the back. He was very good in the ring and I’d like to see more of him. Same goes for Retton, who owns his gimmick well and moves amazingly for his size. Every cartwheel, handspring and flip had the crowd oohing and aahing. This started the show strong and was a perfect choice for the opener.
I was extremely pleased to see Nate Carter and David McCall back in tag team action after their impressive showing on the first Marvelous Puroresu USA event. They were just as good this time, and their opponents Paco and Curt Stallion stuck right with them in competitive match. Paco and Stallion also provided some well done dissension among themselves, adding the match’s story.
The rest of the undercard was also quite good. The Fellas Twins are extremely impressive as heat magnets, and they had a decent match with Penelope Ford and Vanity. There was a hard hitting three way between Kevin Lee Davidson, DJ Hyde and Rex Lawless. They took great advantage of having three big, powerful guys in there with the match structure and spots. Crowd favorite Cheeseburger and partner Takaaki Wantanabe faced Rory Gulak and Ultimate Security in another strong match heading into the brief intermission. Coming back from intermission we saw a solid tag match pitting Veda Scott and Willow Nightingale against Brittany Blake and Deonna Purrazzo.
Carter and McCall are such friendly, approachable guys. They were just hanging out having a blast with fans at intermission.
During intermission it was time for the second “ceremony” of the evening, this one featuring Chigusa’s singing debut. I wasn’t sure about this when they announced it ahead of time, but it ended up being phenomenally fun. Chigusa gave some context about how this is common for a lot of female wrestlers in Japan and seemed to be having a lot of fun despite some nervousness as she sang.
For the encore the singing debut became a singing and dancing debut. as Chigusa called Carter and McCall into the ring. Highly amusing stuff that got more so when a fan called for one more song and Chigusa shooked her head then “fainted.” She then motioned for someone to cover her, and the crowd counted along with Carter as he counted his own pin. I’m pretty sure pinning Chigusa has to make him champion of something.
Afterward Chigusa shared her future hopes and plans for Marvelous USA, including the possibility of bringing exploding barbed wire matches to the states, her hope that someday she can give her students the opportunity to wrestle at MSG, and her promise to bring back the talent she’s training in Japan for Marvelous Puroresu USA’s next show in early 2016.
The co-main event of the evening was Leo Rush vs the Amazing Red, and it fully delivered on its potential. It had everything – mat wrestling, high impact suplex and slams, and of course with these two high flying. This was my first time seeing the veteran Amazing Red wrestle and Rush was a perfect opponent for him. Outstanding job from both.
Standing room only as the locker room emptied to watch Rush vs Red.
The main event featured three debuts for Marvelous, as Kimber Lee and Patrick Clark faced Sumie Sakai and Davey Boy Smith Jr. Lots of anticipation for this, and again they paid off the potential. Smith has a big following from his work in Japan and the crowd was equally excited to see what Tough Enough contestant Patrick Clark could do.
Kimber’s strikes didn’t work too well against DBS Jr…… and neither did the suplex attempt.
This was a much more traditional mixed tag match than the main event of the first show, with genders not really intermingling except a few (highly amusing) comedy spots with Kimber and Smith and a beautiful moonsault by Sumie onto Clark.
Both Sumie’s opponents received a camel clutch kiss at different points in the match (after Sumie hit the ropes a few times for momentum).
It made sense to keep the matchups male vs male and female vs female here, as Kimber and Sumie wouldn’t have been able to compete against the men in the same way Iroha and Chigusa could. It shows great instincts in how to keep things believable and entertaining in different situations.
Sumie keeping Kimber at bay while DBS Jr hits a cradle piledriver.Kimber returning the favor during Patrick Clark’s ankle lock attempt.
The match was excellent showcase for all four athletes and a fitting end to a stong show.
Respect shown after the match.
Another extremely fun evening of great action from Marvelous Puroresu USA. The undercard was again nicely varied, a high level of effort was visible from everyone, and the newer talents held their own admirably with the veterans. Top it all off with a pair of main events and the unique, casual and fun feeling ceremonies and Marvelous USA is certainly off to a fantastic start two shows in. Can’t wait for the next one.
I had the honor of meeting wrestling legend Chigusa Nagayo.I also got to meet veteran Sumie Sakai, who was gracious enough to stop for a quick picture in the middle of overseeing show setup. Greatly appreciated.
September 2015’s Arcade Block is here, as always in its awesome retro NES style box.
The advertised theme for this month was The Legend of Zelda, and it’s the one of the most thoroughly integrated theme I’ve seen yet for a mystery box. 4 of the 6 included items were Zelda related. The “Product of the Month” this time around is the monthly t-shirt, sporting a good looking Wind Waker design. Next is a Springz Chicken (nice pun) accessory, a silly little amusement that’s has an extra layer of meaning if you know the connection.
One of my favorites this month is a canvas print called The Hero’s Triumph. It’s a great piece of art that’s distinctly Zelda, but subtly so and non-gamers will appreciate it even without knowing the context. The last Zelda item is a nice keychain of Link’s shield.
The music item this month is a little different – a 7″ record(?!) featuring two tracks from Galak-Z. Not familiar with the game or its music, but this is a neat, unusual type of thing to include. Finally each box comes with a 5″ Boo or Goomba plush from the Super Mario games. Timeless characters make this a fantastic addition. I got Boo, which was my slight preference.
Conclusion
I love the variety of items even when keeping to a theme, and despite not being a huge Zelda fan those items were all appreciated. Throw in a classic plush and a unique collectible and the result is pretty much the best box I’ve gotten yet. Arcade Block continues to be my favorite and most recommended of the mystery box craze.
Max’s return to her home town after 5 years away hasn’t even remotely gone like she might have imagined. Cool as they are, her new powers have come with rather alarming visions of impending disaster. She’s let one friend in on her secrets, but both of them also have other personal issues to attend to…
Episode 1 of Life is Strange established a compelling mix of mysteries, characters, and atmosphere that I enjoyed quite a bit. For the most part episode 2 capitalizes and expands on the potential shown. One of the best parts is that the major decisions made in episode 1 carry over and influence a good bit of dialogue and some pieces of major developments. So far this is the best integration of this type of carryover I’ve seen. There’s a big, tough choice at the end that looks to have similar ripple effects going forward. The time mechanic is interesting and continues to be well implemented and integrated. Hints and foreshadowing are everywhere, but it’s hard to see where it’s all going. I love that kind of story.
The biggest weakness of this episode is in the middle where in an attempt to break up the tension a little there is a fetch quest that slows things down way too much and is frustrating to finish. It’s an unfortunate misstep that derails most of the momentum that had been built up. Things recover nicely though, with three harrowing scenes later one and the big choice I talked about earlier to finish. There’s still a strong feeling of “no right answer” to most of the choices, which is a great accomplishment.
Overall a good follow up and I’m still extremely invested in Life is Strange and eager to continue with the next episode.
This trade collects Saga issues #25-30. Saga is a tightly plotted, layered adventure featuring a rotating cast of regular characters and it would be confusing to start here. Go back to the beginning.
While still good and extremely intriguing,Vaughan and Staple’s graphic, explicit, disturbing epic seemed to lose a little momentum here for me. All three of the major plot threads and groupings of characters were decent but lacked some of the nebulous quality that has made Saga special. The quest to save The Will pushes really the grossness and explicitness of the comic, and unlike usual it feels like it’s there for its own sake instead of a natural part of the adventure. The last page of volume 4 left me beyond anxious for the latest installment, but to be honest I don’t think that potential was fully capitalized on. There could have been so much more to the teaming of fathers than CONSTANT bickering and threats. Alana’s thread progressed strongest, but even there it’s really the impending resolution that’s most interesting, and the rest felt like biding time.
Part of the issue here is as Vaughan tries to make his leads more complex he’s actually making all of his most likable characters less so. It’s a fine line to walk. Flawed characters are compelling characters, but the reader has to continue to want to see them rise above, not get annoyed by them or start to look down on them. Exacerbating the problem is the separation of key pairs of characters. It serves the story, but also robs it of some appeal. And while I like the “no one is safe” feeling, killing off recently introduced supporting cast looses impact fast. Established characters need to feel in jeopardy too if Vaughn wants that edge to the comic.
All that said, the conclusion of some ongoing plot lines towards the end of the trade are well done and set up the next one nicely. There’s good progression and some important developments here, even if it isn’t quite up to what’s come before.
Max is a shy 18 year old photography enthusiast returning to her home town after 5 years away. She has a lot of normal high school concerns, like schoolwork, dealing with bullies, making friends, missing classmates, murder, and suddenly being able to turn back time.
Life is Strange is an adventure game with great atmosphere. It has a strong opening that draws the player right in, cranks up the mystery, then settles down a bit to let things unfold. The story is intriguing and Max makes a compelling point of view character. The dialogue can be a little stilted, but it gets the point across and for the most part the characters do sound like high schoolers.
The gameplay is straight exploration, with a couple of extremely simple puzzles. The story is the draw, and I was particularly impressed with the use of decision points. It remains to be seen how much effect they’ll have (if any) if future episodes, but they felt important. Even more interestingly, there didn’t feel like there was a right answer. After either option for every major choice Max muses about why the other one could have been better. It’s a wonderful touch lacking in a lot of games that have a clear and obvious “preferred path.”
The environment is fantastic. It captures the feel of the locales perfectly, including a boarding school, associated dorms, a run down house, etc. I found myself stopping to look at all the posters and flyers as much out of curiosity as to find clues. There’s a significant amount of little things to poke around.
Some players will find it on the short side, but it had good progression and found a decent stopping point, and is after all just episode 1. I thought Life is Strange was great and will definitely be checking out further chapters.
Given Gotham’s mysterious guardian and attraction to the criminal element, one would be correct in assuming life at its most prestigious boarding school isn’t exactly normal or quiet. Things are even stranger for Olive Silverlock, who’s dealing with personal issues she’d rather not tell her friends about involving her mother and a certain bat…
I loved the premise of Gotham Academy straight away. The concept of normal(-ish) children attending a spooky school on the edges of Batman mythos is fantastic. Cloonan does a good job taking that potential and letting it evolve in its own way at an appropriate pace. This is a mystery style tale, more concerned with atmosphere and story than action (though there is enough of that peppered in to keep things exciting). So the pace might be slow for some and it does meander here and there, but I liked the gradual build up of the school, its students, and its secrets. And while the mysteries are all intriguing, Cloonan knows that the true draw is the characters, and keeps the focus firmly on Silverlock and her friends.
The supporting cast is nicely varied and starts showing depth by the end of this volume. Some start out a bit one dimensional for immediate identification and to move the plot along, but happily none of them stay that way for long. Maps is a favorite of mine, as her relentless optimism is contagious and always stays on the side of endearing rather than annoying. Olive having no love for the Batman is interesting, as he almost plays an antagonist. I found him a bit harsh, but it’s a valid interpretation and suits the story. There’s also a fantastic cliffhanger in that regard leading into the next volume.
The art is great. It has a soft feel that might take getting used to, but everything is clear, expressive, and conveys tone and emotion well. The coloring is amazing. Always vivid, and while usually appropriately dark it brightens up whenever needed.
Overall everything really comes together as a whole here, with the art nicely complimenting an imaginative story. It’s strong ties to Gotham mythos could be double edged, as there were name drops and other references of significance that could be lost on readers not already familiar with Batman comics. But personally I enjoyed Gotham Academy and will definitely be continuing with volume 2.
The announced theme for September’s Nerd Block was sci-fi, featuring Star Wars, Star Trek, etc, so I decided this would be a good time to try it out. Let’s see what I ended up with:
The promised Star Wars item from the upcoming movie was a BB-8 plush. Decent enough, and now I know the name of the droid I’ve seen plastered everywhere. For Star Trek a Springz U.S.S. Enterprise dashboard toy was included. Cute little novelty. There was a Funko mini mystery box for Supernatural. I have no familiarity, but the figure looks nice for what it is (the zombie eyes are a bit creepy here though).
The remaining two items dive into the mash-up realm. Jurassic Galaxy was apparently an online joke that a poster artist turned into a work of art. A small sized print of the original limited run poster was included here. It’s a great little piece of imagination run wild and combines Star Wars, Terminator, Guardians of the Galaxy and of course Jurassic Park. This month’s t-shirt is a different kind of mash-up, combining different elements of Cylons and Battlestar Galactica over the years.
Conclusion
Nerd Block certainly delivered what it promised this month, and everything in it was on theme and of decent quality. I have to admit though for my personal tastes their Arcade Block offering is vastly superior so far. I have two more Nerd Blocks coming with my subscription, so we’ll see if that remains true.
Justice League: Gods and Monsters is the latest DC animated movie, and opens with a vision of a dying Krypton where a familiar villain interrupts a last ditch effort to save the species and contributes his own genetic material to the child’s makeup. With General Zod now the biological father of Superman, the world is a vastly different place. Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman still fight what they see as evil but their ideals, identities, and even their very nature, are a far cry from what we’re used to.
I wasn’t sure what to expect going in, but I really enjoyed Gods and Monsters. The key is that tribute was paid to the ideas and characters being borrowed but they let the reimagining go where it needed to to tell a good story. This is not a what-if adventure where one small thing is change an the effects are examined. The tweaks to Superman’s origin are just the beginning, and in some ways are the least drastic of the changes in store. Some extremely important characters, concepts, etc. one would expect to see are nowhere to be found, because they wouldn’t have fit. I like the focus shown and the commitment to embracing this universe and this story instead of letting things balloon out of hand. There are cameos and nods to familiar faces and they’re well done, serving as nice nods for those who catch them without being intrusive.
There are strong themes of responsibility and nature vs nurture woven into the story without slowing down the action or getting preachy. The flashbacks break up the flow a bit, but they are interesting and allow us to really understand what’s driving these new versions of our heroes so it’s well worth the slight pacing issues. The animation has a sleek look, and is appropriate for the atmosphere and style of the tale. And I have to admit watching harder edged versions of familiar characters was captivating.
JL: Gods and Monsters is another great movie from DC’s animated catalogue.
PS – The special features discuss numerous classic alternate reality stories from DC comics as well as the inspiration and ideas behind Gods an Monsters, and were a nice little treat after watching the film.
I reviewed Lost Dimension after a complete playthrough, then continued on in new game + mode. I’ve now finished two additional plays, and received the true ending. I’ll avoid spoilers but there is enough to talk about that I wanted to share some thoughts.
It’s impossible to get the true ending in one play, because you need to max out your camaraderie levels with everyone and it can’t be done for the characters chosen in the early judgements. So it will require at least two times through the game. I got unlucky and one character was an early traitor for me twice, so I needed a third complete play to get the ending.
The nice thing is the game carries over skill points and lets you redistribute them, so the team is pretty powerful upfront. Also dialogue you’ve seen before can be fast forwarded, so I completed BOTH subsequent playthroughs in less time combined than the first took me. The battle system is fun so I didn’t mind tackling them again, especially since hunting for traitors meant I was using different batches of characters each time.
The biggest weakness of the game in my first playthrough was some concepts and motivations seemed underdeveloped, which I chalked up to the fluid nature of the game and the traitor identities. This is actually disproven by the true ending. Everything is explained and it all makes sense within the story we’ve been following all along. While there’s a lot that remains mysterious until the end there were hints and I pieced together most of it as I completed all the camaraderie links. The ending wasn’t perfect but it was fitting , tied up all the loose ends and made sense.
So I have to say I love the game even more now. It’s hard to sell people on a game that requires multiple play throughs to get the story’s completion, but I don’t think it would be disappointing even if you stopped at once and the game does enough to make those subsequent plays enjoyable that I highly recommend giving Lost Dimension a try.
Derailments of Thought 