Gen X Otaku 1971: the OG blog

Book-keeping note, and Happy Holidays!

Just to update, the Denton-Era desktop has officially crashed, burned and died.  I stripped out the components that still work (like the new power supply I installed only a few months ago), stripped out the brand new RAM that I am now seeking a refund from Crucial.com on, and stripped out the old 512 MB RAM strip as well, plus I have a spare 1G RAM from my mom's computer after I upgraded it, also using Crucial.com's excellent products.

I'm thinking about getting an actually decent Desktop this time, maybe into the $500 even $700 range.  Something that will last a bit longer, has a bit more RAM, can handle modest gaming; I desperately want a copy of No One Lives Forever 2 which to my knowledge was never ported to a console system and remained a PC game to this day.

I'm also thinking about buying a re-furbed PC that SugarlandPC are selling for pretty cheap ($150), if they still have any in stock after Xmas.  If I could talk them down to $100, that would be awesome, since I could upgrade the crappy 512 MB ram with the 1G RAM that I have lying around, which would give me a total of 1.5 G of RAM.  I plan on using such a machine to hook up to my dad's main flat screen TV.  I might then equip it with either a wired keyboard (with an extension cable if such a thing is available) or maybe even a wireless keyboard...just something to give Dad lazyboy-capable wireless computing that is superior to his laptop...attach our old printer as well (after downloading the driver for it).  Just an idea, don't know if Dad would go for it--but it would be cool to be able to display YouTube vids on the main flatscreen in the den, where we gather and spend the most time together as a family.

Meanwhile I could set up a fairly boss Desktop PC for myself in my bedroom.  That would be da bomb.  Fast computer and more privacy for myself.

For the time being I'm doing some awkward juggling of existing laptops (full and pint sized) as well as iTunes store settings on the remaining PCs.  I'm happy to report the iTunes store "remembers" me and didn't give me any grief about re-downloading apps I'd already bought and paid for, unlike one's music purchases, which are always a total pain in the ass...Napster and iTunes *will* let you re-download your music purchases after a computer crash BUT, you have to beg and plead like a little b*tch first and then they huff and sigh and note that they don't have to do this, but ok, here you go, just this once...I guess I'm so jaded I was expecting the same level of grief when it comes to iPod apps...and was pleasantly surprised to find this not to be the case.

In other Geek news, I'm expecting a t-shirt soon that says "Otaku" in Hirigana and in English that I will probably wear to the next outing at Alamo Drafthouse.  Either that or my boss shirt that is charcoal gray and says "Japan" in white Roman letters over a Rising Sun and an outline of the Japanese home islands....or my other one I'm getting that says in Japanese "I like Japanese Girls", in a box of text surrounding a Rising Sun logo.  I also got a nice round car oval that says in faux Japanese lettering "Otaku".  Very appropriate for a North American anime/manga otaku who prefers the English dubs anyway...

For Xmas I asked for and received the FUNimation Box set of the series Baccano! which is awesome since now I can watch and finish Disc 4 (I've seen Discs 1-3) but in all likelyhood I'll just start over at Disc 1 and do a full review here later when I'm done.

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas...Happy Channuka, Happy Winter Solstice or whatever floats your boat.

 

Manga minute: Megatokyo 5

Just a quick note in passing to mention that I finished Megatokyo book #5, which I got through Interlibrary Loan, and I loved it.  I'm so happy for Piro and Kimiko, Largo and Erika.  At the end, Kimiko hugs Piro and falls asleep in his arms, resting her head gently on his chest as they cuddle on the couch in Piro's apartment.  If Piro had any doubts about how Kimiko feels about him, they should be gone, at least for now.  More hilariously, Erika is falling in love with Largo, and Largo is completely out of his depth.  Erika even shows some genuine tenderness to Largo.

What makes Megatokyo for me are the supporting cast; characters like Junko, Yuki, and of course Miss Miho.

I decided I wanted to toss a few dimes in Fred Gallagher's direction, so I sent a fax yesterday to my local Border's books, as I could not get through on their land line this close to Xmas.  They called me back on my cellphone and asked if I wanted them to hold a new copy of Megatokyo book #6 for me, which I confirmed.  They only had this latest volume, not the earlier back issues.   I said that was fine.  I dropped by the store this morning after my Weight Watchers meeting and picked it up for about $12.00 USD.  I feel less guilty now about the prospect of picking up used editions of Books 1-5 on Amazon from used sellers, some copies of which are going for as low as $1.25 or so depending.  Our library has books 1-4 but I want to own this original artwork, plus I love the characters and their story.

The pace of Megatokyo v e r y, v e r y  s  l  o  w.  If you're looking for an action-packed Manga, enjoy Book #1 and then move on to something else.  If you care about the character's inner emotional lives, their relationships, their hang-ups, etc, then stick around for books #2-6.

I for one LOVE the soap-opra-like aspects of this series.  Because it reminds me a lot of the coming of age anime genres that I love as well.

I love the culture clash between the American and Japanese characters, and between the Japanese characters, i.e. the more tradition-minded versus the more cosmopolitan, bilingual and internationally-minded.

Amazingly, this OEM (Original English Manga) was actually exported to Japan and translated into Japanese and has done reportedly very well over there.

I have only just begun to crack the first few pages of Megatokyo #6, which picks up right where Megatokyo #5 left off...Kimiko wakes up in Piro's arms, realizing with a little embarassment that she spent the night with him.  Largo is back, glaring at them both.  Kimiko wonders if things went badly between him and Erika.  Piro asks incredulously "do you even need to ask?"  LOL.

Largo is so distraught, he can't express himself in words...he stomps off to build another computer so that he can tell Piro about it in a txt msg intead ;-)

That's as far as I've gotten so far, but I do look forward to finishing Megatokyo #6.  I guess I will have to start reading the web-comic after that, or at least until Fred compiles and releases Megatokyo #7.

I know this series isn't everyone's cup of tea, but I for one love it.

Final Episode of Soul Eater / The word is: LAME

Finished the final episode of Part 4 of the Anime series Soul Eater.

Let me preface my summary remarks by stating up front how much I loved this show from the very beginning.  I loved Blair, the oversexed magical cat, liked the chemistry between Maka and Soul, enjoyed watching the developing relationship between Black Star and Tsubaki, and laughed my ass off at the amusing character flaw of Death The Kid...the total badass who is also totally OCD, i.e. has a particularly cripping (but amusing) form of obsessive-compulsive disorder; not to mention Death The Kid's twin sister Weapons, a pair of .44 mag Desert Eagle pistols, Liz and PattyThompson.  Liz is the older, sexy one, Patty is the young ditz.

I have to give props to Brittney Karbowski for voicing the brash, arrogant Black Star...I've only ever heard her play girl's roles before but she pulls off Black Star beautifully, right to the end.

Tsubaki is voiced sweetly by Monica Rial, and I couldn't imagine any other actress doing her justice the way Monica does.

I love these characters, I really do.  I was also deeply impressed by Luci Christian's portrayal of Lady Medusa.  I think Lady Medusa is by far Luci's most complex and interesting "evil" character, certainly her best "evil" role I can think of.  Luci's performance was simply amazing.  I loved the chemistry between her and Mad Professor Stein, and I loved Stein's former lover and redeemer, the Death Scythe Marie, voiced by a very vunlerable and sensitive sounding Colleen Clinkenbeard.

Y'know the saying, "it's the Journey, not the destination"?  Well, think of that when you think of this series.

These characters deserved so much better a conclusion than what they were given.  *SPOILER* Oh, don't get me wrong, it's a happy ending, etc.

But god, oh god was the ending so completely LAME.  How lame?  We're talking re-visioned Battlestar Galatica Final Episode levels of lame here.  My feelings on Soul Eater mirror my feelings about the reboot of BSG.  Truly GREAT series, but such a LAME end.

The evil one, the kishin (鬼神^?), Asura, is voiced expertly by Chris Patton, but I feel badly for him with the script they handed him for the final episode...

In the anime, we get to see his inner thoughts of "Fear = don't understand" (as we see them in the subtitles; or in Kanji on the screen)...yeah, the ones who are afraid/don't understand would be your AUDIENCE...who can't understand why you can't give them a more satisfactory ending than this after such a dramatic build-up to this point.  That's the best Deus Ex Machina you could come up with--really?  REALLY?  Bravery??  Maka deserved better than that, even though she "won".

Maybe it sounded more eloquent in Japanese, maybe there were allusions to the code of Bushido or something...hell if I know.  But it didn't work for me in English.  The word is not BRAVERY, it's LAME.  I can think of at least half-a-dozen alternate endings that would have been more intellectually and emotionally satisfying than what they actually did.  Hell, the end credit animation looked a whole lot more interesting than what actually played out in the final episode.

My advice is just to enjoy the series up until the penultimate episode, then imagine your own, better ending.  It hurts less that way.

 

In other news

In other news, I'm re-naming my full-sized ACER laptop "Lazarus" because this evening it inexplicably came back from the dead.

Amazing what 6 months R&R in the closet will do for a buggy, malfunctioning laptop...I thought it was a gonner, suspected Malware or who knows what....

I turn it on for sh*ts and giggles and after a failed attempt it manages finally to boot successfully and I see the Anime-themed wallpaper that I haven't seen since, oh, February of 2010....

Anyway, I'm trying to diagnose my dying Desktop with  the help of a techie friend in San Antonio who was very generous with his time this evening and has given me some homework to try out before bed, and I'll touch base tomorrow if I can.  But he did advise the machine is pretty damn old and may need to be chunked if it has things like busted capacitors and the like.

So I'm probably an idiot for having bought extra RAM for it.  Wouldn't be the first time.

Want to buy some RAM for my mom's desktop, too...and according to Crucial.com, that will be significantly cheaper for her machine than it was for mine.

I'm kind of a blockhead when it comes to computer stuff...I know a few things, more than the average joe, but I'm lightyears behind the real computer geeks out there.

 

Home Desktop just crashed (I think) so there may be some delay between postings. Still watching plenty of anime and hope to post new reviews soon...sayonara!