FINAAAAAAAAAAL FUUUUUSSSSIOOOOOON!!!!!!!!!!!

Now that you've witnessed that epic spectacle, let's discuss it. The scene above is from an anime I have been watching called GaoGaiGar, or, if you'd like to refer to it by it's full title "The King of Braves GaoGaiGar". It's a Super-Robot show from 1997 that somehow slipped my radar until this year. It's filled with everything you expect from a show where a character screams "FINAL FUSION!" - epic battles, bizarre characters, lengthy stock-animation transformation sequences, robots (duh), aliens and eccentric professors. It's simple, it's predictable and any anime veteran like myself will know every cliche in it. BUT I LOVE IT!

And this made me ask myself a question: "Why do I love super-robot shows so much?". Now it's important for me to offer some explanation when I discuss "super-robot" shows. When I say "super-robot" shows, I do not mean shows like "Gundam" or "Macross" or "Patlabor". These shows are all considered "real robot" shows, due to the way they present giant robots as something that could actually exist in our world. Super Robot shows throw science and reason out the window in the name of courage, bravery and RIDICULOUSLY LOUD NARRATORS:


Again, why do I love these shows so much? They have simple plots and most episodes boil down to the protagonist's Armored Whatchamacallit killing the enemy whatchamacallit in a screaming frenzy. I'm usually a guy that enjoys anime with complex plots filled with betrayal, psychology, and deep, absorbing characters. But I'm also a fan of huge robots punching each other in the face.

Perhaps it's the positivity of these shows that keeps me coming back to them. In the world of super robots, there is no room for second guessing your dreams. If you have a dream, you should PURSUE IT WITH ALL YOUR MIGHT, even if it means defying the laws of physics and reality. Perhaps it's the intense bravado and heroism of the characters in these shows that makes me become a massive nerd and yell out their ultimate attacks with them that I love. Maybe I like how in the world of super-robots, there are clear lines between good and evil. Good people are good, and there's no question of it. Bad people are terrifying abominations, and they must be defeated.

I think the main reason I continue to watch super robot shows is escapism. I love my practicum in the social work field, but issues aren't so clear cut as they are in the world of super robots. People abuse their kids, and their children get taken away. But then we find out that the parent abusing their child was an isolated incident, and the parent had been drinking and was under a great deal of stress. What's the answer to this dilemma? Should a child get taken away from his parents because he was hit once?  Who are we to say what should be done?

In the world of super robots, child abusers would be ABSOLUTE EVIL, and that would be that. They would also probably pilot some ridiculous giant robot that runs off of 8 year old children's blood or something. Morbid, I know. But this would give us a reason to hate these villains, to cheer as the protagonist blasts them into a million shiny animated pieces.

I think the kid in me is also still alive. I still think "AWESOOOOOOOOOOME!!!" whenever I see a 50 ton machine transform and launch a volley of approximately 6000 missiles at somebody's face. I really don't think this part of me will ever die.

How the heck did a post about anime robots get to the subject of ethical dilemmas and child abuse? I guess that I only have one option: To close this post with the opening to GaoGaiGar. This is what originally got me into the show.

My apologies

So, I haven't been posting as fervently as I was at the beginning of this blog. I meant to write a blog about the movie Crazy Heart, a blog about listening to music at night, and a blog discussing the anime Space Adventure Cobra. Lately, I've been swamped with papers and projects due to the semester ending. I promise you that I will return to posting vigorously as soon as I am able. School is being a jerk and taking up most of my time.

F.A.P. Quest

UPDATE: New F.A.P. Quest Screens! Direct from F.A.P.Quest 4 and 5!

My apologies for the lack of posts over the past couple of days. I had a ridiculous research presentation that demanded all my attention. Want to know what it was about? "The relationship between ADHD and CAFAS scores at a local mental health agency" Don't know what a "CAFAS score" is? Too bad. I'm done explaining it.

I wish I could have done a research project about American preference to JRPG's, or something studying movie reviews over the past ten years. That would have been interesting. But alas, I am a social work major. Ours is the realm of "evidence based practice" and "cultural competence". While this stuff is all fine and good, I'd like to find some way to integrate my love of all things media with social work. Maybe one day I will find a way...

On to the title of this post. My friends and I were sitting around today, looking up games that Squaresoft and Enix have published. Some had ridiculous titles like "Pop'n Tanks" and "Jesus 2". As I read the list of ridiculous titles, one of my friends said "How about Fapquest 32?"

For those more innocent readers who don't know what "fap" means (and the odds are, if you read this blog, you do) I'll let you google it. Basically, the practice of onanism is still funny to a group of 21-22 year old males (I'll let you look up "onanism" as well) and we all laughed for a good 3 seconds. We all figured it would be one of our stupid jokes that would elicit a quick laugh and die. But it didn't....

We began to discuss what the "Fapquest universe" was. We decided that it was a long running JRPG series that has launched 32 games in total, along with an anime OVA series, action figures, movies and other stuff. We also decided that it should be written F.A.P. Quest. What "F.A.P." stands for is a subject of debate. Among some of the games we came up with were:

F.A.P. Quest 12: Luminosity of the Rift - A game that drew mixed opinions from fans due to it's mixture of RTS elements with traditional tactics RPG elements. It was noted for it's excellent story and characters, and continues to be referenced in successive F.A.P. Quest games.

F.A.P. Quest 5: Masters of TirNaNog- Noted for its mixture of dating sim elements with JRPG elements. Was interesting in that it had a "spirited away" theme where characters from "the real world" get pulled into the F.A.P. Quest universe.

F.A.P. Quest- The original entry in the series. Was one of the first roguelikes. The creator of Rogue and the creator of F.A.P. Quest both went to the same technical school in Tokyo and worked on gaming projects in college. Both had an affinity for RPG's and had many similar ideas. While Rogue grew great recognition, F.A.P. Quest was overshadowed and was considered a "cheap imitation" by critics.

Conrad's Story: Conrad, a popular character from F.A.P. Quest 9, was so loved by fans that he got his own spin-off game. The game was an action brawler that drew mediocre to average reviews.

F.A.P. Quest 64: Like most things with "64" after the title not made by Nintendo, this just sucked. Most F.A.P. Quest fans prefer to think this game didn't happen.

We also introduced a term in the universe called "F.A.P. Tina's" F.A.P.Tina was a character in F.A.P. Quest 4 that fans loved, and "F.A.P. Tina" has become a term for elite, godlike characters in ensuing series. There is fan debate whether F.A.P.Tina was the main character of F.A.P.Quest 1 and 2, but no consensus has been reached.

As you can see, we all have very over active imaginations, as well as encyclopedic knowledge of JRPG cliches. As of 15 minutes ago of this writing, we have gotten one of our friends to make art of the series. Stay tuned for further developments....

Time to talk about Magnolia

Well, I suppose I could turn this blog into a tl:dr essay on the movie's themes of loneliness, broken families and interwoven lives, but let's face it-I'll end up trying to sound too intelligent and you'll be left with a cliched mess of Composition 111 trash. Instead, I'll just talk about the aspects of the movie I enjoyed and did not enjoy. Before I do that, I suppose it would probably be nice to include some brief background information on the movie.

Magnolia is a film released in 1999 filled with such stars as Julianne Moore, Tom Cruise, John C.Reilly, Alfred Molina, Phillip Seymour Hoffman and William H. Macy. So clearly, we've got some talented actors in the thing. The movie tells the tale of an assortment of characters whose lives become interwoven. I could go and outline every plot point in the movie, but that wouldn't be much fun for you if you ever want to see it. The film (you know I'm a movie snob if I'm calling it a film) is directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, who also directed Boogie Nights and There Will Be Blood, a movie I have yet to watch because no one ever wants to watch it with me and I'll be damned if I have to watch a 3 hour movie by myself.

Going into the movie, I was a tad skeptical. The whole "OMG THIS MOVIE WILL BLOW YOUR MIND ALL THESE CHARACTERS/EVENTS ARE SOMEHOW TIED TOGETHER" thing is getting a little tired to me after having to sit through things like Lost (which thank the Lord I gave up on after three seasons) and while I usually enjoy movies that have that gimmick (I really enjoy stuff like Sin City and Pulp Fiction), I hate when it's done poorly. However, while watching the movie I realized that this was not it's main focus. The characters do all somehow tie together, but not at the cost of development or set up. All the actors give excellent performances, and you can really tell that they believe in the script. Tom Cruise as a misogynistic self-help guru was particularly memborable, as well as John C. Reilly as an awkward but endearing police officer. Of course, you could say I am a little biased towards John C. Reilly due to my regular diet of viewing stuff like this:

Also, John C. Reilly is from the neighborhood I grew up in Chicago, so I have to love him.

There are times where I felt the movie dragged a little while watching it- the film clocks in at about 3 hours-but after the movie was finished, I was able to think back on the movie as a whole and really appreciate it. However, I will still hold that some scenes drag, like this one where Jason Robard's character talks to Phillip Seymour Hoffman about living life and regrets and all that jazz FOREVER. I was sitting there thinking "GET ON WITH IT ALREADY, WE GET THE POINT!" However, that's just a minor complaint.

 So really, the only issue I had with the movie is that it had some moments that dragged. After I watched the movie, I didn't completely understand it. That's a good thing. I thought about the movie as I went to sleep and throughout today, and I thought about the themes in the movie. I thought about some of the quotes the characters said, and tried to guess at the messages Anderson was attempting to convey with his film. The film also allowed my friends and I to discuss it for a while. It was haunting. I love haunting films.

Now I suppose you're all wondering (why do I even act like people read this thing) about when I am going to absolutely shred a movie into nothingness. All I have to say is wait until the summer movie season. I inevitably will be dragged to some bullcrap movie filled with special effects and Robert Downey Jr. and will absolutely despise it. Furthermore, everybody saying how much they enjoyed the movie will fuel my rage even more, and will lead to a post filled with so much anger you will probably feel the disgusting spittle come off of my raving mouth through your computer screen.

That's it. I need to talk about music here pretty soon, so expect a music review in the next post.

I just watched Magnolia

I just watched Magnolia. Yes, I realize the movie came out in 1999 and I'm about 11 years late, but whatever. I am still processing it, but expect a detailed blog when I get the chance....

Also, since this blog is new, expect a lot of layout changes. I have no idea how to use html, and I refuse to settle for some dumb premade blog template with vector graphics, flowers and rainbows everywhere. That seems to be the trend these days.

Current TV

Well, whatta ya know, I actually found something I enjoyed on TV this weekend other than Tim and Eric or 30 Rock. I feel that television today is filled with nothing but awful reality shows, brain-numbing music/dance/talent/competitive sitting shows, and boring medical/swabbing prosthetic bones with q tips shows. The worst part is, everybody thinks these are the best shows ever except me. I get tired of hearing about Dancing With The Stars, The Bachelor, America's Got Talent, and who can forget my favorite, CSI. However, I do enjoy this CSI thing, simply because it's so bad it's good:

This weekend, my fiancé and I took a quick trip up to St. Louis to visit a friend of hers, and everybody went to bed early except for me. So, without my usual solution of hanging out with friends, going on my computer and looking up crap, or playing videogames, I decided to settle and watch TV.

I flipped past the usual late night bs of VH1 countdown shows and reruns of SportsCenter, and then something caught my eye- a show called "The RottenTomatoes Show". Now, if you know me, you know that I adhere to RottenTomatoes almost religiously. For those of you who don't know, RottenTomatoes.com is a movie review site where reviews from newspapers, magazines and movie review sites are aggregated. The higher the percentage of positive reviews, the better the movie tends to be (At least to me. Your Mileage May Vary). When a bunch of friends are going to see a movie, discussions typically go like this:

Positive outcome

Friend: Hey, wanna go see Up in the Air?

Me: Sure, it got an 88% on Rottentomatoes. I'm in!

Negative outcome (far more common)

Friend: Hey, wanna go see Law Abiding Citizen?

Me: Never. It got a 16% on Rottentomatoes. Also, Gerard Butler is quickly becoming an actor I can't stand! (expect a blog soon about actors I can't stand. Expect that blog to be long)

Anyway, the idea of a RottenTomatoes TV show seemed to good to be true. And it was indeed a wonderful show- an honest look at movies with insightful commentary and movie deprecation galore! I was sold. Best of all, I found out you can watch the show online here.

Next, a show came on called "Viewer Created Content" or VC2. Normally, I would flip the channel on anything that uses "squared" in it's title. But I was bored, so I figured, "All right, I'll give this show a chance". Basically, the show works like this: The creators of the show give out a topic, like "Movies" or "Family". Then, viewers create short documentary videos (usually 5-15 minutes) about the topic. The episode I watched was about "Alcohol". In the hour I watched, I learned about absinthe, the rising wine market in India,   a British guy's struggle with alcoholism, and a girl ranting about how she hated trendy bars. The clips were interspersed with a quick introduction to the videos, and that was it. There were no frills, no stupid cgi effects, no quick cuts to stock footage (I'm looking at you, History Channel...), just pure, authentic film experiences from viewers around the world.

After "VC2" ended, I decided I had better get to bed. But then, a documentary on the Burning Man Festival came on, and I got sucked into that. I had always wondered what the heck the Burning Man Festival was, and the documentary definitely answered all my questions. I thought, "Where has this channel been all my life?!"

So, there is still good t.v. out there. Unfortunately, I don't think Current TV is available in most cable markets. Wonderful...

The death of Random Curiosity

I had some spare time yesterday so I decided to go to one of my favorite sites, http://randomc.animeblogger.net/, or "Random Curiosity". Random Curiosity is an anime blogging site where recent anime from Japan is reviewed. I discovered the site at about this time last year, and have since read the vast backlog of anime reviews and previews the site contains.

Much to my shock, I found that the site was shutting down in this post:

http://randomc.animeblogger.net/2010/03/22/all-good-things/

The head blogger of the site, Omni, basically discusses how his life has become too complicated for him to run the site with him graduating from school and obtaining a job, and how over the years it has become a chore rather than a pleasure to keep the site up and running. It seems multiple contributors joined the site over the years, alleviating some of his workload, but even this could not save the website.

The point I'm getting at is that it made me sad that the site was shutting down. But why did this make me so sentimental? It's just an internet site, right?

In this era where many of the websites we visit are comprised of user generated content, there's a much deeper, personal connection. Even though many of the postings on Random Curiosity were objective anime reviews, the bloggers sometimes gave us glimpses of their personal lives. If one of the bloggers was sick, there would sometimes be a quick blog about how they were feeling. Sometimes, bloggers on the site would quickly write about the intense workload they were under from college courses. It was these tiny snippets of the blogger's lives that contributed to me visiting Random Curiosity so often, as well as their in-depth discussions of current anime programming.

The anime reviews Random Curiosity featured were extensive. They would review episodes of anime that had aired during the week, and would take stills of key moments in the anime in high-resolution. They would break down everything that happened in the episode, and then discuss their thoughts on it. Another feature I liked on Random Curiosity was their seasonal Anime preview sections. At the beginning of the season (i.e. spring, summer, fall, winter) they would list all the shows that would be airing in the season. This gave me a good outline of shows I would like to watch as well as shows to avoid.

Anime is a medium I enjoy greatly, and you will no doubt see many posts discussing anime I am watching or looking forward to. Ever since I watched "Pokemon" at 11 years old, I have been hooked on anime, and there looks to be no signs of me tiring of it.

Goodbye Random Curiosity, you will be missed!

P.S. You may be wondering what the heck "Angel Beats" is. The show is a venture between the anime studios KEY (Clannad, Air TV) and PA works (True Tears, Canaan). The show looks fantastic, and I usually love anything by KEY. Here is a preview:

The adventure begins

Hello out there, internet. I know what you're thinking: "Why the heck do we need another idiot on the web ranting and raving about things he hates? Don't I see enough of that?" Honestly, yes, you do see enough of that. But forget all of it.

I suppose that I should start off with an introduction. Around the internet, I'm usually known as Seekr12. You may have seen me on XboxLive, 1up, Last.FM, and a myriad of other fine internet destinations. On this blog, I will be known as "The Pixelated Cynic".

I am one that loves media. I love to analyze it, criticize it, talk about it, and enjoy it. However, I am about to graduate from college with a social work degree. While I love social work, it doesn't really give me an outlet to discuss this love of mine. I am often found discussing media with friends, but I would love to write about it. Writing is a hobby of mine, and lately I have only been using it as a slave to finish term papers and write treatment plans for clients. The time has come again for me to write for my enjoyment.

The aims of this blog are to:

1. Intelligently discuss media I have enjoyed.

2. Tear apart media I have absolutely despised.

3. Become a place where people can debate and fight over media.

4. Become one of those sites that are oft referenced and develop an obsessive fan following.

Yes, aim number 4 is a lofty goal, and it is unlikely that it will ever happen. But one can dream, and it is my dream to become a reputable media blogger in my spare time.

Also, you can expect rare posts where I discuss current happenings in my life. I do not want this blog to become a place for me to "vent", so if I ever get too angsty, hold me accountable. I used to write a blog in my high school years that was filled with angst and depression, and I've had my fill of those days.

So, here we go. My posting at the beginning of this blog will probably be quite sporadic, but rest assured the content I publish will be entertaining. I hope you enjoy it!