Sengoku BASARA Samurai Heroes: Brian Crecente, I’m Calling You Out.
Edit: surprisingly quick responses from Crecente himself prompted a few changes.
Normally I open doors for women, eat all of my dinner and respect my elders. I've got no problems with authority or people that are simply above me for no other apparent reason than experience and effort, and I respect those people for those very reasons. That said, I also have no problem with making sure credit is given where credit is due, and believe in having decent games represented fairly and professionally.
For that reason, I should--no, I must--raise issue with Brian Crecente's coverage of Sengoku Basara: Samurai Heroes. It's completely underwhelming and has given Kotaku's readership a terrible impression of the upcoming game. My issues are not completely trivial, nor am I just needlessly hating on Crecente, nor Kotaku for publicity, click-through traffic or just to whine. I realize that the business of journalism is a business: money gets passed around, favors are pulled, and so on. While I will not make any presumptions as to whether or not that is even remotely relevant to Kotaku's coverage of Sengoku Basara: Samurai Heroes, I believe that games should be represented fairly when they deserve to be, especially on one of the most trusted and most widely-read outlets for video game journalism on the internet.
I've drawn my sword, good sir! Well, okay, one of them.
Anime’s “Best of the Noughties”
As some of you may or may not know, yours truly is a Something Awful forums member -- I paid my ten bux. The anime subforum on SA proposed that posters submit a list of the five anime series released between 2000 and 2009 that they thought were truly special, groundbreaking or otherwise significant. Being the opinionated person that I am, I had to contribute my horrible animu picks.
Descent Into Madness — Venturing Into The Depths Of Gensokyo
I'm not usually one to get excited over "fandoms" and "niches" and series' "canon" or really "things" in general. I do my homework when something catches my interest or seems relevant enough, so I could certainly hold my own in an intelligent conversation, but there isn't really much intelligent conversation to be had on the subject of cute Japanese cartoon girls shooting at each other with magical spells. It's like trying to write a thesis on Evangelion and Princess Mononoke -- you'll sound really smart, but only in the realm of worthless nerd crap; and more importantly, no one will ever take you seriously.
I am, however, finding myself more and more fond of Touhou by the day. Surprisingly enough, I haven't really played any of the Touhou games -- any of them. I know a fairly good bit about them, but I've never touched them. Yes, yours truly -- bastion of all things MAN; vessel of hotblooded burning courage and fiery manly passion; the pinnacle of manly exuberance and youthful explosion -- has been tempted by the dozens of cutesy fairies and shrine maidens of the Touhou-verse.
WTF Is This: Twitter
"Do you Tweet?"
For some reason, Twitter has been in the news lately, and as such, I'm sure you've had someone ask you this at some point. You had to at least feel slightly embarrassed because all you could say was "well, not really," or -- even worse -- "why, yes, sir, I am indeed an avid and frequent Twitterer! Let's discuss our Tweets at length and share Tweeting stories!" If you have actually said anything remotely close to the latter answer, even so far as saying "yes, I am on Twitter," please kill yourself. People, don't get excited about Twitter. Nobody likes Twitter. Twitter is stupid. It is also completely and totally worthwhile: here's why.
Re-Blogging: Interview with Yamamoto Yutaka
A Japanese Otaku with his prized posession: the hug pillow.
I just happened to stumble upon this story and thought I'd share. Akira, this particular blog entry's author, has taken a printed interview with ex-Kyoani staff member Yamamoto Yutaka and added a bit of commentary of his own to highlight some of the more significant points Yamamoto makes.
Sengoku BASARA, or “The Western Market That Could Have Been”
This is the Great Nippon Spirit.
Many of you anime fans who like to keep current with Japan's anime seasons have probably heard of -- or have been watching -- Sengoku Basara. The show just recently ended its first season, with a second season announced by Production I.G. Studios themselves. The entire cast of characters has a rabid Japanese fanbase, primarily female -- a strange paradox, given that the anime is very blatantly a shounen battle series. The original video game franchise has grown from the first game, Sengoku Basara, to a straight-up sequel, a Guilty Gear-esque 2D fighter developed by ArcSys and Sammy, a PSP brawler that quickly took first place in software sales on its release; and a third title in the works for 2010. The anime brought with it a number of incredible product placement opportunities, from cellphone straps and character novelties to a Pizza Hut endorsement, a special rice label deal, a half-dozen different character-specific flavors of energy drink, and, oh, a stage play. Outside of Japan, however, Sengoku Basara (known to the rest of the world as Devil Kings) has almost never been heard of. What happened?