Strider Hiryu

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/grant-imahara-dead-mythbusters-host-was-49-1303101

Can we just end this fucking year already before it starts getting anymore ideas?

Fucking gutted over this. Grant was always my favorite host on Mythbusters.

This news comes even more at a shock considering I also found out one of my old co-workers also died from the same thing.

God this year sucks.......

Absolutely gutted and devastated to hear of Anthony Bourdain's death, turned an already shitty day into an extremely shitty day. I would of said something earlier but I had to come to terms and sort out my own thoughts on this (and of course get through a 10 hour work day).

The world truly is a bit darker and a lot less interesting today with his loss. His passion, gift for storytelling, humanity, and all around awesome attitude were what drew me in when I first started watching A Cook's Tour (his first show) so many years ago and what cemented my love for this man during the run of No Reservations. Sadly I never did get around to watching Parts Unknown or The Layover but I can only imagine they were as good as the other two. This man truly had a gift for opening his heart and mind to people and their culture as well as getting them to open up as well.

RIP Mr. Bourdain, not only have you opened my eyes to new things, given me countless hours of enjoyment, and been an all around awesome person you've also inspired my love for travel (that one day I will hopefully get to do) and my love for other cultures. You will truly be missed and my heart goes out to your daughter and family in this extremely tragic moment. I can only hope you've finally found the peace that so eluded you in life.

After four days of playing I finally beat Detroit: Become Human or should I say finished my first play through and boy was it a pleasure. It's been a very long time since I've played a game with such an amazing story behind it and it's been even longer since I've felt such emotion while playing. This is my game of the year and nothing will come close to over taking it. A little early to be saying this? Probably but the chances another game as rich in story, character development, and emotional attachment coming out this year is slim to none. Games like these are what influenced my decision to get my degree (even if I'm not using it or working in the industry) and it's games like this that I've always wanted to create.

True, the story has problems (and an extremely slow start after the first mission (the demo mission if you haven't played it)) and borrows heavily from real life events (civil rights movement is the big parallel with Markus coming off as the android MLK (depending on what choices you make)) and covers some pretty heavy subjects (domestic abuse, drug use, what does it mean to really be alive, etc) but they are few and far between and do little to detract from the narrative being told (in fact I think it gives the story more character). This game also does an extremely good job of making you feel the consequences of the choices you make and drives those points home later on down the line (every choice you make effects how the story ends, even the most mundane).

All three main characters are interesting in their own ways and it was a joy seeing them all evolve throughout the course of the story and while I admit some of them were bland (Connor coming to mind, his character arch is the most interesting but his character is rather bland until about half way through the game) that hardly detracts from the story. If I had to choose I'd say Kara's story was my favorite for pure emotional reasons and Connor's being the most enjoyable (mostly due to the Detective he works with). Don't get me wrong Markus's story is good and the beginning of it really makes you feel for him but overall it doesn't outshine the other two. Plus the actor's they got to play these characters did an extremely amazing job bringing these characters to life so much so that I became emotionally attached to each one of them (this goes for secondary characters as well, I had to make some real hard choices at the end of the game and it was heartbreaking to do so).

While I'm not one to gush about graphics I must say this game is beyond beautiful and the motion capture and animation are top notch (not to mention the starting screen is probably the most unique one to date). It's obvious this is a game and everything is CG but sometimes you forget given how well they nailed the likeness of the actors/actresses they used (almost all the main characters and certain side characters share their likeness with the actor/actress that portrayed them). I also have to say the soundtrack is rather amazing (now to rip it off my PS4 for my listening pleasure).

All in all this game was an emotional ride and probably the best $70 I've spent on a game in years. I can't recommend it enough but I warn you this game is not for everyone. There is very little action (and what little there is completely consists of quick time events) and it's completely character driven, think of it as a CYOA movie that takes some input from the audience. Plus if you've never played a Quantic Dream game (Indigo Prophecy, Heavy Rain, Beyond: Two Souls) then you probably won't really enjoy it. However if this sounds like something you'd like I highly recommend it. As I said it's been a really long time since I've enjoyed a game this much and I can't wait to play it again this weekend to try out the paths I didn't take (and to get all the trophies, this will probably be the only game I 100%) and see the other endings (I got what could be considered the best ending).

Been screwing around in the Ghost Recon beta these last few days. Gotta say the game is fun but you can definitely tell it was made to be played with friends. Don't get me wrong the A.I. squad mates are better then what you would get in other games (almost as good as the A.I. squad mates from Rainbow Six Vegas 2 (which this game has some similar mechanics to)) but a lot of the missions seem to be built with the idea of going in with 3 other players due to enemy patrol routes and placements. Beyond that gun play is pretty solid (a little wonky at times but this is a beta), combat is quick and sometimes relentless (I made a minor mistake approaching a base in the new area for the beta and damn near paid for it with my life (fucking enemies called in 2 choppers, still trying to figure out how I survived it)), and the story is pretty good for a Tom Clancy game (not generally into Tom Clancy stuff but this game and the Rainbow Six games have always had relatively good stories to go along with good game play).

Honestly if it wasn't coming out a week after Horizon and two weeks before Andromeda I'd probably buy it but no, Ubisoft had to pick the worst time to release it. If you get a chance this weekend try it out, the beta runs until Monday and it's definitely worth a quick play through (even if you don't get through the entire first area you'll get a good feel for the game play and what the story is about in the first few missions).

Can this year be over with now? It's one gut punch after another. Ron Glass has passed away. Most may not know him unless they've seen his earlier work in Barney Miller, Sanford and Son, etc but I'll always remember him as Shepard Book from Firefly/Serenity and Garth from Fable 2. While I may not be a religious person his portrayal of Shepard Book always resonated with me. So long good Shepard, you will be sorely missed by the legions of Browncoats out there.

"I don't care what you believe. Just believe it." - Shepard Book

Those words have always resonated with me good sir, may you rest in piece.

Finally ended up breaking down and paying for a Crunchyroll membership on Sunday (cancelled my TOR subscription since I've done everything the game has to offer for now) since it seems the hay day of fansubs is dead (and I was dying to watch IBO season 2 and now I can finally get caught up on Sailor Moon Crystal (god that just sounds wrong)). Gotta say, and believe me it hurts to say this, they've really come a long way since I last used them back when they were doing this illegally. Great quality, passable subs (need a little more work on localization but they're better then they used to be), and I get to watch everything on my TV instead of my computer (major bonus for me).

My only gripe is I wish they had more to offer. Their selection is rather small for having a partnership with Funi (then again I've seen pretty much everything I want to see that Funi has to offer). Meh, hopefully they'll continue to grow and get more stuff (and hopefully older stuff, a lot of the newer shows these days suck).

Finally got around to seeing Thor: Ragnarok (just finished in fact). Gotta say it was a really good movie, really enjoyed where they went with it and thought it was a downright blast.

Good amount of comedy (I thought it was a nice direction considering what we'll be getting in a little over a month), nice action sequences, and seeing Thor get the snot kicked out of him by Hulk was pretty damn funny. Was also nice to see Thor actually use his damn powers for once (the bridge fight was pretty fucking epic). If I didn't love the first Guardians as much as I do I'd say this would probably be my favorite Marvel movie (considering how much I hated the first two Thor movies that's pretty high praise from me).

Finally got around to watching Black Mirror since, you know, I'm bored because I can't work (and as much as I try I just can't bring myself to play anything game wise outside of FFXIV and a little bit of Destiny (I'm stuck at 267 and have no urge to do the Exotic quests and I really don't want to level another character right now)).

Gotta say this is definitely one of my favorite shows now. Really love how they're stand alone episodes that have no interconnection with each other (well they seem to all take place in the same year and same world (based on little hints I picked up in various episodes) but they're completely separate stories of their own). Some of the episode are really fucked up (the last episode of season 3, while not fucked up, is pretty fucking dark and has given rise to a new fear for me (saying what it is will ruin it if you haven't seen it), still one of my favorite episodes though) and some are really well thought out and emotional (the San Junipero episode is really fucking good).

All around it's a great fucking series (better be it's British, yeah I have a thing for British television) and I highly recommend it. Figured I'd start Stranger Things this weekend since it sounds like I'll be out of work for another week (according to my surgeon's nurse when I talked to her on the phone, I'll find out more tomorrow) and be ready for when season 2 airs in Oct.

Finally got caught up on my backlog of Marvel movies over the last two weeks (well the backlog of ones I wanted to watch, the only one's I haven't seen are Thor 2, Homecoming (which I will watch eventually), Ant Man (no real interest in seeing it) and I've only seen half of the first Captain America). Will say things make a lot more sense now in the big picture after getting them watched, thoughts below:

Winter Soldier: As much as I hat Cap I really enjoyed this movie and when my friend said shit hit the fan he wasn't kidding. I finally understand why Shield wasn't around in Avengers 2 (I really had no idea what was going on since I never watched the TV show and I really had no interest in watching Winter Soldier until recently) so a lot of my questions about certain things were finally answered. Really like how it played out more like a spy/action flick then a superhero flick, definitely one of my favorites in the the Marvel verse behind GoG 1 & 2 and Civil War.

Civil War: Good god I really enjoyed this movie though I do feel like the whole movie focused more on Cap and Stark's underlying past issues (and personal issues) then it did on the real issues at hand (it really felt more like a Cap obsessing over Bucky and Stark reliving his daddy issues more then a flick about a superhuman civil war). Have to say I'm completely pumped to see the Black Panther flick, after seeing him in Civil War I'm sold on him (great actor choice and the character alone is really interesting). I have a ton of questions and theories now about how Infinity War is going to play out (can anyone say Nomad).

Doctor Strange: I honestly didn't know about this one and based on the reviews I had seen about it I wasn't even sure if I'd like it. Glad to say I'm wrong. Though I really don't like Strange (his attitude rubs me the wrong way) I really enjoyed the movie (fucking trippy as hell). Considering I knew nothing of this character I thought it was a really good origin story for the character (yes I know the actual origin story but for the MCU this is actually a great introduction). I have some issues with the movie (like a lot of people) but I'm interested to see what his role is in the MCU going forward (especially considering the Infinity War movies are going to reset the MCU (or at least kill off quite a few heroes)).

Guardians 2: Watched this last night and I absolutely loved it, tied for favorite Marvel movie with Guardians 1. Brought back all of the charm and humor from the first one and backed it up with a pretty serious story. Was great to see how the interactions between all the characters have evolved from the first one and yes Baby Groot was fucking adorable (the beginning of the movie was freaking cute with him dancing, yes I said cute (get over it)). Overall the movie was a fun ride and the ending, while sad, was a great way to send off such a great character (even if he was an ass).

So yea, gotta say the Marvel movies are really impressing me considering my general distaste for superheroes (I'm sorry my heroes as a kid were the Ninja Turtles, Transformers, and G.I. Joe. Superheroes never realy interested me, men in tight spandex beating up other men in similar costumes just seemed wrong). As I said above I'm really looking forward to the Black Panther movie and after finally watching Civil War I'm really looking forward to seeing how things play out in the Infinity War movies.

Finished Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron Blooded Orphans Season 2 last night. Gotta say it wasn't as good as the first season and it was kind of a let down story wise but the battles were freaking amazing (I am in love with Barbatos, that fucking machine is amazing). I think the title of "Kill them all" has finally been taken from Tomino, good god Nagai was kill happy (I honestly didn't think anyone was going to survive to see the end (yea, kind of a spoiler but not really as I didn't say who dies)). All in all a solid 7/10, definitely worth a watch if you looking for an action oriented show (not the best Gundam to come out but it definitely ranks up there as a damn good addition to the franchise as a whole).

Also started watching Grimgar tonight since DX had mentioned what he thought of it it awhile ago (and it's up on Crunchy so I don't have to watch those fansubs I got a hold of). Only 4 episodes in and I have to say that was one hell of a gut punch, not because of his death but because of the way the others took it. Fucking hit me right in the feels. I do have to say that I was right, it feels like a cross between Log Horizon (being sucked into another world) and SAO (death being permanent) without the whole being a game aspect (since it seems it's never actually confirmed/denied). Overall I'm enjoying it so far, looking forward to what the next 8 episodes have to offer.

Finished watching Saga of Tanya the Evil (Youjo Senki) last night and what a fucking trip it was. Enjoyed every minute of it which is odd for me with newer anime. For a show that uses a villain for a main character (yes this is not you're typical good guy anime show) it certainly took some risks that I thought paid off (from using a Nazi Germany like country in the Empire (this is set in a world similar to ours during the WWI era) and a sadistic 11-year old girls a the protagonist (the villain)).

Gotta say I highly recommend giving it a watch if you can (currently only up on Crunchyroll, I know Funi has the rights so it may eventually see a State side release). Can't wait for the second season.

Fucking hell that was a ride. Just finished watching Steins;Gate and I have to say its an amazing show. I finally understand why people love it so much. Characters are pretty interesting (pretty bland and stereotypical but none-the-less interesting), story is completely bonkers (we're talking Serial Experiments Lain and Boogiepop Phantom levels of bonkers) and amazing, and the sheer emotional ride this puts you through is both terrifying and exciting.

Sure it starts out pretty slow but once you get to the halfway mark it seriously starts moving at an intense pace. I normally don't praise anime this much but this is truly a great show, almost a masterpiece if I've ever seen one (probably one of the only shows I have rated at 10 on MAL that actually deserves the rating for all the right reasons, not just pure enjoyment). I highly recommend watching it if you haven't, it's definitely worth the time investment (and I'll admit it's not for everyone but if you want a show that tears your emotions to shreds and makes you think this is definitely one for you).

Seriously can't wait for Steins;Gate 0 to start airing on Thursday (really hope CR has the simulcast for it). Now I just need to find time to watch the movie and the OVA before it starts. Also need to hope the VN this is based off of goes on sale on Steam so I can see the actual story that wasn't adapted for the anime (and to see all the other endings).

I'm going to preface this by saying I'm normally not a fan of Super Robot mech shows (more of a Real Robot guy myself (Gundam/Macross)) and never really have been (there are exceptions but they are few) so that will tell you just how much I adored this show.

It took me 11 years to finally sit down and watch it (and it's spent many years on my Netflix to watch list (I watched in on CR though) but I finished Gurren Lagann tonight and I have to say I absolutely fucking adored it. I don't understand why it took me so long to finally watch it but god am I glad I finally did. I haven't been this pumped after watching a show since I finished Kill la Kill (funny considering Trigger is also responsible making that gem). I'll admit it was a little rough in the beginning and if it wasn't for Kamina I would of dropped it but man am I glad I stuck through it, it only kept getting better. I'll admit, my taste for shows like this has dwindled over the years and I'm not really into the over the top, ridiculous shit anymore but god this just scratched an itch I didn't even know I had. Sure, I have my issues with the show (some pretty poor character development in some of the secondary characters, story is a little hard to follow after a certain point, some of the mech based science bugs me, and the whole Spiral Energy thing is ridiculous) but god damn do they seem insignificant when put up against an awesome soundtrack, awesome visuals (a little jenky considering how old it is), and a downright stellar main cast.

If it wasn't for my absolute love for Zeta Gundam this might have taken the place as my all time favorite mech anime (you all know me well enough to know how high of praise this is). I can't wait to watch the movies this weekend (yea they're recaps but apparently the second movie makes the final fight even more epic then it already was) and I'm sad to think there is no more of this wonderful show to watch (manly tears were shed at this realization).

Normally I'm not a fan of live-action adaptations for manga and anime but I gotta say the Blade of the Immortal movie live-action adaptation was fucking amazing. Gory as fuck, full of action, and just down right fucking awesome.

Please note that I have not read the manga, I've only seen the anime adaptation so I don't know how well they adapted it but I gotta say just based off of what little I know they did a stellar job for having to cram that much story into a 2 1/2 hour movie. Definitely recommend it if you're looking to watch something along these lines (and hell if you read the manga maybe you can tell me how well they adapted it), can't go wrong with senseless violence.

Originally I wasn't going to say anything until I actually finished watching the series (which should be Monday or Tuesday night) but you were right DX, The Ancient Magus' bride is spectacular and I say this after only watching 15 episodes.

I have to say it's up there with Violet Evergarden for both visuals and story (and it's been awhile since I've seen a show that has completely drawn me in to the point that I sacrifice sleep just to watch another episode). I honestly didn't think the premise would suck me in this much but I'm glad it did (and both episodes with Nevin were extremely well done (I shed some manly tears they were so emotionally impacting)).

I honestly have to say this is probably going down as one of my favorites shows from the last few years (which isn't really hard considering my problems with the last few seasons), only taking second to the masterpiece that was Violet Evergarden. I can't recommend this show enough for those who want a story driven show focused on character development and world building (I'm just sad I only have 8 episodes and 3 OVA's left, really hope this gets another season once the manga gets further along).

Since I'm on my weekend atm from the new job (after 6 days of hell, fuck this essential business shit people be crazy) I decided to watch the new Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045 that was put up on Netflix last Thursday. Note that this is only half of what we're supposed to get so my opinions are only reflective of that and they may change come the release of the final 12 episodes. With that in mind lets begin.

As most of you know I'm a huge fan of the GitS franchise ever since I saw the first movie over 15 years ago and have since seen and read everything released since then with the exception of side stories never released in the US (and own all of that as well) so my opinions on this are coming from a long-time obsessive fan so please keep that in mind. Also I will refrain from divulging any spoilers as you'll probably watch this anyway when you get a chance (please note its in Japanese only with English subtitles due to the "rona").

Quite honestly I'm not entirely sure how I felt about this as a whole. On one end it's not bad I might go as far as saying it's pretty good for a cyberpunk show but this is not GitS and this is not SAC for me. Hell I never thought I'd say it but Arise is a lot better then this and I have way to many gripes about that show to even begin. At least Arise felt like a GitS show and story even if it was blandly done with some pretty bad writing (the Arise movie was grade A GitS though, I definitely suggest watching that).

My major gripe is they explain nothing of what happened in the 11 year time span between Solid State Society and this, nothing. They go over world developments and why things are the way they are but they in no way explain major plot elements behind why the Major and her crew are in the US (2045 starts out in the US, not a real big spoiler), they vaguely explain the main premise driving the plot forward from that point (a point that does not seem very GitS like to me), why certain characters are no longer seen or heard from (until later in the 12 eps), and just all around weirdness that is this post Solid State Society world. It's aggravating because the way things were left at the end of SSS you would of thought we'd be getting another procedural GitS season driven forward by strong character driven episodes and interesting plot lines, instead we're left with boring long winded arcs that get nowhere (and maybe 2 enjoyable episodes not part of the overall plot) and in the end we're left with a major cliff hanger at the end. It's aggravating honestly and it seems more like this season was made to pander more to western audiences with short attention spans instead of the original core fanbase (sorry, venting a little. I felt very betrayed by this). Like I said though if this was non-GitS related I'd say it was a good show if not a little pandering.

Music wise (yes I'm a huge fan of the SAC soundtrack, there's a reason I own all 4 soundtracks) I was utterly disappointed. Yoko Kanno is nowhere to be found here and it's extremely noticeable but it's to be expected as she's mostly retired from the industry. This left a sour taste in my mouth since, as I noted above, I'm a huge fan of the SAC soundtrack and it was one of the major reasons I enjoyed the first two seasons so much. Don't even get me started on the OP, not my cup of tea and certainly not something I'd associate with GitS (though I do like the ED).

Animation wise I can't stand the full CGI or the character redesigns. This felt way to much like I was watching cutscenes from a game 10 years ago. Not to say the CG isn't crisp or anything it's very well done and the fight scenes are a joy to watch. Sadly this isn't Pixar level CGI and it shows. Maybe I'm bitter because they went full CGI instead of the traditional/CG blend they did with SAC and 2nd Gig but I found this to be way more off putting than I thought it would be. Plus the Major's redesign makes her look like a 14 year old teenager and that's just not my jam (where's my hot, sophisticated badass woman?).

Thankfully the characters are the same and that was a joy to behold. Watching them interact with each other was extremely enjoyable and I'm happy to see they weren't changed one bit (this goes for the Tachikoma's as well so if you found them annoying they're still going to be annoying (I, personally, love the adorable little trouble makers)). The new characters are just as enjoyable and I just love Purin, she's beyond adorable with her little crush on Batou.

All in all like I said above I'm not entirely sure how I feel about the show. Part of me wants to destroy all the masters and make everyone forget this and the other part of me just thinks it's a below average GitS that just so happens to be somewhat enjoyable. Granted we're only 12 episodes in and my opinion might change once we get the last 12 episodes (did they ever announce when that'd be?) but those are my current thoughts on the show. If I had to give it a rating out of 10 it'd mostly likely be a 6 (which pains me to do considering how generous I was with Arise). Do I suggest watching it? Honestly that's for you to decide. I gave my honest thoughts so take them how you will though but if you are a major fan of the GitS franchise don't get your hopes up to much (then again maybe this is to your liking).

So after counting the cash and gift cards I got for my birthday in Oct and for Christmas I finally just broke down and ordered a Switch today all because I want the new Smash Brothers (damn you Nintendo, why do you do this to me. You know I have an obsession with SSB).

So yeah, I now get to start the journey of being a Switch owner (I just wish it didn't cost so much freaking money x.x).

So after playing TOR since it's release I've finally finished all the class stories this morning earning my Legendary Player status. I have to say TOR is an exceptional game with some of the best storytelling I've seen in an MMO to date (FFXIV takes second sadly, while the story is amazing it's just not personal enough like the TOR class stories are).

Have to say my favorite Class Stories were Sith Inquisitor (even if it was a little predictable at times), Imperial Agent (I haven't played the Light Side version but the Dark Side one was pretty damn fun), and surprisingly Jedi Consular (which I beat this morning. While a little boring the twists and turns the story takes after Chapter 1 were fun). The other stories were just a little to bland for my tastes (Sith Warrior was okay but revenge stories just aren't all that great any more. Jedi Knight wasn't all that amazing but the final story mission was pretty cool. The rest I really don't have much to say about (though Smuggler was good for a few laughs)).

Gotta say for their first time doing an MMO Bioware did a great job, even if the game has gone through more rocky points then most MMO's. The Knights of the Fallen Empire and Knights of the Eternal Throne expansions were amazing, well done, and outside of the class stories had some of the best story writing I've seen in awhile (this goes for single player games as well). Can't wait to see what Bioware has in store for TOR in the future but I'm happy to say I can finally put this game on the back burner until it happens.

So because I was bored and I'm getting kinda burned out on FFXIV (yea, week off to play it probably wasn't the best idea) I decided to play some BF1 last night. Have to say I really like a lot of the new changes they put forth since the last time I played (which was shortly after ribbons were introduced). The best feature by far is the new battlepack reward system and I won't go into specifics since I'm sure most of you have seen videos on it. Suffice to say after one match last night I almost had a battlepack (did get one after my second and almost halfway to another one). Nice to see they implemented a system that rewards team play as well as high placement on the scoreboard (about fucking time) for getting battlepacks instead of the RNG based system they had.

Also have to say Frontlines is fucking amazing. IMO it's what Operations should of been instead of the crap they gave us. Being a mix of Conquest and Rush (at the end if you get that far) it's pretty fucking fun and the battles get extremely intense at flag points. If Frontlines would of been introduced from the get go I'd of probably continued playing this (hell I most likely will start playing more now, it was kind refreshing to play an FPS again (even if it's one that pissed me off when if first came out)).

So I finished watching the first season of My Hero Academia tonight and you were right DX I absolutely love the show. I think most of that has to do with my absolute adoration for All Might but I could be wrong (but I'm sure I'm not, you can't hate the man he's just fucking perfect).

Gotta say for a shounen series it certainly has a lot going for it. Great humor, awesome character development and characters , a good story (I only say good for now as it's only S1 that I've finished, I hear it gets a lot better), and a pretty kick ass soundtrack. Not going to say I don't have any problems with the show (it suffers from some of the things I hate about shounen series) but those are greatly overshadowed by everything I said before.

I'm honestly looking forward to starting S2 tomorrow (thank god I'm on vacation) and hopefully starting S3 before I go back to work (if I don't get lost in the myriad of other things I have to do this week).

So I was bored yesterday and played some of the Overwatch free weekend (sadly I won't have anymore time to play it). Quite honestly I'm actually considering buying it now because Quickplay was not as bad as it was last time. It seems either people have learned to play the game. Really like a lot of the changes the game has gone through since the last time I played (really happy to see you can only have one of each hero on a team now, such a fucking lovely change). I actually think I could stomach the grind to 25 to play comp now (if I could find the time to play it, I'm working on my Bard's Anima Weapon in FFXIV and I've got less than a month till early access for the expac launches (and I still have to beat ME:A and Horizon)).

I've also pretty much proved that I'm going to be stuck playing healers as I have lost all skill at playing anything but them. Went on a tear with Lucio last night, getting play of the game for knocking two people off the map on Ilios and getting three more kills on top of it. I have to say if I didn't love Mercy as much as I do I'd have to say Lucio is my favorite hero (also got a Legendary skin for him, not to hip on it as its the blue hockey one but still it was a nice gain from a lootbox). I also wall skated my way out of dying in the center well on the first part of Ilios, was pretty fucking epic (considering I didn't think it could be done).

I also have to point out that I really like Orisa. I never actually played as her but she was a major reason as to why my group won on Defense for Volskaya in the first part of the map (that place down shield is powerful with the right set up). She's a very nice addition to the hero lineup. Also have to say I fucking hate Sombra, in the right hands she's a fucking nightmare.

So over the last two weeks I've finally taken the time to watch two of both Arkada's and Geoff's most recommended anime both of which scored pretty highly on each of their respective top anime of the decade videos. Those of course being anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day and A Place Further than the Universe. I also watched them because they've been sitting on my lists forever but I thought I'd open with that little bit.

We'll start with anohana. Quite frankly I honestly don't see where all the love Geoff has for this anime comes from. Don't get me wrong it's a good show and I actually did cry during the final episode (extremely emotional and it's really hard not to let it hit you right in the feels) but I just can't see why it's highly praised. The story is alright (dealing with the loss of a friend and the drifting apart of close friends after said death), characters are so-so with most being bland or downright unlikable  (Poppo is the only real character I actually liked, Naruko being the second after I got over my initial dislike for her), animation is top notch, and the soundtrack also gets high marks. Sadly though it felt like a lot of the events in the show were just placed there to add extra, unneeded drama and filler to continue the show for it's 11 episode + movie run (note I haven't seen the movie yet, not available on streaming services and I have not got around to dling it). Again I liked the show overall I just don't know how it gets such high marks from people when there are other shows and movies that do drama and loss so much better then this one. Still recommend giving it a watch if you want to ball your eyes out in the last episode (and for Poppo's hilarious antics and lovable nature).

As for A Place Further than the Universe I'm totally on board with Arkada's gushing about it. This show was a pure joy to watch and I'm actually extremely sad it was only a 13 episode run. It's definitely one of those cute girls doing cute things shows but it's also so much more then that. You have four girls going to Antarctica for completely different reasons (one to make the most of her youth, one as a job and to embark on a journey with actual friends, one trying to run from her past and do something interesting, and one looking for closure after a past incident involving the frozen continent), becoming friends, facing various hardships, and growing as individuals before the climax. Throw in a bunch of cute antics here and there, some minor and major drama, fights, penguin obsession, long sea voyage with plenty of sea sickness, and interesting and hilarious side characters and you pretty much have one of the best shows to come form the 2018 Winter season and season as a whole. Quite frankly this is another of those this is what Strider looks for in an anime shows and I rate it as high a Violet Evergarden (in fact it's the only other show outside of VE that's gotten a 10/10 from me in the last five years). Sadly it doesn't have a dub as it didn't get a BD release in the state as of writing this (which disappoints me just as much as the lack of a VE BD release) but if you can get over having to watch it with subs I highly suggest giving this one a watch, it's definitely worth it if you're looking for a laid back, relaxing show.

I would talk about Sound! Euphonium as well (finished watching it before I started anohana) but I kind of want to watch the movies first (which I can't find anywhere x.x) and I really don't want to sit here tying up a novel. Suffice to say I loved every minute of this anime and would also recommend it (I mean it deals with a school orchestra band trying to get to nationals but the character interactions alone are worth watching this if you don't want to watch school band the anime).

So the new computer finally arrived and boy is it beautiful (and bigger then I thought, thing is huge). I'm now not looking forward to installing everything I need on it to get it up to snuff like my laptop is (so much to do). Sadly I won't be playing FFXIV tonight because it's going to take 3+ hours to download and install all the updates (not to mention Heavensward which I opted to dl instead of digging my disk out of the closet).

I'll take pictures of it tomorrow and post them, to tired to do it right now as I spent the last two hours digging it out of the box and setting it up.

So the Stormblood Early Access is fucking broke and everyone in NA trying to play the story is locked behind a mission no one can do due to SE dropping the fucking ball because of server congestion (or that's what they're saying, I've been waiting since 7 am to finish the god damn quest. Finally gave up since I can't get into the instance to do it). GG SE, I'm pretty sure if you get it fixed it's just going to break on Tuesday when SB officially launches. I forsee many angry customers and a lot of rage quitters. On a side not Samurai is fucking amazing and I think, once the story is finished on my Ninja, I'm switching jobs again. The amount of dps and damage this job can put out at 50 is enormous so I'm expecting great things from it at 70.

On a much better note I finally got around to trying out Black Desert Online tonight. Gotta say besides being a freaking beautiful game it's actually pretty fun and addicting. Really like how the combat plays out with all of its combos. Definitely worth the $10 entry fee (that is if you're computer can run it, I'm running on high settings and not having any real issues). I think I found my new game to fuck around in when I run out of things to do in FFXIV (if I ever do x.x).

They done went and did it like I was predicting,

Finally. I've been wanting to play this since I beat Automata and now we'll get to play a remaster. Was kinda hoping they'd remaster both games but I'm quite happy with one of them (as the story beats are only slightly different between Gestalt and Replicant). Now if only they'd give us a release date (better not be in September, that's Cyberpunk time x.x).

Not entirely sure what this will be about but we're also getting a smartphone game. Still haven't announced if it's getting a release over here or not but still cool to see we're getting more Nier titles to continue the fantastic lore of this universe.