DeathscytheX

Muh feels. Holy cow my eyes. 😭 MHA's dub fell a week behind last month so I just got to the end of the fight and the Nighteye hospital scene. I wasn't expecting that from MHA. It doesn't help that Kono Oto Tomare's finale was phenomenal and also misty eye inducing. Anime brutalized my emotions today.

Looks like all embed functions are currently messed up and will give 403 errors. Youtube video links, reddit links, etc. will all mess up. I made a support ticket. I should hear something back in 24-48 hours.

Deep into my one and only mobile game, Facebook caught wind. 🙄 I've spent the past 2 weeks grinding out on Azur Lane. I've pretty much fallen in love with the simple little game. I enjoy the collecting, retrofitting, gearing, dorm managing and commissioning more than the actual missions.   But now I get every shit shovelware ad for mobile games on my facebook feed. Kiss of War, Raid Shadow Legends, Epic Seven, Iron Saga. I wonder how much they actually add to their playerbase/funds from these? I don't choose to hide the ads because the comments section are gold with the mockery. Of course I only get these ads on my phone while on my PC i get FFXIV ads which I already have a sub too, and some anime crate which I allow to keep showing because I've hid every other possible ad in the algorithm from showing up. I rather just keep that one around because they have nice promo art most the time.

I'm going to take a moment to say that out of all the games I've played throughout my time as a gamer Nier: Automata is probably one of the best games I've had the pleasure of playing in a very long time. By saying this I have just beaten it (well I beat it last night but I went through to get ending D today (I cheated so I didn't have to do the whole tower section again and reloaded at my save right before the final two fights). I'll most likely be redoing the whole Tower chapter again tomorrow so I can get D on my main save file so I can get ending E, the true ending. Wish me luck because I hear the final section to get E is a nightmare) and yes it took me forever but I'm glad it did. I've played many games that have great stories, great characters, great world building, great gameplay, and yes even great soundtracks (you'd be lying to yourself if you didn't think the OST for Nier was a major component of it) but none of them have ever encapsulated me this much (I say this having a complete obsession over the Suikoden series of games, by far my all time favorites when it comes to world building/story/characters).
I've never come to care for characters so much as I have with 2B, Pascal, and A2 (screw 9S, sorry to everyone that likes him but I do not like his character and don't get me started on actually having to use him in combat. Worst parts of the game for me even with his story being so damn good). Everything they go through and everything they experience from the minor gains to the major losses all resonated with me (and in some cases absolutely gutted me, I'm looking at you Pascal). I won't be ruining anything about their stories here or giving a major plot developments but DX will definitely understand where I'm coming from. You really grow attached to these characters in ways you don't notice until something major happens. Hell I've never been attached to a character as much as I am to 2B. Watching her grow throughout the entirety of her play through (and 9S's), watching as she struggles with the things she had to do before the events of this game, watching as she gradually opens up more to those around her, and watching her become more accepting of the new truths around her was amazing. Most main characters never get this treatment with all these minor nuances and most are lucky if they get the character growth she did. A2 is similar in a lot of ways but her growth comes a lot faster and it's harder to get really attached to her since you don't spend as much time with her (but damn do I love her sassy personality, her interactions with Pod 42 are gold). I really wish she'd of gotten more attention than she did (and you really don't even understand the depth of her backstory and character unless you read about the stage play Yoko Taro did that tells it (it's briefly mentioned in game but not much is said)). I won't get into Pascal other than he's a very well written character, lovable, and gets the shaft hard and it really sucks because he's so lovable.
Story wise it's really just your typical sci-fi plot and while good is nothing really to write home about as it's the characters that make this game so good (not trying to undermine it by any means but it's certainly not Tolkien levels of epic). It also pays, while not necessary, to have prior knowledge of both the original Nier's story and Drakengard's story as it actually helps you understand a lot of the what happened in the past to lead to where this game is at storyline wise (hell three of the NPC characters are directly from the original Nier). I'm really glad I went and read up on them before beating the game, it really helped me understand a lot of what I was seeing toward the end and helped elaborate on a bunch of the in-game text documents you find. Though it might be easier to get that backstory soon as rumor has it we might be getting a remake/remaster of the original Nier or maybe we'll get a brand new game.
The OST is where this game truly shines (so much so I bought it, a rarity for me as I usually don't buy game soundtracks (the only other exception being the Journey OST)). As I said above it's a major component of the game and a major factor behind why I love this game so much. Hell I can't even listen to Weight of the World anymore without getting teary eyed (such a great song, don't think I'll be able to do the Nier raid in FFXIV anymore with the music on. Might end up ugly crying (and they won't be manly tears)). It really sets up all the pieces quite well and adds a lot of the emotional undertone to the game.
As for gameplay I'm not the biggest hack and slash fan. Never really have been as I've always gravitated toward RPG's and Strategy games while only playing the occasional hack and slash (I mean before this my only real forays into the genre were the Dynasty and Samurai Warriors games) but I gotta say I really enjoyed the combat in Nier. After getting used to it (which did take awhile) I started to really enjoy dashing in, slashing like a mad man, evading when needed, and rotating in Pod Programs (I'm a big fan of Mirage, so OP with fully leveled weapons). Bosses are a blast as well if not somewhat annoying depending on which one you're fighting (I'm looking at you eyeball of death). My only two complaints about combat are the Pods (outside of programs they're practically useless (and I say this knowing full well how many times the missile pod saved my ass)) and the 9S hacking mini-game (god was this one of the most annoying parts of the game for me and it sucks that its so fucking powerful. I just hate the randomness of what you'll get every time you hack into an enemy).
I really don't know what else I can say about this other than I finally understand why everyone has been praising it since it came out, it really is that good. I can't recommend this game enough and it's definitely worth the money (I only wish I'd of waited on buying it until they released the Game of the YoRHa Edition so I could get that damn dynamic theme and avatars). I also need to thank Platinum Games for making it and Yoko Taro for creating such a wonderful world (he's a mad lad and I love it, I really hope we're getting a remake/remaster of Nier or another Nier game in the future as this man needs to be at the helm again). This truly has been one of my best gaming experiences in a long time (outside of Detroit, which is still a masterpiece imo).
Now to move on to other games finally. Maybe now I can finally get Horizon beaten or maybe not as I did get Pokemon Sword for Christmas and that will probably eat up my free time until Cyberpunk (hey don't judge me, I actually still like the Pokemon franchise and this one, from what little I've played, is really fun and I'm liking a lot of the new editions to the main game play loop).

Lets take a moment of appreciation for how utterly bad ass Maki's fight was on this weeks Fire Force. Same dude Arthur struggled with. That rig Vulcan set her up with is wicked. I'm really not ready for season 1 to end. Same with Dr. Stone. Both totally different series with outstanding world building. Its gonna feel a bit empty when they're done. MHA will probably start picking up steam soon though. Stars Align has been a nice surprise, and Azur Lane is totally my guilty pleasure this season. *ahem* But I digress.

I bought a new power tool set on saturday:
https://slickdeals.net/f/13466749-ryobi-18-volt-one-lithium-ion-cordless-6-tool-combo-kit-with-2-1-5-ah-lithium-batteries-dual-chemistry-charger-and-bag-179?src=SiteSearchV2_SearchBarV2Algo1
I checked that brickseek site and one of the home depots near me still had one in stock so I grabbed it quick. $70 off is a pretty damn good deal to me and comparable to the black friday deals last year. Most of last years BF deals for these tool sets were mostly larger combos with tools I didn't necessarily need and at a higher price, but still damn good deals. This set however has just about every tool I've been wanting except for an angle grinder. Its not brushless, but brushless tools would be more costly. That and all the brushless tool combos last black friday lacked multiple features the regular tools had like basic LED lights on the tools so you can see what you're doing.
Now that I have tools I can do repair work on my deck. Which is how my weekend went. lol. I fixed a support piece with a new 1x6. I'll replace a couple deck boards this upcoming weekend and the deck should be good enough for winter.

As a hater of CGI in anime for the most part. I must say Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin has done the best job I've seen of using it. The Battle of Loum was an incredible sequence. This should be a clinic on how to do proper CGI if you're going to do it. I'll always prefered drawn, but damn that episode was phenomenal.

Since the founding of Kickstarter I've only backed one project and that was Kung Fury. I recently backed two more projects. A new wallet and a retro style watch.
I honestly don't get the whole "minimalist" wallet thing. I think it's pretty dumb actually. Before this fad even started it was hard enough for me to find a wallet with enough card slots to begin with. I have a debit card, drivers licenses, concealed carry permit, Social security card, health insurance card, dental insurance card, Kohl's card, and 3 credit cards (Visa, Master, Discover). Now that everywhere takes Visa I kinda wish I didn't have all 3, but there was a time Sam's club only took discover, and my master card was my first line of credit that just got upgraded to a mastercard when it was originally just a sears card. Anyways all in all I have 12-14 cards, and I feel like I always need them in case of an emergency. I don't carry cash, so the whole billfold that only holds 1 card... I don't know how people do it. I backed this Grip6 wallet because I've been using their belts and they're amazing. I also break belts a lot since I only use 1 for everything and I'm very active at my job. If it wasn't for the leather sleeve that increases card capacity to 14, i wouldn't have bothered. It's a cool concept. I use my debit card multiple times a day. All my cards that pay for stuff will go into the pop up slot. My lesser used cards like insurance and ID will go in the leather sleeve.
I've also reinvigorated my love for watches. I own 3 in my rotation. I've lost my love for metal bracelet watches as I always break them, and leather I ruin from sweating at my job so much. I just ordered a canvas strap to replace a leather band actually. But I also love analogue watches. I don't like pulling my phone out to look at the time, its just easier to look at my wrist. I've always had a watch since I was 14. I'll never be one of those serious watch collectors that owns $5000 watches... thats too extreme. I stay under $400. I've been looking for something retro and classy to add to my collection.. buying real vintage watches is out of the question so I found this... but its only half funded with 27 days left so It may not become a thing.
I'll never back a kickstarter game after all the shenanigans over the past couple of years, but recently I've found it to be a good source of finding things that no one else is making to my needs. I still did my research on the company/owner before backing, but hopefully I get two decent products. With all the crazy OT I've been getting lately I have the luxury to splurge a little.

Muh feels! 😭 Fruits Basket has been so good, but ugh. Two eps on Uotani and Kyoko. Why'd Kyoko have to die? It's just a sad fact at first, but now that they gave her character so much depth with Uotani's recollection it hurts. The New Years ep would have been even worse if I knew her like I do now.

Muh feels! 😭 Fruits Basket has been so good, but ugh. Two eps on Uotani and Kyoko. Why'd Kyoko have to die? It's just a sad fact at first, but now that they gave her character so much depth with Uotani's recollection it hurts. The New Years ep would have been even worse if I knew her like I do now.

I checked error logs but I couldn't find anything. So I changed a couple settings for the gallery and did a couple test uploads. One image loaded fine, the other upload was 3 images at once. Everything worked ok. One of the issues might have been a file size limitation. Anything around 4mb might have been timing out. I increased the upload size for all usergroups. If anyone wants to test some image uploads, go for it. 10 mb is now the largest image the forum will take at the moment. All of my test images were no bigger than 1.5 mb. We still might get an image upload timing out for large images but that might be a hard server setting I'd have to look for.

I never believed in truly wireless earbuds. But I bought some galaxy buds at Best Buy today. The first 4 hours of my shift each morning are before my store opens, and It's generally just with one other person that is working on the opposite side of the store. I have to listen for a door bell after a while to let people in other dept in so I can't have both earphones in at once, and I didn't want a dangling ear bud flopping all over the place while I tried to work. I'll mostly use them for podcast listening rather than music so ultra sound quality like a $300 pair of Bose or Jabra's were out of the question. Skullcandy and Ankor had some cheap $70 ones, but I went with galaxy buds since i have a galaxy phone. They were $120, they sound really nice and fit snug in the ear suprisingly. They came with different size tips just in case. Plus the carrying case is super small. They get around 6 hours of battery life each, and the case will recharge them about 2 times before needing to be recharged itself. So if I ever work a full overnight shift they'll last me all night one bud at a time.   I'll have to find more podcasts to listen to as I've burned through a lot of the old eps of the ones I currently follow.

I finally got the time to do some stuff again. I hope it lasts. I finished Stranger Things season 3 which was great and I got multiple hours in GW2. I almost have my 2 large festival achievements done for the big chests.  After that I'm going for my skyscale and warclaw mounts.

Holy cow, I guess I'll be watching a crap ton of series this upcoming season. Funi is loaded on dubs. I'm a little irked that the new Fate series will be sub only out of everything tho. Fire Force and Dr. Stone are my most anticipated. Cop Craft and Astra Lost in Space look interesting... I see 2 new isekai series that could go either way. Master of Ragnarok set the bar super low, and Sheild Hero set it ultra high for the genre. 

7SEEDS on netflix is definitely one of their better offerings. I found it to be highly enjoyable. Gripping even. Its basically an anime about Life after humans, with humans reinserted into it. Think After Earth, but not shitty. The only gripe I have is that it's one of those "Part 1"  deals, and it ends on a extremely important cliffhanger. Leaving the chances of being LoLH'ed never sits well with me. Bottom line, the cast of characters are solid, the voice acting is above average, and the story is engaging. This is post apocalyptic wilderness survival. No evil dystopian government plots, no alien overlords, just humans and an evolved ecosystem.

Yeah, the redub of Evangelion is uninspired trash. Shinji's voice is even worse, people sound like they're half asleep. 

Funimation put up Your Name. I remember all the hype behind this film and how it it became the highest grossing anime at the box office. After watching it, it was kinda a letdown. I mean it wasn't bad, but Spirited Away is immensely superior to this movie. Its worth watching, but I wouldn't grade it above a solid straight to Netflix feature.

The French Open... freakin' Tennis out of all things is going to cause a 2 week delay for Fruits Basket, literally the highlight of my Fridays. UGH I can't blame Cartoon Network this time....

I started Revisions on Netflix. The first episode has awful and janky CGI but it gets a lot better after that. The premise is great, but for fucks sake the main character is so damn annoying. He makes Asta from Black Clover look like a good character. Mecha series have the absolute worst main characters the majority of the time. I just don't get it. Mikazuki Augus, Sousuke Sagara, Lelouch Vi Britannia, and Van of the Dawn are the only ones I can think of that I've ever liked. But here we don't have your typical emotionless husk, or pacifist crybaby... you'd only wish for that once you meet Daisuke Dojima. He's ultra full of himself and a selfish idiot. Holy cow he should be a side character. All his friends aren't that great either as they all bicker with Daisuke's douchness. Why am I even watching this?

Netflix put Code Geass up. Rewatching it reminded me what a badass Cornelia was (ultra best girl), and how savage Euphemia's death was. Damn it was so gut wrenching. It will always be the moment I'll never forget about the series. 
Also, how I yearn for a return drawn mecha battles. Even the most degraded model quality in motion is so much better than wonky slow CGI. The Lancelot is such an awesome design. 

I"m loving owning a lawn tractor. I've used it only twice so far, but its great. I can get my entire lawn mowed in just under an hour and a half. The cup holder seems so pointless.. lawn tractors don't have shocks, its only the seat that has springs to save you from getting your ass and back wrecked.. I could only imagine someone putting a beer in that cup holder and driving off on the yard, that beer would last maybe 20 seconds before its all over the tractor.  Now I need to buy a weed trimmer to trim around the trees and the ditch.. and 3 ceiling fans. I hate the light fixtures in 3 rooms. Time for an upgrade.

So it might be a tad bit early but I'm thinking that The Promised Neverland is going down as my anime of the year (beating out Boogiepop, Demon Slayer, and Fruits Basket). Man was that a fun trip through some pretty gruesome themes and interesting concepts. Highly suggest watching this when it gets dubbed (unless you want to watch it subbed (I mean come on it's that good)).
I knew going into it that it was a horror/psychological anime but boy do they trick you when you first start watching it as it's all fun and games right until the end of the first episode. Quite honestly I really don't know how to summarize my thoughts on the show because it's hard to really say anything without ruining the shows premise and horror element (which they really drive home in the latter episodes).
I will say the story is pretty damn good from start to finish even if they leave you with more questions then they do answers (I know they'll get into that later (it got greenlit for another season) but they really do a bad job setting up why things are the way they are in the first season but I guess its the same in the manga), the characters for the most part are intriguing and interesting (most of the secondary cast it rather bleh but the main characters really sell the show and does the main antagonist)), animation is top notch and damn well done (some of the best this year only taking second to Demon Slayer for me), and the soundtrack is damn good (that opening though, not Demon Slayer topping but still damn good).
Honestly I'm disappointed I didn't watch it when it was airing but I'm glad I could just marathon through it in three days because waiting each week for one new ep would of been painful. Happy its getting a second season but I'm sad that won't be until next year at the earliest. Solid 9/10 for me (would of gone 10/10 but there were a few things I had issues with toward the end). Now I just need to watch Kaguya-sama and Quintessential Quintuplets and I'll be caught up on last seasons shows that I wanted to watch.

Forgot to post about this earlier in the week but I got around to watching Magical Girls Spec-Ops Asuka (finished it Tuesday night) and I gotta say it wasn't as bad as everyone has been saying it is (a solid 7/10 for me). Don't get me wrong it's far from perfect (that animation quality is terrible, good lord are we back in the 90's here) but it was an enjoyable mess from start to finish. Quite honestly outside of animation issues as I mentioned and the story (don't get me started here, to much to nitpick and honestly I wasn't watching it for the story) everything else was good (the music was good (that OP is a banger), the characters were somewhat bland (though well written for what the show is) and they don't really spend enough time introducing anyone outside of Asuka, Kurumi (that sadistic little nurse, I don't know why but I like her character) and Asuka's friends (a big disappointment, I'd of liked to have gotten to know each of the other 3 magical girls (especially the Taiwanese one, they give us a short 10 min intro and then bam it's done). Plus the fight scenes were gory as hell and quite enjoyable to watch (though the torture was a bit much).
Honestly hope this gets a 2nd season but I highly doubt it based on the ratings it got (I mean they obviously leave it open for a 2nd season and there's plenty of material for them to adapt for another season). Though if it does they need to get a different studio to animate it because it's obvious LIDENFILMS can't (again that animation was terrible and wonky as all hell).

The Warclaw mount is the best thing to ever happen to WvW, at least for casuals like myself. You can't be trolled by roamers making YT montages, you can escape fights you don't want to be in, and you can get back to the action pretty fast if you die in a zerg v zerg fight. It eliminated the downtime of a boring long trek back to the front lines that could have ended up in death before you even got there. That was the biggest turn off of WvW for me. Also, with how many people are running support firebrand, scourge, and chrono, the heals are so good I rarely die with my glass cannon PvE builds. I can see myself starting to farm some more gifts of battle now, and actually enjoy it rather than seeing it as a chore.

Hands down, tonight's episode of GoT was their crowning achievement. I can't see the last 3 eps topping it. Simply incredible.