ZONE OF THE ENDERS 2: The Second Runner

I know all these link blogging posts are lame... but I've been having trouble getting excited enough about anything to post anything else. ^_^;;; I promise to do a nice juicy post about PLUTO once it's finished, as I don't want to spoil anything or make a fool of myself with my own wild theories as to how it ends.

In the mean time... this is something I'm excited about right now, as I just bought ZONE OF THE ENDERS 2 off Ebay. It's one of my favorite games of all time, along with MEGA MAN LEGENDS 2 and METAL GEAR SOLID as a franchise.

Given that, it's not surprise that I like ZONE OF THE ENDERS 2 so much as it shares things in common with both franchises; the slick, cell shaded, 3-D anime look and immersive 3rd person RPG gameplay of MEGA MAN LEGENDS, and the same game designer as METAL GEAR SOLID in Hideo Kojima, who beyond being a pioneer of cutting edge immersive gameplay, is also a masterful storytelling.

Both METAL GEAR, and ZONE OF THE ENDERS really upped the ante for visual storytelling across all media, in my opinion... the first METAL GEAR SOLID was so visually beautiful and so engrossing a story, it was actually maddening to have to actually PLAY the game, as you were dying to get to the next cinematic and find out what happened next... ZONE OF THE ENDERS 2 has much the same effect on me.

The reason I was prompted to post this trailer is because... it's amazingly good, and totally reminded me how much I loved this game and wanted to finally own it. The fasted paced music, the stunning, and epic, visuals, and the urgency in the plot... it's engrossing.

I really like the depth of the mythology of ZONE OF THE ENDERS as well; which is shocking for a game that Kojima-San worked on as a side project between METAL GEAR's; an epic, hard sci-fi, world of political strife, philosophical musings, and high-energy drama and romance.

Set in the not to distance future, Man has moved out into the solar system and unearthed a powerful force deep in space; Metatron, an ancient technology closer to magic than anything else in existance. Metatron is used to power special Orbital Frames, which become the center of a massive conflict between the Earth Federation and the outer colony armies of Bahram, which have a foothold on Jupiter and Mars.

The first game involves a young boy named Leo Stienbeck, who comes across a mysterious Orbital Frame called Jehuty during a Bahram offensive that kills his parents and almost kills him and a young girl he likes. Having no choice he stumbles into Jehuty and this puts him at odds with Bahram, which wants to recover the Orbital Frame at all costs.

To be honest, I've never played the first game... I don't like the 3D cinematics they used, as they're very early on in the Playstations evolution and look awkward and clunky... surprisingly, even compared to the in game models and animation! The story is intriguing, and the gameplay was supposed to be pretty inspiring for it's time, but by the time I'd gotten interested in the series, ZONE OF THE ENDERS 2 had come out, and by all accounts at the time, was vastly superior, and in fact, somewhat revolutionary, as it was the first game engine to be able to hand multiple enemies on the screen at the same time without any slowdown; combat was fast paced and epic, forcing you to battle up to 40 enemies at any given time, as enemy robots swarmed around you like locusts.

ZONE OF THE ENDERS 2 expanded on the mythology, as the story moved onto an older protagonist named Dingo Egret, a salvage miner on Mars, who discovers the remains of Jehuty, who was apparently abandoned by Leo at the end of the first game, during a Bahram sneak attack. Injured and dying, Jehuty uses Metatron to resurrect Dingo, but his survival now depends completely on Jehuty, and he's trapped inside the robot, and forcibly implicated in a massive conspiracy perpetrated by Bahram to use Metatron to activate a massive, ancient weapon; Auhman, a super-massive fortress with unlimited destructive capabilities, and use it to destroy the Earth and game independence for the outer colonies.

ZONE OF THE ENDERS 2 sees the return of most of the characters from the first game, weaving them into the story, giving it depth and history. Beyond that, the anime tie-in ZONE OF THE ENDERS: DOLORES, I; which I actually really enjoyed and found to be a refreshing departure from anime convention, as it featured a fun, but mature and involved, hard sci-fi story with a middle aged, caucasian, protagonist, and a series of references to North American action movies (there's an actual episode that is basically anime DIE-HARD); also helped to expand the mythology, as it took place simultaneously before and between the first and second games, and had two characters cross over; Viola and Nohman.

So, yeah, I hope people enjoy the trailer as much as I do, and I cannot wait for the game to arrive in the mail!

3 THINGS I WANT IN FEBRUARY

I don't give a fuck about HALO, but this looks bad ASS. Also, a preview of the BONES short.



JUSTICE LEAGUE: CRISIS ON TWO EARTHS is basically an adaptation of Grant Morrison's EARTH 2 mini, and looks like it'll more than make up for the lackluster disappointment that was SUPERMAN/BATMAN... despite just downright confusing casting decisions (why would y0u cast fucking BILLY BALDWIN as Superman, next to the super awesome James Woods as Owlman!?! James Woods is so super good that it'll just make it more obvious how shitty Billy Baldwin is).



PLANET HULK is probably the hands down BEST HULK storyline ever, and this looks sick as fuck... glad to see MARVEL finally getting their shit together in terms of their animated tie-in's... the last few have shown tremendous progress as compared to their first, rather disappointing and downright pitiful efforts... ULTIMATE AVENGERS 1 and 2, IRON MAN, and AVENGERS NEXT bordered on unwatchable, and had shitty animation. Thing picked up with DOCTOR STRANGE, which was actually pretty good, though the animation was a little sloppy-joe at times, and they finally got their shit together on the WOLVERINE/HULK/THOR double feature, both of which were fucking EXCELLENT, and exactly what you wanted from ALL of those characters.

February is a great month to be a nerd. ^_-

Also... and this is just for me and probably Jerry... DOCTOR WHO THE COMPLETE SPECIALS, MUTHAFUCKER! We bid a tearful goodbye to David Tennant... ;_;

END OF TIME PART 1 Trailer


END OF TIME PART 2 Trailer


That's right... TIMOTHY DALTON MUTHERFUCKAH! God... DOCTOR WHO is so fucking good.

EVANGELION 2.0: You Can [NOT] Advance

DID YOU CUM IN YOUR PANTS YET, NERDS!?!

I really love the new score for the EVA movies... each one gets a little more Gregorian and epic. I'm doing a complete 180 on my 1999 opinions of EVA, and going on record as saying I love this shit... Emo-bullshit and all. It's very 90's... all they need is for Shinji to lament how music died with Kurt Cobain, and it'd be the voice of a generation of sad teenagers all grown up; tears streaming down their pale cheeks. This is the only sadgasm I can stomach. Super fucking excited... I hope the next movie gets a theatrical release here as well. ^_^

ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION: On a Related Note...

Another stupid link-blog...

This is the opening to Mega Man 8, and it pretty much sums up everything that I ever wanted to see in a Mega Man anime... GOD I wish someone would make that show! GRRRRRR! SO FRUSTRATING!

Even for J-Pop, this song sounds pretty good to me... just the right amount of cheese and drama, and a decent beat. Sort of a rock throwback to the ASTRO BOY theme song.

Also, possibly the best fan-created Mega Man themed comics I've ever read; this guy is a HUGE Mega Man nerd, and has an especially big hard-on for Fire Man: http://www.dzarchive.com/iragination/comics/

SUPER FIGHTING ROBOT: MEGA MAN.

I'm not usually one to be a corporate shill, but I, personally, am super excited about UDON's release of MEGAMAN MEGAMIX... I have a really old tankubon of Hitoshi Ariga's first REMIX, which I believe is a seperate series from his new MEGAMIX, which is a lot slicker and more polished.

UDON is a company I can really get behind, beyond personally knowing some of the people that work there, it's a company that produces almost exclusively books that I want to buy, and unlike other companies that deal mostly with licensed properties (*cough cough* IDW, DYNAMITE, BOOM! *cough cough*) and put no effort or care into their products, UDON is run by Fans, employing Fans, skilled and professional though they may be, to work on projects they truly care about and have a personal stake in.

This tender loving care shines through on every book I've purchased by UDON. Their products have a slick, glossy, hip and consummately professional sheen. Colorful, well drawn, and well written books by some of the industries best upcoming artists that bring out all the elements of beloved franchises from my youth which have somehow endured through time and have mass appeal to both old and new generations.

That care and effort extends to reprinted work licensed from the original Japanese publishers as well, with re-mastered and redesigned covers and interior art, and excellent print quality; possibly some of the best printed books in the industry.

As a life-long fan of the Blue Bomber, I can assure anyone else that might be a fan of my favorite side-scrolling shooter about the Little Blue Robot that Could (fight Robot Terrorists and Mechanical Monsters), that Hitoshi Ariga is the best artist/writer to ever put pen to paper with anything dealing with Mega Man (or Rock Man, if you want to get culturally accurate). His art is perfectly on model, but with it's own flare; loose, gestural, and with perfectly cartooned expression, capturing not only the grim, gritty, and fast paced action associated with the story of a child-like battle Robot, who courageously volunteers to be re-purposed to fight against his abused and manipulated brethren, who have been reprogrammed for evil by the sinister scientist Dr. Wily, but also the childish fun and excitement of a shonen action series with appeal to both the young and young at heart. He also did the manga adaptation of one of my favorite anime, THE BIG O (published by VIZ and long out of print), which was slick and polished, with a dark North American influence that showcased his range and versatility with storytelling.

Mega Man finds his roots in another popular Robot from my childhood, with obvious influences coming from Astro Boy, my other mechanical childhood hero, but with a more fast paced story that skews toward a slightly older shonen manga audience, filled with action and drama, and less social commentary than that set Astro Boy apart from other series.

Still, that's not to say that Mega Man is without an intelligent and engaging plot; an allegory for the sacrifices made in the name of peace, and the helplessness of technology in how it is used by humans. Rock is the hero who sacrifices his innocence to become a weapon of peace, while his six robot brothers, construction robots built to help humanity, are helpless to resist their new, destructive programming, the dark influence of Dr. Wily, an insane but brilliant scientist who uses his genius in a bid for world domination.

MEGA MAN MEGAMIX takes the Mega Man mythos to a new level, giving personality and backstory to previously literally 2-Dimensional characters, expanding on their relationships and motivations after and beyond their defeats in the video games that spawned them.

The original six Robot Masters; built by Mega Man's creator and mentor, Doctor Light; Cut-Man, Guts Man, Bomb Man, Ice Man, Elec Man, and finally Fire Man, have their evil programming broken, and join their brother in his battle to defend humanity from Doctor Wily's new and improved Robot Masters, 48 powerful robots built for combat. Also on the Blue Bomber's side are his adorable and precocious sister, Roll, his mysterious prototype Brother, Blues AKA Proto Man, his Scooby-Doo-esque mechanical canine companion, Rush, and the Robot Masters of Mega Man 4, built by the misguided but repentant Doctor Cossack, and his cute daughter, Kalinka. It's a huge cast of characters, each getting their chance to shine in the spotlight, alongside the franchise star, Rock, aka the Blue Bomber, Mega Man. I'll admit, though, as much as I love Mega Man, my other favorite character from the series, and the one I'm most excited about seeing showcased in this manga, has to be Forte AKA Bass, Mega Man's Bizarro counterpart. He's just so cool looking!

I'm truly excited about this; Thanks Erik and Jim! I know the dizzying amount of effort and work that goes into hunting down the license for something like this. Blood, sweat, and tears are spent to bring something that brings warmth to my cold robot heart, and I appreciate the efforts spent; I hope this does well, because I'd love to see more and more Mega Man content in North America... especially an actually worthwhile animated effort; the 90's cartoon stopped being good at the end of the opening animation. -_-

I'd also like to point out UDON's two other upcoming MEGA MAN themed releases; MEGA MAN and MEGA MAN X Complete Art Works; the much anticipated (at least by me) collections of all Mega Man related design and promotional art. The learning curve on both series was steep and the Osamu Tezuka influence is obvious. Some brilliant, slick and stylish, cartooning from CAPCOM's art department that I've been desperate to see collected and available for purchase since I got into art.

Lots to look forward too in the New Year now!

WANG OF FRANKENSTEIN.

I had a lot of free time at work today, and free time at work usually results in my mind wandering into some... downright retarded areas.

I can't remember the thought process leading up to it, but I somehow came to the thought; Doctor Frankenstein had to pick which penis he'd put on his Monster.

I mean... some guy had to sit down and do that shit. Make a decision that would affect the livelyhood and sex life of a hideous affront against God and Man alike. What kind of process went into that? Did he have his pick of penises (penii?)? Did he want his Monster to be packing; or was did he give him an inferior penis so he could intimidate the Monster in the shower? What if the penis didn't match the balls?

Then that got me to thinking about how Frankenstein's Monster might not be happy with the decision made... maybe that's why he was so fucking angry! Which leads me to believe that Victor Frankenstein made the decision to give him a small penis; which is probably part of the reason why he couldn't get laid without Frankenstein building him a bride, only to be rejected because the Monster didn't have a Monster; size matters to the Bride of Frankenstein('s Monster. Correct terminology is a lost art), yo.

To be fair, the Monster WAS ugly as fuck; having been appropriately named just 'Frankenstein's Monster'; so the only way she'd get anything out of this arranged marriage would be either if he was packing, or if he was rich; and that shit just wasn't going to happen. Frankenstein's monster is inherently unemployable, because of his predilection to killing the FUCK out of anyone that runs screaming from his hideous visage. Maybe if he was hung he'd have had the self confidence to ignore the jeers and insults of ignorant and superstitious Euro-Trash hicks, and get a job working security at the club, where he can pick up drunk chicks on a regular basis, shambling home with them passed out in his arms, vomit on his coat, while people scream, "BEHEMOTH!" or "MONGOLOID!" or, "THAT'S A HUGE BITCH!" at him.

All the grief and tragic misunderstanding that could have been spared had one guy just put his own insecurities aside and picked the right penis for the job...

MY OWN BEST "FRIEND"

My Halloween costume this year, Friend from 20th CENTURY BOYS. I'm hoping I can convince Peter that it'd totally be cool for me to sell anime to nerds at AN2010 wearing this. I'll need to get a grey (or black, according to the movie) suit to be completely on model though... I didn't have time to search for one this year, and, frankly, didn't really want to spend the money at the moment.

Also, I like how the Disco ball and various light flares and neon make me look like I have psychic powers.