Kids on the Slope an anime based on the manga Sakamichi no Apollo by Yuki Kodama--which by the way I have not read yet-- is a great seriies about two young men and a young women and how they are united by jass in a troubled time. And yes without a doubt the 1960's were a troubled time filled with political movements and protesting in the United States and other parts of the world. And you can see this reflected in the series along with other themes.
The story takes place in a small town in 1966 where two lonely young men who never had any other male friends their age meet and even though they have so many differences they become good friends through the love of music. Sentaro being half japanese, his father being a America GI from World War II, was ostrazed and even mistreated by family members and thus became a deliquent. His only friend being Ritsuko his neighbor. Unfortunately this wasn't a isolated case. I once had a coworker tell me how she had a similar experince as a child before her mother came to the States with her father. Unlike Sentaro whose father was unknown, my coworkers father married her mother. However, while in Japan people were not friendly. It's sad that children had to suffer for things that happened before they were born.
The other young man Kaoru also came from a troubled background. His parents divorsed when he was young and his father is constntly leaving him to work on a ship so he's moved around alot since young. Thus he found it difficult to make friends and deal with people. At first he thinks that Sentaro has a great life with a loving familly not realizing that in truth he's an orphen who is happy with his adopted mother and siblings but whose absent adopted father didn't accept him. In meeting they both help each other to grow and find acceptance.
Another social issue thats brought up is with Brother Jun. He plays trumpet when he's in town when he jams with Kaoru and Sen at Mukae records. While at college he gets involved with political movements and finds himself in trouble. His friend is seriouly injured in an altercation with the police and Jun ends up dropping out of school and being disowed by his familly. I believe that this is the same student political movement that one of the charachters in The Twelve Kingdoms first novel mentions to Yoko, when talking of how he was involved in a protest and he crawled under some desks and found himself in another world. However, Junichi doesn't escape to another world he just finds himself looseing everything. Everything but love.
The series is also a love story. Ritsuko initially is in love with Sen. Kaoru falls for Ritsuko. Sen falls in love with Yuriko. Yuriko falls in love with Junichi. Unrequited love, changing hearts, and true love can each be seen in the series. But the most important type of love in the series is that of friendship. And the glue binding them is Jazz.
Jazz is more American then Apple pie. Originating from african drumming and ragtime we get the wonderful and various forms of jazz. The music in this series is great. I like the fact it shows music beinging people who usually wouldn't get to know each other together. Music is something that can touch the hearts of those who hear it and unite us regardless of who we are. For instance the scene where Kaoru and Sen play at the school festival when there is an equipment issue for the band and everyone is like wow thats amazing. Music is a powerful force.
This series is great to watch. Its not exciting in an action way but it is exciting in a musical way. It reminds me of back in high school when I used to be in concert band, marching band, and Jazz band. Its fun. Not only do you have a great creative team of Yoko Kanno and Shinichiro Watanabe. They did an excellent job as expected.
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Monday, June 25, 2012
Zetman: The true path of a hero or what is Justice
(Warning do not read if you haven't watched through at least episode 12)
The Zetman anime even if flawed and seeming to be missing something nonetheless is still a great story with some good themes on the nature of good and evil. There are several questions asked in the story: 1)What is evil? 2)What is justice? 3)What defines a hero?
In Zetman you have two types of evil: evil for the sake of greed and evil that destroys human life. The first type is seen in the Amagi Coorporation. It starts out telling us that they created monsters in the labratory for bloody life and death games used to amuse the wealthy but these monsters called players became self aware and revolted escaping into the human world. Creating life in order to use it as entertainment is evil. This was driven by their greed. In fact the Amagi coorporation is painted as evil in the series. Kanzaki wanting ZET to have a heart and not to be a killing machine escapes from that evil and raises Jin on the street and in doing so makes him human. You even see greed motivating other charachters in the series to do horrendious deeds. For instance a man Kouga trusted ended up just being someone useing him in order to gain power in the company. The second evil is that which destroys human life. Which would be the regressed players, who contray to the organization EVOL, wants to kill humans and get revenge. These players are not only hunted by ZET and Kouga-kun but even in their organization if caught they will be terminated.
Justice is something hard to define in some ways. The series brings up lots of moral questions. For instance if your sister is held hostage and in danger and 3 high school girls will be killed who do you save. Is it possible to save everyone or do you have to pick and choose? Is it truely the needs of the one out weighs the needs of the few or do we have another choice? Kouga in the begining is only focused on catching the bad guys and destroying evil but Jin is more concerned about saveing everyones life. Does justice really need sacrifies in order to be correct? Through a series of sick games played with his mind Kouga decides to take the same route that Emiya Kirisugu in Fate/Extra does. Destroy evil and save lives no matter the cost. Kouga even goes so far as to kill his own parents becasue the Amagi corporation is the source of the evil destorying so many lives. But is this truely justice?
What is a hero? Is a hero the one who every one sings praises on every street corner? Or the one who hides in the shadows praise unsung? Is it kouga who sacrifices others to save the rest or is it Jin who looks for ways to save everyone? Kouga's sister even says at one point that it looks like Kouga only wants everyone to praise him. Is he truely a hero? In the end I think he looked more like a villian. His obsession with being a hero and being rightous lead him down the path to darkness. While Jin who wasn't even human learns about love and protecting others on his path to giving up humanity. But in the end who was really human? Jin who wanted to save everyone or Kouga who killed his own parents?
Zetman is defiently a dark series. But the questions it asks are definetly intresting. I hope that Viz licenses the manga becuse i really would like to read it. Or maybe i should take a look a kinokuniya and see if they have it. It's a great story and I want to see it in its best form.
The Zetman anime even if flawed and seeming to be missing something nonetheless is still a great story with some good themes on the nature of good and evil. There are several questions asked in the story: 1)What is evil? 2)What is justice? 3)What defines a hero?
In Zetman you have two types of evil: evil for the sake of greed and evil that destroys human life. The first type is seen in the Amagi Coorporation. It starts out telling us that they created monsters in the labratory for bloody life and death games used to amuse the wealthy but these monsters called players became self aware and revolted escaping into the human world. Creating life in order to use it as entertainment is evil. This was driven by their greed. In fact the Amagi coorporation is painted as evil in the series. Kanzaki wanting ZET to have a heart and not to be a killing machine escapes from that evil and raises Jin on the street and in doing so makes him human. You even see greed motivating other charachters in the series to do horrendious deeds. For instance a man Kouga trusted ended up just being someone useing him in order to gain power in the company. The second evil is that which destroys human life. Which would be the regressed players, who contray to the organization EVOL, wants to kill humans and get revenge. These players are not only hunted by ZET and Kouga-kun but even in their organization if caught they will be terminated.
Justice is something hard to define in some ways. The series brings up lots of moral questions. For instance if your sister is held hostage and in danger and 3 high school girls will be killed who do you save. Is it possible to save everyone or do you have to pick and choose? Is it truely the needs of the one out weighs the needs of the few or do we have another choice? Kouga in the begining is only focused on catching the bad guys and destroying evil but Jin is more concerned about saveing everyones life. Does justice really need sacrifies in order to be correct? Through a series of sick games played with his mind Kouga decides to take the same route that Emiya Kirisugu in Fate/Extra does. Destroy evil and save lives no matter the cost. Kouga even goes so far as to kill his own parents becasue the Amagi corporation is the source of the evil destorying so many lives. But is this truely justice?
What is a hero? Is a hero the one who every one sings praises on every street corner? Or the one who hides in the shadows praise unsung? Is it kouga who sacrifices others to save the rest or is it Jin who looks for ways to save everyone? Kouga's sister even says at one point that it looks like Kouga only wants everyone to praise him. Is he truely a hero? In the end I think he looked more like a villian. His obsession with being a hero and being rightous lead him down the path to darkness. While Jin who wasn't even human learns about love and protecting others on his path to giving up humanity. But in the end who was really human? Jin who wanted to save everyone or Kouga who killed his own parents?
Zetman is defiently a dark series. But the questions it asks are definetly intresting. I hope that Viz licenses the manga becuse i really would like to read it. Or maybe i should take a look a kinokuniya and see if they have it. It's a great story and I want to see it in its best form.
Thursday, May 31, 2012
An Earthling on Mars:The Princess of Mars Book 1 of the John Carter Series
I'm sure everyone has heard of John Carter, since the movie was in the theater not so long ago. I remember thinking, "John Carter what the heck is that." However, I have now discovered it's based off a series of books by Edgar Rice Burroughs--the same guy who wrote Tarzan. There are 11 books total the first one being The Princess of Mars, which by chance I downloaded when i discovered my new Smart phone had a kindle app, even though I'm more a I need a physical book type i said I'll take some free ebooks. and just downloaded some random classics only to find I had the first John Carter book.
The book is told from the first person. John Carter is an old man who has lived much longer then humans usually live and he fears his own mortality and so he is writing his story down. He states he will tell how he went on an adventure and how he died twice. He was an ex-confederate soldier who--with his friend--went west after the war to prospect for gold. They found a rich vein and when his friend is heading out for supplies John Carter notices something isn't right as he was watching from a distance. On riding to inspect he finds his friend was apprehended and killed by Apaches. In trying to save his friend he ends up in the Apache camp and then being pursued. He escapes into a cave some strange noises emit from the cave and the Apache are terrified and flee. After blacking out and then waking to find himself naked and looking upon his own corpse he flees and then finds himself drawn to Mars where he finds warlike races on a dying planet. He finds himself able to jump high and with super strength and he must use these new found powers to survive in this hostile world.
The story is very interesting but its written more like a journal of recollections where some incidents and things are explained in detail while other things are summarized briefly and time skips quickly at places. In fact there is no dialogue until about one third of the way through when John Carter learns the language of Mars. The lack of conversation and the story pace don't take away from the story. Because it is someone recounting the past it seems appropriate. It's written just like someone remembers their life with some things being vivid while other things are just incidental and so you don't really remember much so just a passing sentence would do. It gives it more realism as an autobiographical style of writing.
I wouldn't say its the best thing I've ever read but its a good read. It's enjoyable and definitely fun to read. It's good science fiction even though the science that it was based off has been disproved in more recent times its still good fun. In fact I'm going to read more of the series. Fortunately the first 5 novels are available free in the Kindle free classics. So I fully expect to enjoy them.
The book is told from the first person. John Carter is an old man who has lived much longer then humans usually live and he fears his own mortality and so he is writing his story down. He states he will tell how he went on an adventure and how he died twice. He was an ex-confederate soldier who--with his friend--went west after the war to prospect for gold. They found a rich vein and when his friend is heading out for supplies John Carter notices something isn't right as he was watching from a distance. On riding to inspect he finds his friend was apprehended and killed by Apaches. In trying to save his friend he ends up in the Apache camp and then being pursued. He escapes into a cave some strange noises emit from the cave and the Apache are terrified and flee. After blacking out and then waking to find himself naked and looking upon his own corpse he flees and then finds himself drawn to Mars where he finds warlike races on a dying planet. He finds himself able to jump high and with super strength and he must use these new found powers to survive in this hostile world.
The story is very interesting but its written more like a journal of recollections where some incidents and things are explained in detail while other things are summarized briefly and time skips quickly at places. In fact there is no dialogue until about one third of the way through when John Carter learns the language of Mars. The lack of conversation and the story pace don't take away from the story. Because it is someone recounting the past it seems appropriate. It's written just like someone remembers their life with some things being vivid while other things are just incidental and so you don't really remember much so just a passing sentence would do. It gives it more realism as an autobiographical style of writing.
I wouldn't say its the best thing I've ever read but its a good read. It's enjoyable and definitely fun to read. It's good science fiction even though the science that it was based off has been disproved in more recent times its still good fun. In fact I'm going to read more of the series. Fortunately the first 5 novels are available free in the Kindle free classics. So I fully expect to enjoy them.
Saturday, May 26, 2012
It's a western but not a western it's Scifi: Science Fiction with Old West influences
So if there is one genre I have never liked it's the Western. Just ask my mom I would cry when i was 3 years old when she watched them calling the Cowboys bad men. On the other hand I really love good science fiction. I've come to find though that some science fiction has western influences.
One such series is Firefly. The short lived TV series that didn't even get to run all 13 episodes of itself on air. But the series has a serious cult following. The whole series has this old western type feeling. However, it is a really great science fiction series worthy of notice. I would have liked to see more about the whole conspiracy thing going on involving human experimentation. But Alas the series was cut short and the movie was kinda meh.
Next in line I'd put the video game series Wild Arms. I've only played the first game in the series so far but this game also has some old west influences. In fact one of the characters looks like a cowboy and uses guns. However, you also have aliens, lost civilizations, parallel worlds, princesses, robots, and magic all in one game. So it's a fantasy, science-fiction, western hybrid. The story is really good as well. I'm definitely going to get the next game.
Then you can't forget Stephen Kings Dark Tower series. You have an old west type setting with gunslingers and outlaws. But as you go though you realize this is like a chivalric romance. Roland and his band are knights on a quest. In fact you have references to Chivalric romances as well as Stephen Kings other works. There are references to the King Arthur Cycle, The Charlemagne cycle as well as Akira Kurosawa's The Seven Samurai. And there is nothing I like better then a tale of samurai or knights going on a quest and The Dark Tower gives me that even though it has a western feel.
Last but not least is The Princess of Mars, first book in the John Carter series. It takes place after the Civil War. John Cater and his buddy having left the south after being on the loosing Confederate side. They find Gold in the west. When getting supplies his buddy gets killed by Apache and John Carter rushes into things trying to save him. Somehow in escaping the Apache he finds himself on Mars. So in a way this is also a western but not a western. Afterwards you can still find some western elements but mixed into the science fiction. I've only read the first book so far but its definetly a great read.
So I have to say not everything with western elements is bad. You can have gunslingers in deserty dying worlds and find something wonderful. They could really be knights in disguise. Also all the titles I mentioned above have wonderful stories.
One such series is Firefly. The short lived TV series that didn't even get to run all 13 episodes of itself on air. But the series has a serious cult following. The whole series has this old western type feeling. However, it is a really great science fiction series worthy of notice. I would have liked to see more about the whole conspiracy thing going on involving human experimentation. But Alas the series was cut short and the movie was kinda meh.
Next in line I'd put the video game series Wild Arms. I've only played the first game in the series so far but this game also has some old west influences. In fact one of the characters looks like a cowboy and uses guns. However, you also have aliens, lost civilizations, parallel worlds, princesses, robots, and magic all in one game. So it's a fantasy, science-fiction, western hybrid. The story is really good as well. I'm definitely going to get the next game.
Then you can't forget Stephen Kings Dark Tower series. You have an old west type setting with gunslingers and outlaws. But as you go though you realize this is like a chivalric romance. Roland and his band are knights on a quest. In fact you have references to Chivalric romances as well as Stephen Kings other works. There are references to the King Arthur Cycle, The Charlemagne cycle as well as Akira Kurosawa's The Seven Samurai. And there is nothing I like better then a tale of samurai or knights going on a quest and The Dark Tower gives me that even though it has a western feel.
Last but not least is The Princess of Mars, first book in the John Carter series. It takes place after the Civil War. John Cater and his buddy having left the south after being on the loosing Confederate side. They find Gold in the west. When getting supplies his buddy gets killed by Apache and John Carter rushes into things trying to save him. Somehow in escaping the Apache he finds himself on Mars. So in a way this is also a western but not a western. Afterwards you can still find some western elements but mixed into the science fiction. I've only read the first book so far but its definetly a great read.
So I have to say not everything with western elements is bad. You can have gunslingers in deserty dying worlds and find something wonderful. They could really be knights in disguise. Also all the titles I mentioned above have wonderful stories.
Saturday, April 21, 2012
A good tragedy is like a Sakura Blossom: The Healing Power of Tragic Entertainment
Tragedy is one of my favorite genres. However it always surprises me how bad of a reputation it has. People are like oh I hate to cry I hate tragedy. However, this only shows that people aren't using the genre correctly because tragedy can be very healing and good for you. First of all there are two types of tragedies: good tragedies and bad tragedies. A well written proper tragedy is cathartic, which means it makes you cry and you feel better afterward. A bad tragedy leaves you feeling empty and unfulfilled and hopeless. The good tragedies are the ones that are healing.
The Ancient Greeks spoke of this healing called Catharsis. How it works is this. Life is hard but no one wants to sit around crying all the time saying woe is me. So people tend not to deal with their negative emotions and do what they can to avoid them. So when you go to watch a tragedy where the main characters life inevitability is worse its more acceptable to cry for the characters then it is for oneself. So in doing so you can identify with the story of the characters and deal with your own pain. After having a good cry you feel better about life. You don't get this refreshing feeling from watching say a superficial comedy. After the good cry you should be filled with a peaceful feeling. If there is one image that makes me think of a good tragedy I'd say it is definitely like a sakura blossom. The flower may be short lived and there is a bitter sweet beauty since its time is short. And in its tragic shortness of life it exudes a beauty.
Besides helping to deal with negative emotions tragedy is the genre with the most truth in it. It talks about human suffering and the problems that people are faced with. There are two types: the plight of common man; and the fall of the great. These are universal truths. The first one says hey look this is a problem in society that needs to be delt with. For instance if we look at say Thomas Hardy's work he talked about the corruption of society. You can see this theme in all his work. But then tragedy can also talk about how someone who has everything can loose it all. The Arthurian Cycle is an example of the second type. You see King Arthur rise to power and then in the end everything falls apart. Also you could say the story of the Shinsengumi could fall into that line as well.
Tragedy is a great genre which is healing and thought provoking. It is about the frailty of human kind and the uncertainty of the future. These are thing we are all faced with. Tragedy gives an outlet for negative emotions we might otherwise lock away but it also provides hope. Even if its heart breaking a good tragedy will always say look we might not have a good ending but there is always hope for something better in the end. That is the beauty of tragedy. It's like when the sakura fall there is hope that they will bloom once more.
some recommended tragic works:
Fathers and Sons Ivan Turgenev
Jude the Obscure Thomas Hardy
Tess of D'uberville Thomas Hardy
The Magic Skin or The Wild Ass's Skin Honoré de Balzac
The Idiot Fyodor Dostoevsky
Far From the Maddening Crowd Thomas Hardy
The Mayor Of Castorville Thomas Hardy
Romeo and Juliet William Shakesphere
Hamlet William Shakesphere
edit: fixed some typos.
The Ancient Greeks spoke of this healing called Catharsis. How it works is this. Life is hard but no one wants to sit around crying all the time saying woe is me. So people tend not to deal with their negative emotions and do what they can to avoid them. So when you go to watch a tragedy where the main characters life inevitability is worse its more acceptable to cry for the characters then it is for oneself. So in doing so you can identify with the story of the characters and deal with your own pain. After having a good cry you feel better about life. You don't get this refreshing feeling from watching say a superficial comedy. After the good cry you should be filled with a peaceful feeling. If there is one image that makes me think of a good tragedy I'd say it is definitely like a sakura blossom. The flower may be short lived and there is a bitter sweet beauty since its time is short. And in its tragic shortness of life it exudes a beauty.
Besides helping to deal with negative emotions tragedy is the genre with the most truth in it. It talks about human suffering and the problems that people are faced with. There are two types: the plight of common man; and the fall of the great. These are universal truths. The first one says hey look this is a problem in society that needs to be delt with. For instance if we look at say Thomas Hardy's work he talked about the corruption of society. You can see this theme in all his work. But then tragedy can also talk about how someone who has everything can loose it all. The Arthurian Cycle is an example of the second type. You see King Arthur rise to power and then in the end everything falls apart. Also you could say the story of the Shinsengumi could fall into that line as well.
Tragedy is a great genre which is healing and thought provoking. It is about the frailty of human kind and the uncertainty of the future. These are thing we are all faced with. Tragedy gives an outlet for negative emotions we might otherwise lock away but it also provides hope. Even if its heart breaking a good tragedy will always say look we might not have a good ending but there is always hope for something better in the end. That is the beauty of tragedy. It's like when the sakura fall there is hope that they will bloom once more.
some recommended tragic works:
Fathers and Sons Ivan Turgenev
Jude the Obscure Thomas Hardy
Tess of D'uberville Thomas Hardy
The Magic Skin or The Wild Ass's Skin Honoré de Balzac
The Idiot Fyodor Dostoevsky
Far From the Maddening Crowd Thomas Hardy
The Mayor Of Castorville Thomas Hardy
Romeo and Juliet William Shakesphere
Hamlet William Shakesphere
edit: fixed some typos.
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Alex Flynn's Beastly: Of Orchids and Roses the power of transformation
One thing those who know me can say is I don't always take to adaptaions of stories well. However, when it comes to fairy tales and other archtyple stories its a different matter entirely. Anyone who has studied fairy tales, folk lore and myth know that you can find similar tales all over the world in many differnt forms. So you can find a form of Beauty and the Beast or even of cinderella in many different forms.
The beast/animal husband tales would be the category in the case of beauty and the beast whose form in America we know best from a french version of the tale. However, the oldest form of the tale actually comes from the tale of Cupid and Psyche. I haven't read this story in years so I can't recall all the details but Psyche not knowing she was given to the god Cupid for she is forbidden to look upon him. Her jealous sisters convince her shes married to a monster and so she sneaks a peak to see of course her gorgous husband and ends up having to go on a quest in order to get to be with him again. A really intresting version of that tale I would recommend would be C. S. Lewis's Until We have Faces which is told from the sisters perspective.
Now Beastly is a retelling of the beauty and the beast story told from the perspective of the beast, an arrogant cocky young man by the name of Kyle Kingsbury. The novel is very different from the movie version, which I felt was lacking and very dark and choppy. The novel has more of that fairy tale charm to it but with modern trappings. While reading it you could tell that the author did indeed read many many many versions of the tale and understood the heart of the beast. In the letter from the author at the end of the book Alex Flynn stated that she had wanted to deal with the issues that had bothered her most about all the versions of the story: the fact that Beauties father gives his daughter away to save himself. She also goes on to say how she contemplated the feelings of the beast as well as how basically the story is a story of two abandonned young people who fall in love. I feel that her novel did adress all there things and well.
You see how both Kyle and Lindy--aka Beauty--are abandonned by their fathers. Kyle because he can't deal with the curse and was afraid it would make him look bad; and Lindy because her father valued drugs and himself more. In both cases the fathers are selfish and do self serving things at the expense of their children. You can see both are lonley having lived in loveless family situations.
However, the most important issue in these types of stories is transformation. The charachter developement is very good. Truely Kyle is transformed as the story progresses; not just physically but inwardly. In the begining he was physically beautiful but ugly on the inside. However, the beast isn't the only transformation in the story. The witch, Kendra, when she first appears to him is in an unattractive form. And kyle decides to be cruel to her without knowing who she really is. When she places the curse on him though she transforms into a more beautiful form and he's like "wow your hot." Another intresting thing is that other tales of transformation are adressed through this online support group. There's The Little Mermaid, the Frog Prince, and the Tale of Red Rose and Snow White (not the snow white and the seven dwarfs one) You can read the last tale here: http://www.authorama.com/grimms-fairy-tales-63.html . Funny enough the leader of the support groups for transformed persons name is Chris Anderson.
There are lots of literary refrences in this book as well. The charachters discuss Jane Eyre, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and many many other great literary works that have similar themes of someone hiding away from the world because they are ugly, or love overcoming all. There is definetly a theme in the books mentioned of what is true ugliness and what is true beauty. You see the beautiful people taking advantage becaue they are and those who are not marginalized. And Beastly itself is about what is true beauty.
Which brings me to Orchids and Roses as symbols. Both happen to be my favorite flowers. Funny enough both have culinary uses. Vanilla beans come from Orchids while roses you can eat the blossoms as well as the rose hip. But as symbols in the story they are intresting. The Orchid is described as being "a proud flower." And yes orchids are expensive and exoctic looking. Their scent sometimes you have to be at the right angle to catch and they are very delicate and in some ways unreal looking. And it is the snobbish girlfriend Slone who is stuck on appearances who desires an orchid at the begining. Kendra, the witch, when invited to the dance requests a simple plain white rose. Roses have a simple beauty and a lovely calming scent. A white rose symbolizes purity. When Kyle is given the rose by his maid Magda he is angry. His date even shuns it. And thats how he meets Lindy and gives her the rose. And that one act of kindness is why the witch takes pity on him. The whole novel is filled with the symbolism of roses. In a way its the roses that make the story move and transform Kyle. Two petels that fall from the flower are his time to find true love. He builds a rose garden and finds something to love in their beauty. As he looks after them he becomes kinder. In fact the roses bring him and Lindy together: firstly at the dance he gave her the shunned rose; her father broke into his rose gardern hurting some roses; the roses in the garden bring them closer to each other. When discussing the sonnets, I believe Shakespheres 54, they discuss how the roses symbolized truth. And in the story I believe this is true. In fact in the end when they profess their love and his true form is returned the room was filled with the scent of roses and an abundance of flower petals surrounded him. So in a way it was the truth, purity, and beauty of the roses that striped away the ugliness of Kyles heart and soul and lead him to love.
I really enjoyed this book and would like to try a few more of the moderen versions of fairy tale Alex Flynn has written. The only issue I had was that in a book written for young adults there are a few perverted places and an implied sex scene. I could have really done without Slone groping Kyle at the school dance. But if you can get past those few scenes which are just a little worse then what i saw when I read Balzac's The Ass's Skin then you should be fine and its worth the time.
The beast/animal husband tales would be the category in the case of beauty and the beast whose form in America we know best from a french version of the tale. However, the oldest form of the tale actually comes from the tale of Cupid and Psyche. I haven't read this story in years so I can't recall all the details but Psyche not knowing she was given to the god Cupid for she is forbidden to look upon him. Her jealous sisters convince her shes married to a monster and so she sneaks a peak to see of course her gorgous husband and ends up having to go on a quest in order to get to be with him again. A really intresting version of that tale I would recommend would be C. S. Lewis's Until We have Faces which is told from the sisters perspective.
Now Beastly is a retelling of the beauty and the beast story told from the perspective of the beast, an arrogant cocky young man by the name of Kyle Kingsbury. The novel is very different from the movie version, which I felt was lacking and very dark and choppy. The novel has more of that fairy tale charm to it but with modern trappings. While reading it you could tell that the author did indeed read many many many versions of the tale and understood the heart of the beast. In the letter from the author at the end of the book Alex Flynn stated that she had wanted to deal with the issues that had bothered her most about all the versions of the story: the fact that Beauties father gives his daughter away to save himself. She also goes on to say how she contemplated the feelings of the beast as well as how basically the story is a story of two abandonned young people who fall in love. I feel that her novel did adress all there things and well.
You see how both Kyle and Lindy--aka Beauty--are abandonned by their fathers. Kyle because he can't deal with the curse and was afraid it would make him look bad; and Lindy because her father valued drugs and himself more. In both cases the fathers are selfish and do self serving things at the expense of their children. You can see both are lonley having lived in loveless family situations.
However, the most important issue in these types of stories is transformation. The charachter developement is very good. Truely Kyle is transformed as the story progresses; not just physically but inwardly. In the begining he was physically beautiful but ugly on the inside. However, the beast isn't the only transformation in the story. The witch, Kendra, when she first appears to him is in an unattractive form. And kyle decides to be cruel to her without knowing who she really is. When she places the curse on him though she transforms into a more beautiful form and he's like "wow your hot." Another intresting thing is that other tales of transformation are adressed through this online support group. There's The Little Mermaid, the Frog Prince, and the Tale of Red Rose and Snow White (not the snow white and the seven dwarfs one) You can read the last tale here: http://www.authorama.com/grimms-fairy-tales-63.html . Funny enough the leader of the support groups for transformed persons name is Chris Anderson.
There are lots of literary refrences in this book as well. The charachters discuss Jane Eyre, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and many many other great literary works that have similar themes of someone hiding away from the world because they are ugly, or love overcoming all. There is definetly a theme in the books mentioned of what is true ugliness and what is true beauty. You see the beautiful people taking advantage becaue they are and those who are not marginalized. And Beastly itself is about what is true beauty.
Which brings me to Orchids and Roses as symbols. Both happen to be my favorite flowers. Funny enough both have culinary uses. Vanilla beans come from Orchids while roses you can eat the blossoms as well as the rose hip. But as symbols in the story they are intresting. The Orchid is described as being "a proud flower." And yes orchids are expensive and exoctic looking. Their scent sometimes you have to be at the right angle to catch and they are very delicate and in some ways unreal looking. And it is the snobbish girlfriend Slone who is stuck on appearances who desires an orchid at the begining. Kendra, the witch, when invited to the dance requests a simple plain white rose. Roses have a simple beauty and a lovely calming scent. A white rose symbolizes purity. When Kyle is given the rose by his maid Magda he is angry. His date even shuns it. And thats how he meets Lindy and gives her the rose. And that one act of kindness is why the witch takes pity on him. The whole novel is filled with the symbolism of roses. In a way its the roses that make the story move and transform Kyle. Two petels that fall from the flower are his time to find true love. He builds a rose garden and finds something to love in their beauty. As he looks after them he becomes kinder. In fact the roses bring him and Lindy together: firstly at the dance he gave her the shunned rose; her father broke into his rose gardern hurting some roses; the roses in the garden bring them closer to each other. When discussing the sonnets, I believe Shakespheres 54, they discuss how the roses symbolized truth. And in the story I believe this is true. In fact in the end when they profess their love and his true form is returned the room was filled with the scent of roses and an abundance of flower petals surrounded him. So in a way it was the truth, purity, and beauty of the roses that striped away the ugliness of Kyles heart and soul and lead him to love.
I really enjoyed this book and would like to try a few more of the moderen versions of fairy tale Alex Flynn has written. The only issue I had was that in a book written for young adults there are a few perverted places and an implied sex scene. I could have really done without Slone groping Kyle at the school dance. But if you can get past those few scenes which are just a little worse then what i saw when I read Balzac's The Ass's Skin then you should be fine and its worth the time.
Friday, February 24, 2012
The Impermance of Sakura and Samurai: Hakuoki Demon of the Fleeting Blossom
The Sakura blossom was a symbol of the Samurai representing how fleeting life is. They bloom breifly and wither away. The imagry of the fleeting blossom brings to mind tragic heroic figiures like Yamato Takeru, Minamoto no Kuro Yoshitsune, and of course the Shinsengumi; figures who shone brillantly and were cut down in the end. Hakuoki is a game that starts as the Shinsengumi reaches the peak of their glory and goes on to show their tragic fall.
So far i've only gottan game overs in Hakuoki, however, unlike in most games I've played where it only brings frustration, in Hakuoki i find them to be intresting and varied. Instead of saying oh game over and not giving you a conclusion of sorts you get an ending. Some beautifully tragic and satisfying, some tragic and leaving you feel empty and robbed, and some tragic and gruesome leaving you criging. The endings are varied and intresting depending on your choices.
Actually I have to say i find the endings more satisfying then some of the story itself which at times i found to be bland or cheesy in places. At times the game would skip months of time and give you a brief explanation which I'd have rather have had some interaction with. But for the most part I'm satisfied with the game. It's intresting to see how differently one choice you make can make the enitre game. It's intresting to see all sides of what happened to the Shinsengumi. And all the different options the heroine has for the future.
It's intresting how they take history and weave it with a supernatural theme. The next part will contain spoilers. The shinsengumi who as history knows were used and then eventually abanndoned by the Shogunate were pretty tragic. But in the game not only were they loyal samurai working to protext Kyoto for the Shogun but they were being experimented on using western medicine. So you have monsters amoung the shinsengumi, who are stornger, heal faster, and harder to kill. The only problem is that theirs bad side effects. First off they are sensitive to sunlight and secondly they slowly loose to the madness of bloodlust. The heroines father is the one who admistered the drugs to the men. RPG fan's review described them as Zombies in their review. But after playing I'd say I don't think they are quite zombies. They have a thirst for blood, silver injures them as well as holy weapons, and they have a weakness to the sun. Sounds more like vampires to me. In the game a man from the demon race, Kazama calls the Fury --as the men who were experimented on were called--fake demons.
Yes the Fury are not the only non-human players. The demon race are also a player. In fact the heroine is also not human but a pure blood demon. They don't like to get involved in human affairs but they were persicuted and some ended up helping on both sides. For revenge or to advance their own agendas. Depending on what path you take what happens with the Fury and Demons can vary in intresting ways.
The only problem with the game is the soundtrack as I mentioned before. The music is annoying and there isn't a lot of variation. The only reason not to just hit the mute button is the wonderful voice acting. Which is very very good. I just with the music was better.
Overall I think this is a good game. It has a lot of replay value since so many things are variable, though some key scenes remain intact you can have vastly different experiences each time you go through. Even though i haven't managed to get a good ending yet--I'm wondering exactly what a good ending is considering how most of the love intrests died historically as well as the fact that they furies have a vital weakness that doesn't seem to lend itsef to a happy ending. None-the-less if i had been looking for a happy ending I definetly wouldn't be playing a game about the Shinsengumi thats for certain. For the Shinsengumi were just like a Fleeting blossom. They bloomed and then faded away.
So far i've only gottan game overs in Hakuoki, however, unlike in most games I've played where it only brings frustration, in Hakuoki i find them to be intresting and varied. Instead of saying oh game over and not giving you a conclusion of sorts you get an ending. Some beautifully tragic and satisfying, some tragic and leaving you feel empty and robbed, and some tragic and gruesome leaving you criging. The endings are varied and intresting depending on your choices.
Actually I have to say i find the endings more satisfying then some of the story itself which at times i found to be bland or cheesy in places. At times the game would skip months of time and give you a brief explanation which I'd have rather have had some interaction with. But for the most part I'm satisfied with the game. It's intresting to see how differently one choice you make can make the enitre game. It's intresting to see all sides of what happened to the Shinsengumi. And all the different options the heroine has for the future.
It's intresting how they take history and weave it with a supernatural theme. The next part will contain spoilers. The shinsengumi who as history knows were used and then eventually abanndoned by the Shogunate were pretty tragic. But in the game not only were they loyal samurai working to protext Kyoto for the Shogun but they were being experimented on using western medicine. So you have monsters amoung the shinsengumi, who are stornger, heal faster, and harder to kill. The only problem is that theirs bad side effects. First off they are sensitive to sunlight and secondly they slowly loose to the madness of bloodlust. The heroines father is the one who admistered the drugs to the men. RPG fan's review described them as Zombies in their review. But after playing I'd say I don't think they are quite zombies. They have a thirst for blood, silver injures them as well as holy weapons, and they have a weakness to the sun. Sounds more like vampires to me. In the game a man from the demon race, Kazama calls the Fury --as the men who were experimented on were called--fake demons.
Yes the Fury are not the only non-human players. The demon race are also a player. In fact the heroine is also not human but a pure blood demon. They don't like to get involved in human affairs but they were persicuted and some ended up helping on both sides. For revenge or to advance their own agendas. Depending on what path you take what happens with the Fury and Demons can vary in intresting ways.
The only problem with the game is the soundtrack as I mentioned before. The music is annoying and there isn't a lot of variation. The only reason not to just hit the mute button is the wonderful voice acting. Which is very very good. I just with the music was better.
Overall I think this is a good game. It has a lot of replay value since so many things are variable, though some key scenes remain intact you can have vastly different experiences each time you go through. Even though i haven't managed to get a good ending yet--I'm wondering exactly what a good ending is considering how most of the love intrests died historically as well as the fact that they furies have a vital weakness that doesn't seem to lend itsef to a happy ending. None-the-less if i had been looking for a happy ending I definetly wouldn't be playing a game about the Shinsengumi thats for certain. For the Shinsengumi were just like a Fleeting blossom. They bloomed and then faded away.
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Hakuoki: Shinsengumi and Zombies oh my
So yesterday I recieved my copy of Hakuoki: Demon of the Fleeting Blossom limited edition. This is a Otome Visual Novel or the dating sim type. So basically its a game made for girls thats like those choose your own adventure books. This takes place in the Bakumatsu starting in the year 1854, so one year after the arrival of Commadore Perry in Japan. Since I know the history of the period--I did write my seinor thesis on the Bakumatsu--I have had no issues with understanding the time setting. Now for people who have never studied the time period the game has a nice little handy encyclopedia. As you go through the game you unlock entries and so you can save your game and go look at it in your leisure time.
Besides there being Zombies the history part looks good to me so far. The premise at the begining of a girl desgiesing herself as a boy and ending up with the shinsengumi reminds me a bit of the Kaze Hikaru manga. However, its also a bit reminisent of Peacemaker Kurogane. In a way its like Chizuru takes the place of Ichimura Tetsunosuke--who is an actual historical figure not just fiction--since shes told to be a page to Hijikata Toshio. However, her role is vastly different from the main charachters of both manga series i mentioned. We have a girl who is searching for her missing father who is a doctor. When in Kyoto she is accosted by some Ronin who want her kodachi. She is saved but only momentarily by some zombies who then attack her. Okita and Saito save her just in time but since shes a witness to some kind of secret they need to decide what to do with her. So thinking shes a boy they are planing to kill her, but on learning shes a girl and the daughter of the man they are looking for they decide to help her. They said her father was loyal to the Shogun and that he disappeared.
The story is very intresting. Even though you don't see any graphically violent images. The description of the fights and how the blade slices the bodies is enough to make you cringe. Plus theres a splat sound everytime you get to a part of the text where someone is cut down. I don't think the text is bad. Its a nice clear text. Its dark brown on a sandy colored background. The still images are very beautiful. Though most of the time unless theres a coversation your looking at just surrounding images, for instace a room, or a vauge crowded street. The music on the other hand is really lame. It's probably one of the worst game soundtracks i've heard in a while.
Some intresting features are that you can actually set it to auto advance the text. That way you can just sit back and rest your hands until you have to make a descison. This eliminates a lot of button pushing. Since the PSP isn't exaclty the most comfortable thing to hold this is a great option.
So I did get the limited edition. The artbook is defintely one of the better ones I've gottan. Its soft cover, but compared to Atllier Totori, whose art book was tiny and you couldn't read the text, this one is far supiror. its much thicker and a bit larger then totoris. Actually its thicker then the one that came with the Limited edition for FFXIII-2, and Fate/Extra as well. Though i have no complaints about FFXIII-2 and Fate/Extra's limited editions. The soundtrack on the other hand didn't even come in a hard cover. It came in a paper slip cover. No soundtrack art, no soundtrack listings just a plain white paper slip cover with a clear plastic window so you can see the cd. The Cd itself has an intresting image on it, but the presentaion and storage of the Cd was a bit disapointing. It's like they put all the work into the art book and the OST was a side thought. Not that the music is all that great to begin with.
Overall, I think this game is great so far. I'm looking forward to getting the multiple endings and seeing how the Zombies tie into the story. And yup I'm aiming for Hijikata.
edit:
Egad! Yesterday since I was sick I took some codine cough syrup and I misread the date on the game. My brain went on vacation since I was so tierd. I should have realized the date was off since that was way too early for the shinsengumi to have even been formed. But the game takes place in 1864 which is 11 years after the arrival of Commodore Perry. Ok now its time to take some more medicine.
Besides there being Zombies the history part looks good to me so far. The premise at the begining of a girl desgiesing herself as a boy and ending up with the shinsengumi reminds me a bit of the Kaze Hikaru manga. However, its also a bit reminisent of Peacemaker Kurogane. In a way its like Chizuru takes the place of Ichimura Tetsunosuke--who is an actual historical figure not just fiction--since shes told to be a page to Hijikata Toshio. However, her role is vastly different from the main charachters of both manga series i mentioned. We have a girl who is searching for her missing father who is a doctor. When in Kyoto she is accosted by some Ronin who want her kodachi. She is saved but only momentarily by some zombies who then attack her. Okita and Saito save her just in time but since shes a witness to some kind of secret they need to decide what to do with her. So thinking shes a boy they are planing to kill her, but on learning shes a girl and the daughter of the man they are looking for they decide to help her. They said her father was loyal to the Shogun and that he disappeared.
The story is very intresting. Even though you don't see any graphically violent images. The description of the fights and how the blade slices the bodies is enough to make you cringe. Plus theres a splat sound everytime you get to a part of the text where someone is cut down. I don't think the text is bad. Its a nice clear text. Its dark brown on a sandy colored background. The still images are very beautiful. Though most of the time unless theres a coversation your looking at just surrounding images, for instace a room, or a vauge crowded street. The music on the other hand is really lame. It's probably one of the worst game soundtracks i've heard in a while.
Some intresting features are that you can actually set it to auto advance the text. That way you can just sit back and rest your hands until you have to make a descison. This eliminates a lot of button pushing. Since the PSP isn't exaclty the most comfortable thing to hold this is a great option.
So I did get the limited edition. The artbook is defintely one of the better ones I've gottan. Its soft cover, but compared to Atllier Totori, whose art book was tiny and you couldn't read the text, this one is far supiror. its much thicker and a bit larger then totoris. Actually its thicker then the one that came with the Limited edition for FFXIII-2, and Fate/Extra as well. Though i have no complaints about FFXIII-2 and Fate/Extra's limited editions. The soundtrack on the other hand didn't even come in a hard cover. It came in a paper slip cover. No soundtrack art, no soundtrack listings just a plain white paper slip cover with a clear plastic window so you can see the cd. The Cd itself has an intresting image on it, but the presentaion and storage of the Cd was a bit disapointing. It's like they put all the work into the art book and the OST was a side thought. Not that the music is all that great to begin with.
Overall, I think this game is great so far. I'm looking forward to getting the multiple endings and seeing how the Zombies tie into the story. And yup I'm aiming for Hijikata.
edit:
Egad! Yesterday since I was sick I took some codine cough syrup and I misread the date on the game. My brain went on vacation since I was so tierd. I should have realized the date was off since that was way too early for the shinsengumi to have even been formed. But the game takes place in 1864 which is 11 years after the arrival of Commodore Perry. Ok now its time to take some more medicine.
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Final Fantasy XIII-2: that moogle is uber cute
So anyone who played Final Fantasy XIII knows how anoying it was. Heck no deviation from the path, no NPC's, crappy battle system, and no towns or shops or whatever to explore until after like 50 hours of game play and then its just a dead world. Luckily I liked the story enough that I didn't find it a total waste of time. Though the scoreing on the battle system was really disheartening heh.
I purchased the Collectors edition of Final Fantasy XIII-2. Its really beautiful. It has a nice hard slip cover, and the hard covered booklet folds out. One side has the game, surprizingly the Xbox 360 version is one disk. Considering the first game was 4 disk I was very surprized. There is a pocket on the game disk side for game information. Then in the middle is the artbook with concept art. The print quality is really nice. Then the last section that folds out has the four disk sound track. And the music is really good as expected of a final fantasy game the sound track is beautiful. It has to be the nicest special edition game I've bought so far.
Final Fantasy XIII-2 is a big improvement. You get NPC's to talk to. The battle system is still the annoying paradim shift thing but its been tweeked. You have more freedom of movement instead of beening herded along the railroad track. So you can go back and forth to times you've been before as well as side quest missions you can pick up from the begining. I like how you have the option to make the text bigger. Plus theres a section called the beginers guide which tells the whole stroy from the first game. Also when you continue from a saved game file it starts out like some tv show "the story so far . . ." and theres a breif explanation and some action scenes. I see this as a great feature for those time when you get annoyed and put a game aside for 2 months to play something else and then you come back and know whats happening still. Unfortunately there is no bonus from having a saved completed FFXIII game to carry over the hard work from the first game. But I don't really thing the normal mode is all that hard really. One intresting thing is the cinimatic actions. Where you push the buttons to make the scene go a certain way in a battle scene. Or where you can determine the conversation, it gives you a bit more control.
One thing to remeber is there are no save points really. You can save in the time gate, you have auto save, and you can save in the start menu when you pause in a lot of places even in the middle of a dungeon. So unlike in the first game you have lots of places to save.
Now the story takes place 3 years after the end of the last game. However, things are strange. No one remebers that Lighting was with them at the end and even gave her blessings to Serah and Snow to get married. Everyone thinks that she also along with Vanille and Fang is holding up Cacoon. Only Serah remebers. She has a vision of Lighting fighting Caias is Valhara and of Noel meeting her and being sent to her. And it turns out its real. Noel is a time traveler from the future, where he's the last living human and he travels back in time inorder to change that fate. On meeting Lightning she sends him to fetch Serah who will help him. So basically its lots of time travel. heh.
Its intresting how its all tied together, plus you get to revist places that you see in the last game. I'm only about 6 hours in. So far I really think its intresting. Though i had some trouble reading some of the text in the menu even though I now have a 32 inch HDTV as oppssed to the 26 inch ancient thing I used to have. I couldn't read the menus at all on that thing. But on my new tv some of its hard to read still. I'm really liking this much more then the first game so far. Once I finish i'll give my final impressions. For now I'm going to play and enjoy the beautiful world and the cute bishonen Noel.
I purchased the Collectors edition of Final Fantasy XIII-2. Its really beautiful. It has a nice hard slip cover, and the hard covered booklet folds out. One side has the game, surprizingly the Xbox 360 version is one disk. Considering the first game was 4 disk I was very surprized. There is a pocket on the game disk side for game information. Then in the middle is the artbook with concept art. The print quality is really nice. Then the last section that folds out has the four disk sound track. And the music is really good as expected of a final fantasy game the sound track is beautiful. It has to be the nicest special edition game I've bought so far.
Final Fantasy XIII-2 is a big improvement. You get NPC's to talk to. The battle system is still the annoying paradim shift thing but its been tweeked. You have more freedom of movement instead of beening herded along the railroad track. So you can go back and forth to times you've been before as well as side quest missions you can pick up from the begining. I like how you have the option to make the text bigger. Plus theres a section called the beginers guide which tells the whole stroy from the first game. Also when you continue from a saved game file it starts out like some tv show "the story so far . . ." and theres a breif explanation and some action scenes. I see this as a great feature for those time when you get annoyed and put a game aside for 2 months to play something else and then you come back and know whats happening still. Unfortunately there is no bonus from having a saved completed FFXIII game to carry over the hard work from the first game. But I don't really thing the normal mode is all that hard really. One intresting thing is the cinimatic actions. Where you push the buttons to make the scene go a certain way in a battle scene. Or where you can determine the conversation, it gives you a bit more control.
One thing to remeber is there are no save points really. You can save in the time gate, you have auto save, and you can save in the start menu when you pause in a lot of places even in the middle of a dungeon. So unlike in the first game you have lots of places to save.
Now the story takes place 3 years after the end of the last game. However, things are strange. No one remebers that Lighting was with them at the end and even gave her blessings to Serah and Snow to get married. Everyone thinks that she also along with Vanille and Fang is holding up Cacoon. Only Serah remebers. She has a vision of Lighting fighting Caias is Valhara and of Noel meeting her and being sent to her. And it turns out its real. Noel is a time traveler from the future, where he's the last living human and he travels back in time inorder to change that fate. On meeting Lightning she sends him to fetch Serah who will help him. So basically its lots of time travel. heh.
Its intresting how its all tied together, plus you get to revist places that you see in the last game. I'm only about 6 hours in. So far I really think its intresting. Though i had some trouble reading some of the text in the menu even though I now have a 32 inch HDTV as oppssed to the 26 inch ancient thing I used to have. I couldn't read the menus at all on that thing. But on my new tv some of its hard to read still. I'm really liking this much more then the first game so far. Once I finish i'll give my final impressions. For now I'm going to play and enjoy the beautiful world and the cute bishonen Noel.
Sunday, January 1, 2012
A Ghost in the Machine: Fate/Extra when NPC's become self aware
So I had to get a new PSP so I could play this one. My old one decided to not work properly. The Fate series is interesting. The original game--which I have not played--Fate/Stay Night, was a erotic game by Type Moon. How I came across the series was the anime of the sme name which was more toned down. The story revolves around 7 masters who have a servant who is a Legendary Soul belonging to one of 7 classes for instance Saber, Archer, and Rider. These masters are Magi who are fighting a war for the right to hold the grail. But this isn't the Holy Grail of Jesus but something more sinister. The main charachter Emiya accidently stumbled upon the war only to find himself becomeing a master.
Now the Fate/Extra is a bit different. The game takes place. in an alternate digital world. You start off in a school where the students are seeing that something isn't right. There are disapearances, things seem like they are scripted, and there are issues with peoples memories. For instance not knowing anything outside of being in that school. It turns out that this is a digital world where the canidates for masters had their memories erased as a test. And the only way out of this sinister game is to win or death.
The battle system isn't too exciting or anything. Its rock paper sissor style. And the boss for each week is way harder then any of the things you fight to level. I'm only into the 2nd week of the eliminations. But the enemies are sparce and you have to wait for them to regenerate if you want to level much. Also, you need to be very careful to get all the information you can. However, its very easy to miss something by not following the correct sequence to get the information. You need this to pass the week. Without it you can't find the enemy servants true identiy and pass the section.
I only recommend this game if you are famillar with the Fate series. It's an intrsting game with an intresting story but it's not something you can fully enjoy without the rest. The game is littered with charachters from the orginal story as well as hearing some talk about situations from it as well. If you want a game with similar themes of a life or death game that you can't escape with a better story that is stand alone I'd recommend The World Ends With You. Plus the battle system is more fun and engaging though it can be hand hell. Fate/Extra is defiently intresting so as a fan of the Fate series I am enjoying it. Now i just need to beat the sucker.
Now the Fate/Extra is a bit different. The game takes place. in an alternate digital world. You start off in a school where the students are seeing that something isn't right. There are disapearances, things seem like they are scripted, and there are issues with peoples memories. For instance not knowing anything outside of being in that school. It turns out that this is a digital world where the canidates for masters had their memories erased as a test. And the only way out of this sinister game is to win or death.
The battle system isn't too exciting or anything. Its rock paper sissor style. And the boss for each week is way harder then any of the things you fight to level. I'm only into the 2nd week of the eliminations. But the enemies are sparce and you have to wait for them to regenerate if you want to level much. Also, you need to be very careful to get all the information you can. However, its very easy to miss something by not following the correct sequence to get the information. You need this to pass the week. Without it you can't find the enemy servants true identiy and pass the section.
I only recommend this game if you are famillar with the Fate series. It's an intrsting game with an intresting story but it's not something you can fully enjoy without the rest. The game is littered with charachters from the orginal story as well as hearing some talk about situations from it as well. If you want a game with similar themes of a life or death game that you can't escape with a better story that is stand alone I'd recommend The World Ends With You. Plus the battle system is more fun and engaging though it can be hand hell. Fate/Extra is defiently intresting so as a fan of the Fate series I am enjoying it. Now i just need to beat the sucker.
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