Another Month from Hell

I'm working on two new videos that are a continuation of the Yu-Gi-Oh! D&D video I out together years ago when I had even less of an idea of what I was doing. I'm not sure when they'll be done. It's been a busy month, and it's going to be a busy summer. This past week has been full of car trouble and other calamities, and there needs to be a lot of rescheduling. Hopefully by September things will have gotten better and fallen into place.

More Oreo flavors came out - or you could just order them online like Brad does since stores are unreliable (unless you're like Brad and always end up tempting fate). The waffles and syrup would be good, but I don't think I should order them online because they'd probably just be crumbs and broken pieces by the time they get to me. Although, it would be nice since we didn't get coconut in our area, and my fiance would like that. What we got, at a Walgreen's no less, is a couple of exclusive Pringles flavors. No, not hot dog this time. Jamaican Jerk and Cheddar BBQ. Needless to say, the latter was the best for eating wholesale. However, I liked the jerk chicken and jerk tofu at the college I went to, and while these chips are spicy and prevent me from eating too many at a time, the flavor is excellent. If I knew how to cook tofu, I'd make that to go with it (except tofu - or at least tofu products - is expensive).

Satellamon's arc didn't last long, and now there's a human antagonist. There are more humans involved at L-Corp who take orders from the rogue AI Leviathan. And I still don't know what Yuujin's deal is.

It's Been A Long Month

Finally done with Persona 5 and can focus on other things. I still like 4 better, though. 5 was kind of predictable and included elements I didn't like, such as the overuse of flashbacks for much of the game (for starters). I know it's the theme of this one, but too many people want to sue for various things. And they say America is bad with that. Although it wasn't for very long, I couldn't get used to Lavenza. Caroline and Justine had more personality (although Justine is more like Lavenza). Caroline kicking you through the door to the Velvet Room is never not funny.

I like this season of MLP so far. The episode where Twilight has to watch Flurry felt like an episode of Fairly OddParents where Timmy would have to watch Poof, especially since Tara Strong voices both of them and the babies. Shining Armor and Cadance are like Cosmo and Wanda too. The comics, however, left much to be desired. The Celestia/Luna comic that was delayed a month was not worth the wait for me. It was lacking in cohesion and logic. What could've been a simple tale about them entering the Sisterhoof Social became a botched mess, though I'm probably the only one that thinks so. The end of Tales of Zestiria the X was also delayed a month. Was it worth the wait? Well, that depends on if you liked the new direction it was going in. I really can't recognize it anymore, so I couldn't really appreciate what they were doing with it. And it's still going to be continued.

There were two new Lay's flavors lately, but I passed them both up. I've just been so busy with the move and all that I've been spending money on more important things. They were beers and brats, and southwest sauce. Neither one really appealed to me, but I could've bitten the bullet if I wanted to. Mountain Dew also combined Code Red, White Out, and Voltage into a purple drink. I don't think I want to try that either, though I might give in at some point.

Excited!?

Kanji x Naoto video is up. Realized I forgot that the video category defaults to the last one you did, so I had to switch the Kort video and December video to entertainment instead of people and blogs (which is what all the Organization XIII zodiac ones were under since it's just me talking). Kort's got 30+ views now. Nice. 4/13 has come and gone, and part one of Let's Read Homestuck: Openbound has been posted by Voxus. Can't wait for the rest!

Appmon did a recap episode, which had a new intro and outro featuring Yuujin with an Appmon too (which is the basis of the next episode). There was a segment where they counted (not in real time, thank God) the number of times Eri and Astra said their catchphrases. It was 44 to 62, but that just makes Eri the better character in my opinion (in that she is slightly less annoying). In the next episode, Eri is forced to use Twitter, and it immediately gets taken over by the L-virus. We are also introduced to Satellamon, who replaced Mienumon as the CG monster. Yuujin and Offmon as a pair just seem...off. No explanation given yet, just "hey we're here to save you do it!"

While looking up the voice actors in Persona 5, I discovered quite a treat. Sam Riegel's younger sister Eden voices the character who is the Star arcana. Sam took over voicing Teddie in Persona 4 Golden (also the Star arcana). Matt Mercer is there too as the Emperor arcana (previously taking over as Kanji in spin-off games and latter half of the P4 anime, also the Emperor). The voice actresses for Yukari and Yukiko reappear as well as new characters. The voice actress who plays Lailah in Tales of Zestiria voices the Velvet Twins Caroline and Justine. Barbara Goodson (Rita Repulsa herself) voices an elementary school boy (Tower arcana).

This Needs to be Fact-Checked

Dezel died armatized with Rose, putting all of his energy into clearing away the dragons and becoming the wind. Symonne is probably gone - purified but probably dead. Alicia's friends found the hellion's body and buried it. Sorey had a dream about Velvet Crowe, and he comes to the realization that Artorius might have been the bad guy. As it applies to Dezel, Rose says that they shouldn't feel guilt over having to make sacrifices because that's what started all this in the first place. Sure the point is to honor Dezel's dying wish and not let his sacrifice be in vain, but at least he CHOSE to sacrifice himself as opposed to Artorius the child murderer. I'm getting the feeling this is how the game would've been if Berseria had come out first. I haven't looked up much about it, so I don't know if the Shepherd Michael was around for that game or if he'd ever met Velvet or Edna's brother. They touched on the fact that an infant died in a fire set by Heldalf and that Michael used that child's corpse to curse Heldalf for what he'd done. No mention of it being Mikleo though or that infant Sorey was also there. Muse was Mikleo's mother, right? And Muse is Michael's younger sister, apparently. I don't remember all the important details from the game anyway.

There have been mixed reviews for both the Power Rangers movie and the live action Beauty and the Beast movie. I didn't watch any of the Beauty and the Beast reviews because I went to see it on my birthday last weekend. I liked it fine, but it had some problems. Pretty much everyone was great in their roles. It was never going to be as good as the original, so my expectations weren't set that high. As for Power Rangers, I watched Angry Joe, Doug, and Lewis/Brad's reviews. Joe admitted it wasn't as bad as he thought it'd be and gave it a 4 out of 10. Doug said it was fine for a general audience but pointed out the bad writing. Lewis and Brad just flat-out enjoyed it. The worst part was the overbearing Krispy Kreme product placement; it was less a Power Rangers movie than it was a Krispy Kreme commercial (it was also mostly teen angst, but Doug said that's at least delivering on the promise of teenagers with attitude). Rita even ate the donuts at one point, which is something I would expect from Divatox, not her. Having that instead of Ernie's juice bar was just wrong - even Megaforce got that right. And there's a sequel beg with Tommy being introduced at the end. May he join the ranks of the characters found in the sequel begs of Last Airbender and Jem. It's done well enough that it probably will get a sequel, though. Ugh. Good for those actors, I guess.

I've wanted to do a review comparing the first two Cheetah Girls movies, but I don't think I have much to say about either of them at this point, and I have no intention of watching either of them again. I liked the second one better; the first one was like Josie and the Pussycats but worse. Both the original and the sequel have the part where they almost break up and sing a song about it, so it's not like either of them is brilliant cinema. I just think the second one had better songs and a slightly better plot. Wait, was there a third one minus Raven, or am I just thinking of their music videos?

Still getting adjusted to the new place. I finished the Kanji x Naoto video before the move, so that'll be posted when Persona 5 comes out.

Kinda Weird

In Zestiria, the hellion from the beginning and Symonne have been acting weird. The hellion decided he wanted to help for no reason and died doing it. Symonne hung out with Dezel for a while then decided to become a dragon when her master finally answered her call.

I've been watching the dubs of DBZ Final Chapters (aka the Buu saga) and Super. Vegeta is the best. He makes the best faces and it's great that he's proud of Trunks. Kid Trunks is pretty cool too since he makes the same deadpan expressions as his dad (and I enjoy Laura's boy voice). It's just too bad that the movie arcs are so padded out. I haven't been watching the subs, but I am appalled at Goku.

I'm getting ready to move soon, so that's my excuse for not having many projects in the works. I do want to do a Kanji x Naoto video at some point, and I'm still going to wait until KH3 comes out so I have more new material for that video, which will give it more meaning. I also wrote this little story about Ienzo and Raven, even though it's kind of implausible and just a bit stupid. I don't have a title for it.

Ienzo took Raven out to get sea salt ice cream. Along their walk, they passed several people who regarded Ienzo coldly, some moving farther away from them. Raven gave him a worried look. "What's going on?"
Ienzo sighed. "This always happens when we leave the castle now. People don't trust us anymore, not even me. I guess I can't really blame them."
"That's understandable, if not a bit harsh," Raven said pityingly.
"We've been working in conjunction with the Restoration Committee that was formed before we were able to come back, but it's not enough coming from us since we caused the problem to begin with. It's not just about the world being tainted with darkness and people losing their hearts. These people lost ten or more years of their lives because of what we did."
"At least you have the option of a second chance."
"Raven..." Ienzo felt a little bad for complaining since Raven had told him that she was responsible for the total annihilation of her homeworld when she was a child, all because she wanted to know who her father was. She was the only one who survived.
Ienzo paid for the two ice creams, but the woman at the stand barely said a word to him. They sat down on a nearby bench to eat them. "Wow, that's really salty," Raven commented. "But the sweet aftertaste is worth it."
Ienzo nodded, still pondering. "I remember the first time I had one of these. Everyone was much happier then, especially the master. I don't think we can ever go back to the way things were. If we could get along with everyone again, that would be great, but it's just not going to happen. I'm not going to run away, though. This is still my home, and I'm going to live in it."
"Spoken like a true prince."
Ienzo blushed. "I'm not...I mean, Ansem's considered a philosopher-king, but I've never considered myself to be...I am adopted, after all. Wait, are you saying you want to be my princess or are you just teasing me?"
Raven laughed. "Why can't it be both?"
They finished their ice cream and decided to go back to the castle. Almost immediately, they were confronted by a group of boys about the same age as Sora. One of them threw a rock at Ienzo, which grazed his cheek. Raven put up a shield in front of him with her magic as two more of them threw rocks. "Hey! Knock it off!" she yelled.
"A witch!" one of them exclaimed. They picked up the rocks that had bounced off Raven's shield and threw them at her. Raven made the shield bigger to cover both of them. Realizing she could do this indefinitely, the gang retreated.
Raven lowered her defenses. "Are you okay?" she asked Ienzo.
"It's just a scratch," Ienzo said. "That's the first time they've done that."
"They probably don't feel as threatened by you since you're closer to them in age," Raven reasoned.
"They called you a witch."
"Yeah, I'm used to it."
"That doesn't make it right."
"They can't understand, and what they do understand makes them angry. Sort of like with you. You have to forgive yourself even if they won't."
While the two of them were talking, the gang came back with larger, sharper rocks and threw them at them. Ienzo reacted first, jumping in front of Raven to act as her shield. Her shriek of terror alerted nearby adults, and the gang scattered. Raven used her magic to heal Ienzo right away, but even then she was worried. "Why did you do that? What were you thinking?" she exclaimed.
"You make everything better, Raven," Ienzo replied. "I didn't want them to hurt you."
"I'm fine. You, however, are going to be sore in the morning." She grabbed him by the hand and continued to walk toward the castle.
It's been a long time since someone held my hand, too, Ienzo thought, smiling.
The next time they went to get ice cream, the woman didn't glare at him. "On the house," she said, handing him the ice cream.
Ienzo was bewildered. "But I didn't hand in any WINNER sticks."
"I saw what happened the other day. Most of us folks think that you people in the castle don't care about anyone but yourselves. That doesn't excuse those boys' behavior, of course. But you protected your lady friend at the cost of your own safety. It's not everyday you see something like that. I think that's worth a couple of ice creams, don't you?"
Ienzo thanked her and returned to Raven's side.

New and Improved?

Thrilling Intent changed the lyrics to their theme song and added more characters to the opening animation. The Harpy's Nest arc didn't last as long as I thought it was going to, but that may be in perspective since Big War was so long. Dungeon Truck is just the team of Gregor, Ashe, Markus, and Inien being thrust into a dungeon because Thog needs to prove they're the best. They're like a bunch of big kids playing in a ball pit - overleveled and having the time of their lives.

In Zestiria the X, Lailah produces a second Celestial Record containing the story of Berseria, which Sorey reads without cutting to an episode starring the Berseria cast. Next episode they will continue to move north to confront the Lord of Calamity. They tried having the two squires armatize, but it didn't work (not even with Dezel having used Rose as a vessel). Only a few episodes left. How far will they get?

Applimonsters is getting good. I liked the episodes where the four Appli Drivers got their partners to ultimate through fusion with other super Appmon. Hackmon is the name of a Digimon connected to the Royal Knights and appears in both Cyber Sleuth and Tri, but this show's Hackmon (the hacking application Appmon, partnered with Rei) is much cuter. He becomes Raidramon, which again, is also the name of a Digimon we already know. You'd think there'd be better oversight on that. 

I know it's well past Valentine's Day, but I've been trying to work on a fan fic about Kanji and Naoto. I can't rely on the usual cliches since that's not how either of them act, but I have a couple good ideas. I think it would be funny if Kanji's mom knew the whole time that Naoto was a girl and didn't say anything.

It's weird how both Doug and Lindsay both released a video about the decline of Disney villains on the same day that were almost the same length.

Off-Script

We finally get the connection between Berseria (Bersaria? whatever) and Zestiria in the anime. To stop the Malevolence, everyone's emotions were taken away, but Velvet Crowe's hatred for Artorius remained, and that's why everything's still fucked. That seems wrong. I've seen the Fairly Oddparents episode where Timmy gets rid of his emotions. You shouldn't do it, no matter how painful or inconvenient it is to have them. But no time to dwell on that or the dead dragon spewing Malevolence in the church because it's back to Ladylake! Maltran is being held in the stocks in the town square (the subtitles said crucified, but...), but not even that can make her turn against Alisha, so it's probably never going to happen in the anime. In episode five of the dub, it sounded like they replaced Sorey's voice actor or said actor caught a cold or something. He sounded completely off, and still does when speaking low and deadly serious. That's when he sounds the most off.

St. Patrick's Day is coming up, and I remembered Gabriel Iglesias' story about the racist gift basket. So I've started compiling a list of what would go into a racist gift basket for St. Patrick's Day: green or clover-themed apparel, Irish cream coffee, Guinness, a box of Lucky Charms, daffodils (or maybe that's just me), mint chocolate (Shamrock Shakes come in chocolate now too), a corned beef sandwich, lots of potato chips, and a cabbage. And it's okay for me to say it because I'm part Irish.

I saw the next part of Digimon Tri. What the hell did Yggdrasil do to Gennai and Himekawa? At least with the reboot they said Digimon who died in the human world can be reborn, not that Gatomon and Wizardmon would remember each other. I still think this is fan fic-y bullshit, though. The poster for the next batch features Kari and Mei, and Ophanimon instead of Magnadramon.