Hey, I’m Rankarana. Or Ranka, but not of the high-score table variety, ohohoho~
This is pretty much just a placeholder. Originally, I was planning to upload my first Bootleg the Cheap column, but an issue popped up with the images, as they were too big for Blogger.
Over a thousand MBs too big >_>.
Anyway, in order to prove that I exist, here's a short introduction (which I'm sure will be basically be repeated later on in my other ramblings). I'm younger than most of the other people both on this blog and in the fandom, which not many people usually get, for whatever reason. I'm generally either very enthusiatic or very caustic, or, somehow, both simultaneously.
I adore my animu and mango, maybe not so much these days, but I certainly make time for series I find great. I love giant robots, which actually really weren't part of my childhood, but they've grown on me in the last three years. My favourite series are probably RahXephon (BAAAW), Astro Fighter Sunred (HAAAW) and, currently, (though I'm still watching it) Kemonozume (GOOOORE)... and maybe Hanayako Maid Team ~La Verite~ if I'm trying to annoy someone.
I'm a big toy collector, mostly of robots, with no real pattern to my collection other than 'that looks cool/is cheap, I'll buy it.' My hobby has somewhat ruined my finances, but was it worth it? ...I'll have to think about that. My large collection of Megazords is also taking up plenty of my living space, but that's life, no? And I do adore good and funky bootlegs. Good and funky, man, good and funky.
I used to be an avid gamer but that's slipped away recently. I'm currently playing the awesome CHOU SOUJOU MECHA MG, which is Nintendo doing a mecha game meets WarioWare. It's beyond incredible, and when you're controlling a transforming ninja form that breaths fire, you do feel like the King, something that Evony never did.
Also, big Kamen Rider fan here. Not so much of other toku, but Rider is better than a Hadron Collider! Especially Ryuki, in all its' grim, child-scarring, battletastic glory.
Well, not much else to say right now, other than showing you awesome Indian Rider action:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKFhiE3NxbI
HERO! HERO HONDA! DHAK DHAK GO!
Monday, March 29, 2010
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Hey! Long Time No See! How are things?
http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/1762/gottabeatkanako.jpg
Another wondrous strip by Mr. HBK.
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Today, I'm fielding two game reviews. First up, is Pokemon HeartGold!
This is the best Pokemon game since the original Gold/Silver/Crystal.
It's got all the stuff that made those games so fun. Daily and weekly events, swarms, a cellphone, two regions. And to make things better, it's really pretty-looking on the DS. There's even CG cutscenes for Ho-Oh or Lugia depending on your version.
And, even though the titles say "Gold" and "Silver" the extra storyline stuff (Like Suicune's role and Eusine) are here.
Hell, even the Pokewalker, which I said would be the most retarded free accessory ever, is kinda neat. It's similar to the Wii Fit in that it actually encourages kids/manchildren to run around to train a pokemon and catch some rare ones.
All in all, I give this game a 9/10.
Oh, and the in-game Arceus event is freaking insane. Seriously, go Youtube it or something. It's beyond weird.
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Next up is Infinite Space.
This is a neat little gem. Visually, it looks a bit like Starfox 64 (Sounds a bit like it too).
It's a strategy RPG where you must maintain your crew of space adventurers and travel through the vastness of space. Fighting pirates and whatnot.
The story is supposedly based on Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke, but I'm not really seeing it at this point.
The ships look pretty cool though. I don't know who the mechanical designer was for this, but (s)he did a good job on this.
My only complaint is that sometimes, nothing seems to hit the enemy. Ever. I've lost a few fights because, despite all my customizations to fire control and CIC and the like, I can't seem to land more than a few week-sauce hits.
I'll give this one a score when I beat it.
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This week was Scott Pilgrim week.
We got a book announcement, a trailer and even a look at the game.
Best news about the film though? That Beck is doing songs for it. Not just any songs either, one of them is Launchpad McQuack!
But boy, was the trailer amazing. It's easily the most faithful-looking comic book movie adaption ever at this point.
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I really hope the Sentry goes away soon. Or the Void or Bob Reynolds or whatever the fuck he is now. He was cool for a while, but now he's just annoying.
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Here's a new segment I call "RETRO-ASS GAMES".
My first entry is some old survival/horror game from Sammy called Galerians: Ash. It's from 2002 and is for the PS2.
Now, it's the sequel to a game called Galerians. Never played it, but I saw the pretty awesome CG movie version on MTV a few years ago.
In this game, you play as a drug-addicted ESPer named Rion Steiner. Well, a clone of him who's mind mixed with an AI. It's a bit odd.
The antagonist is a gay ESPer/AI named Ash. He's also a nuclear fusion reactor.
Yeah.
The combat is really cool though. You take drugs to boost your psychic powers. You've got electricity stuff, a shield, pyrokinesis, telekinesis, the usual stuff.
The graphics aren't bad either. A little stiff maybe (Rion's dodge rolls are just awful), but the cutscenes are cool.
Voice acting's OK. But the effects and music are too damn loud. It makes it hard to hear the voice-acting.
Really, this game is pretty much Akira + Scanners with a dash of The Matrix thrown in. Which is pretty cool. I mean, you pop pills and make people explode with your mind! Why didn't this game take off? Hell, it's even got two guy-on-guy kiss scenes for the yaoi-loving.
This was an OK game for the whopping $2.99 I payed for it.
Verdict: 6/10
Graphics are good for it's time. Plot's neat, but it suffers from a terrible camera, poor sound design and bad level design. Not too bad of a level design or that bad of a camera, but bad enough to make a dude frustrated.
Another wondrous strip by Mr. HBK.
_________________________________________________________________
Today, I'm fielding two game reviews. First up, is Pokemon HeartGold!
This is the best Pokemon game since the original Gold/Silver/Crystal.
It's got all the stuff that made those games so fun. Daily and weekly events, swarms, a cellphone, two regions. And to make things better, it's really pretty-looking on the DS. There's even CG cutscenes for Ho-Oh or Lugia depending on your version.
And, even though the titles say "Gold" and "Silver" the extra storyline stuff (Like Suicune's role and Eusine) are here.
Hell, even the Pokewalker, which I said would be the most retarded free accessory ever, is kinda neat. It's similar to the Wii Fit in that it actually encourages kids/manchildren to run around to train a pokemon and catch some rare ones.
All in all, I give this game a 9/10.
Oh, and the in-game Arceus event is freaking insane. Seriously, go Youtube it or something. It's beyond weird.
____________________________________________________________________
Next up is Infinite Space.
This is a neat little gem. Visually, it looks a bit like Starfox 64 (Sounds a bit like it too).
It's a strategy RPG where you must maintain your crew of space adventurers and travel through the vastness of space. Fighting pirates and whatnot.
The story is supposedly based on Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke, but I'm not really seeing it at this point.
The ships look pretty cool though. I don't know who the mechanical designer was for this, but (s)he did a good job on this.
My only complaint is that sometimes, nothing seems to hit the enemy. Ever. I've lost a few fights because, despite all my customizations to fire control and CIC and the like, I can't seem to land more than a few week-sauce hits.
I'll give this one a score when I beat it.
__________________________________________________________________
This week was Scott Pilgrim week.
We got a book announcement, a trailer and even a look at the game.
Best news about the film though? That Beck is doing songs for it. Not just any songs either, one of them is Launchpad McQuack!
But boy, was the trailer amazing. It's easily the most faithful-looking comic book movie adaption ever at this point.
_________________________________________________________________
I really hope the Sentry goes away soon. Or the Void or Bob Reynolds or whatever the fuck he is now. He was cool for a while, but now he's just annoying.
_______________________________________________________________
Here's a new segment I call "RETRO-ASS GAMES".
My first entry is some old survival/horror game from Sammy called Galerians: Ash. It's from 2002 and is for the PS2.
Now, it's the sequel to a game called Galerians. Never played it, but I saw the pretty awesome CG movie version on MTV a few years ago.
In this game, you play as a drug-addicted ESPer named Rion Steiner. Well, a clone of him who's mind mixed with an AI. It's a bit odd.
The antagonist is a gay ESPer/AI named Ash. He's also a nuclear fusion reactor.
Yeah.
The combat is really cool though. You take drugs to boost your psychic powers. You've got electricity stuff, a shield, pyrokinesis, telekinesis, the usual stuff.
The graphics aren't bad either. A little stiff maybe (Rion's dodge rolls are just awful), but the cutscenes are cool.
Voice acting's OK. But the effects and music are too damn loud. It makes it hard to hear the voice-acting.
Really, this game is pretty much Akira + Scanners with a dash of The Matrix thrown in. Which is pretty cool. I mean, you pop pills and make people explode with your mind! Why didn't this game take off? Hell, it's even got two guy-on-guy kiss scenes for the yaoi-loving.
This was an OK game for the whopping $2.99 I payed for it.
Verdict: 6/10
Graphics are good for it's time. Plot's neat, but it suffers from a terrible camera, poor sound design and bad level design. Not too bad of a level design or that bad of a camera, but bad enough to make a dude frustrated.
Friday, March 5, 2010
Art, 'Tis a Glorious and Wonderful Thing, Is It Not?
http://img202.imageshack.us/img202/2213/itisapurpouslyinasupici.jpg
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HBK drew that up. He's doing strips for Der Panzer (As he has given this blog a nickname as well as art).
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First things first.... I love me some bargains. Two weeks ago, I got all of Cowboy Bebop for $10 dollars. And all the discs work and everything. This week... I got all but the last volume of Nadesico for $7.36. Ah, the days of my youth... Like the scent of lemon. Except, my "youth" is really just like 3 or 4 years ago.
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Here's a quick review of Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth, since I've actually beaten it now. The game was great. The new gameplay and the logic system really carry this game. It does have some... faults though. 1. Shi-Long needed more screen time. 2. Calisto's voice was terrible. Seriously. Was there a man doing her voice? 3. Fay wasn't a very interesting character. To me at least. 4. The final case really drags the game to a grinding halt. It's a wee bit long, and some of the arguments/testimonies are really friggin' odd.
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The World Ends With You is the best game I've missed. I really feel guilty about not contributing to this game's sales back when it mattered. I mean, I really dug everyone about this game. Even the almost too busy battles. Also, the soundtrack is now my favorite video game soundtrack of all time. It's even passed Fire Emblem: Blazing Sword as my favorite.
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They might be making a DS remake of Cybuster. You don't know how long I've dreamed of this exact thing. I've always wanted to play a better version of this game. The ROM was OK. but it never wanted to work right for me. Most ROMs don't want to. So I tend not to play them. But no more! Hopefully. It's all rumors and heresay for the moment. When Famitsu comes out next week, I'm sure I'm gonna scream so loud everyone will here me, because I'm reasonably certain some SRW is being announced at least.
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The Clone Saga remake was grand. It removed pretty much everything I hated about the original. Also, Ben Reilly's coming back. I don't care what the haters say, I always dug the Scarlet Spider.
Oh, and Ultimate Comics: Avengers #5 won't appear at my bookstore. I don't know why. I hope it gets in soon.
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Last, but definitely not fucking least: HOKUTO MUSOU IS COMING TO EUROPE. WHICH IS GREAT FOR RANKA AND HBK. But, more importantly, it means it's probably coming to America too. So... I WA SHOCK. Oh, and I'm probably already dead too.
EDIT: Comic was being a bastard. Now it's just the link.
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