Bartimaeus

Ah, right, I always forget that anime very often directly follows the manga down to just about the last detail, presumably because that's exactly what fans of the manga want...but it ignores that they're completely different mediums where certain conventions and such are not necessarily going to work or make sense in another, particularly if you haven't already spent years getting used to that style...or already read the manga yourself. Guess I'll just deal for the time being - it's only 5 more half hour episodes, after all, and then I can be content, knowing that I saw all of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure that there ever was. ...Yes, that there ever was, . Artorias is one of my favorite bosses, because while his move-set is difficult to master, literally all of his attacks are actually incredibly consistent, predictable, and fair. Kalameet, in contrast, is decidedly less so, and has weird move-set quirks that made him extremely frustrating at level 1. My criteria for favorite bosses is probably somewhat different from most people's after having done that SL1 NG7 run, . I was kind of joking, but also maybe kind of not? There's probably a reason that all of his writing and dialogue always seem to perfectly flow and make sense to me where so many others do not. Clear Card: Maybe eventually you'll be able to recommend Clear Card to me? ...Eventually? (e): Nope, literally contradicted like one second later.

It's not illegal to skim or skip, you know! A lot of the time we're just rambling on about sweet irrelevant nothings anyways, . DARK SOULS TALK: By the way, majestic, did you ever watch the Tomoyo's Video Diary shorts? There are three of them, about five minutes long each. Watched the first two episodes of the JoJo's prequel OVA. Feels like a gigantic drop-off from the first series, even though it's helping give me background on what was going on in the original - writing has been a lot more humorless and needlessly over-dramatic thus far (also weird stuff like...Jotaro being at school - apparently he's seventeen years old even though he looks like an insane giant compared to everyone else and his style of clothing looks completely out of place?). Video fidelity is significantly better and yet the animation is sadly worse (and I do mean the animation - lots of cheap-looking effects and scenes), which I guess I should've expected given this being made in 2000 compared to the original's 1993. And I don't know if this happens in the normal anime as well, but there's this really weird thing the show does where something will happen, and then a character, possibly even characters to really drive it home, will take an excruciating amount of time to just stoically stand around and explain everything that just occurred, that we literally just saw, in elaborate and exact detail. Over-explaining happened in the original OVA as well, but it was faster-paced and less often compared to what I've seen in these two episodes thus far. This seems to be a re-occurring problem in more modern animes that I've experienced at least some of - it's as if shows are assuming that you're like semi-retarded and can't follow what's happening through watching normally. For the love of god, anime...show, don't tell. Important story stuff that the viewer may not be able to figure out from just watching that they should probably know, okay, fair enough; a play-by-play of everything we literally just saw seconds ago, not so much. I can only assume this is because Satoshi Kon wasn't involved in and didn't co-write the prequel series - undoubtedly, he helped keep the script of the original OVA tighter, .

Bucks are constantly absolute trash in game 1s, so this should be positively apocalyptic for the Suns if they somehow manage to lose this one at home.

I would imagine so - thanks! Thanks, guess I really will never play this game, because the voice direction in that game is absolute cancer and I can't listen to that crap. Plus, garbanzo beans SonicMage had a Hollow Knight avatar for forever, so I already associate terrible, terrible things with Hollow Knight anyways on top of my other problems with the game. ...Celeste had performance issues on the Switch? Celeste? Think I'll keep playing stuff on my PC, thanks. I didn't think Celeste was tooooo bad, but there were some levels I had close to a hundred deaths on which I guess is a lot, but doesn't feel like it due to how fast-paced everything is. I liked the setting and more passive storytelling of Dark Souls, but I never got into it like all the other turbonerds did, and I did not care at all about any of that for the second or third game which were significantly less charming (and also I straight up despise the second game for the weird, awful gameplay changes it made anyways). And the first game is really not super difficult - I beat most bosses on my first or second try the first time through, and I hadn't played Demon's Souls to warm me up to the gameplay style or anything either. When I replayed the game with a level 1 character on the highest difficulty (NG7) where even the slightest breeze would instantly kill you, things were a little different, though. The attack designs of that boss sort of reminds me of some stuff from Undertale. Not sure if you've ever played that, but you definitely should if you haven't. The absolute worst fandom, of course - as always - but at this point I think we've conclusively proven you should generally not judge anything by their terrible fanbases, .

My wish has been granted...but it goes in reverse: apparently, there's a prequel OVA series by the same studio with mostly the same people that came out later that presumably helps...explain things? Ironically, it's slightly longer than the series I just watched...guess I'll watch that at some point! @KP the meanie zucchini If you've seen both, do you know whether it's better to start with the prequel series or this original Stardust Crusaders arc series? I know someone who wants to watch this because I watched it, but I'm not sure which one to tell them to watch first now that I know that the prequel series exists.

I actually haven't played Hollow Knight, so I have no idea what you're describing. Well, actually, I started it, but I only played for like an hour before the hideously annoying NPC inane voice babbling combined with too complex maps drove me insane and right off of the game. I'm bad at handling too-large Metroidvania games - my ideal Metroidvania game is more like 5 hours, 10 at absolute most...not the 30 or 40 of Hollow Knight. For longer, somewhat difficult games, Dark Souls is more my speed. Glad to hear you beat them, though...whomever they are! I know the combined feeling of both satisfaction as well as annoyance from other games after finally taking care of a ridiculous boss that just wouldn't go down, . Uh...yes, that was left out. ...Glad I was finally able to enjoy JoJo's Bizarre Adventure in SOME fashion because of this OVA, .

I edited some more stuff in after I realized I should actually describe some of the meme-ish stuff that happened, just in case you want to laugh at that, presuming once again you've already seen this arc.

Episode 6: What a meme of an ending...but it was actually pretty great. If this OVA continued, I would continue watching. I like the animation a lot better than the main series, and I'm pretty sure I like the writing a lot better as well (though I've only watched a few episodes of the """main""" series), even with a few of the things I still don't care for. Thanks once again, Mr. Kon, .

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, episode 5, Majestic do not read unless you've already watched Stardust Crusaders or whatever this arc is called presuming that the events of this OVA at least roughly carry over to the regular anime:

I love Stop Making Sense, but I'm not nearly as fond of their actual studio albums which sound...very different from that. Exactly once, to a person who's recommended like a hundred different things to me over my lifespan and has hit on exactly one of them: You'll Never Go to Heaven, . A 1% hit rate ain't so bad, though! ...It's literally infinitely better than all the 0%ers! Vibrato: Thanks, now I have a way to describe that which I hate. Vibrato delenda est! More evidence for the "I like simpler voices" theory...thanks for the edumacation, I didn't receive basically any in music, so I don't know what the hell anything is unfortunately. Sharon: Yeah, but...she also sounds like that, . Not only that, but it also kinda misses what I like so much about You'll Never Get to Heaven: it's just this...perfectly consistent mildly low-toned half-whispering kind of singing. Lunascape...doesn't do it for me on multiple levels, . BREAKING NEWS: Bartimaeus continues to be the pickiest bastard about anything and just about literally everything, more at 11! Being curious who sang that because I liked it so much is what made me look her up. As for Jungle Drum...Emiliana Torrini says she's horribly embarrassed of her very first album which was mostly random covers, but I like the weird crap she did on there better than Jungle Drum, . Seriously, what the heck is this, Emiliana? ...It's still better than Jungle Drum, . I'll take your word for it re: Heidi Klum, seeing as I don't think I've ever heard of her and I'm pretty sure I wouldn't want to. And also, I don't think I've ever heard an Adele song or at least knew I was hearing an Adele song, so I don't know what she sounds like either. I think I've said it before, but I try to avoid absorbing anything which I do not like, .

Is that the one where he's like...a Wild West bandit king that starts taking over everybody's bodies while Worf and...aw heck, who was it? Crusher? Or was it the empath lady I dislike whose name I never remember? Anyways, while Worf and one of those two try to sort it out? That is a funner episode...but boy, the number of "let's just conjure up a wacky scenario via the holodeck" episodes there are is way too many.

I still don't like her voice there, but it's actually less painful than the other stuff I listened to. Unfortunately, the music is even less to my tastes, so it doesn't really matter. Also, genuine growling stuff is always a no-go no matter whom it is, . Not sure, but recommended it many times I have been. Does it say more about me that people somehow think I'd magically like it...or more about the people I associate with that they somehow keep recommending it to me? https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/f8unyoxb5vpspgt/uojLuUtksI.mp4 So here's a little secret of mine...I hate long notes like this. She does it every single note she draws out here in this song and the next, it's unbearable. Up, down, up, down, up, down - clean notes, please! But besides those painful long notes, yes, her voice is much more bearable than the other lady in terms of texture, . Floor Jansen or whatever her face is provides a good contrast here, particularly in the opera video you posted of her - her voice is perhaps more unpleasant, but she can hold those long notes just about perfectly. Drats! As for the song you missed because of strange YouTube shenanigans (it still works fine for me, and no, I'm not the uploader, : https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/7sqftq8pp7mop2r/White Light.flac I imagine it will be the one you like the least based on what you've described as preferring in voices...but I could listen to this lady all day. It's a bloody great freaking thing I heard her sing Gollum's Song in Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers first, then listened to her latest album at the time (Tookah) second, because if I had accidentally listened to Jungle Drum as her first non-LotR song, I'm not sure I would've listened to a second. I should've known better, of course, because single songs are invariably the worst song of any given album, and Jungle Drum is no exception. Way ahead of you, pal! Also, I have no clue who is whom (though I'm passingly familiar with Within Temptation, I have no real knowledge of what they actually sound like, especially since it's been years and years since I heard a song from them), but I definitely liked the second lady a lot better, slightly nasally voice and all, . I mean...to be fair, somebody decided on stinking Usagi being queen at some point!

Seems like him not playing kiiinda portended things for the Serbian national team, . Serbia was a host country too...

Is this show predominantly...sci-fi stuff? That is to say, does it being sci-fi dominate everything this show is about, like plots, themes, action, character dynamics, etc. I'm preeetty sure she's a voice problem. Such a harsh edge to her voice along with this weird undercurrent of breathiness...I checked out about 5 different songs from her, which is not really much but also that's not much less than how many she has on her YouTube channel, but I didn't like any of them, not even Ave Maria which I usually love, . Then I figured out she was from Nightwish, and I was like...oh, yeah, that tracks. Been recommended them like 6 or 7 times by different people throughout the past ten years or so, and I don't think so. In case you're at all curious, here are...five of my favorite female vocalists - just female to make it simple. Feel free to hate them immediately, exit out from listening to them, and then feel embarrassed on my behalf, etc., :

Well, you can never say never...but I'm officially saying it: never, . If I had to guess, it's a few different components. There's probably just a good percentage of singing voice textures that I do not like to begin with, further compounded by singing in specific tones/notes I don't like, and again by certain accents/inflections...and most importantly, what is valued vs. what is not must have changed over time. The fact that I can enjoyably listen to a good amount of 80s j-pop (as well as a decent amount of 90s j-pop) and yet as soon as we get into the 2000s and most certainly anything beyond that tells me there are probably era-specific traits and tendencies in how vocalists were expected/trained to sing that have changed over time and which I can no longer agree with. The same can apply to elsewhere - modern American pop and rock are death, but pre-70s and 60s stuff I suddenly start liking a bit more and can listen to. Even stuff I explicitly don't like...such as the Beatles and stuff from around that era, I usually never have a reaction to anything from that era like I do for something from Love Live or American country/pop, etc. - at worst, it's usually a "meh, this is mediocre/I don't care for this" kind of reaction. Maybe I just like simpler voices that stay within a very certain range? I'm not sure, . There's a site called Radio Garden where you can tune in to like literally (tens of?) thousands of different radio stations across the globe, and I sometimes use it just to listen to something random, and I surprise myself sometimes with what I find perfectly fine acceptable - 1920s jazz, 50s rock and roll, random formative electronic stuff from like the 70s and 80s, ancient-sounding folk stuff both American and Mexican, Native American powwow music...all that stuff's usually fine with me, but then I get into genres and eras within them and it's like literally everything is just the worst, . P.S. Pft, cellophane is perfectly fine - it's paper, particularly stuff like napkins or kleenexes, that's death, .

Wow! I almost clawed out both my eyes and ears watching that - a rare two-for-one, thanks! Unfortunately, I do believe this confirms that I won't be watching Love Live! any time soon...well, ever, actually, .

man, screw fireworks

Just for today: (...RIP Puerto Rico, Guam, U.S. Virgin Isles, et al.)

Maybe I'm crazy, but it almost seems like the Bucks were way less dysfunctional the two games Giannis was out... Maybe not really worth considering, though - I similarly remember that the games Davante Adams was out for the Packers the two past NFL seasons (6 games), the Packers' offense looked bizarrely amazing and better than ever without him - might just be a matter of shaking things up and trying new things, or the opposing team not being prepared against a new-look kind of team, or players knowing they absolutely have to step up and play their absolute best (and rising to the occasion) in order for them to win, I'm not sure. It's just weird that all of the role players and guys that have been struggling all playoffs (mainly Jrue Holiday and Brook Lopez) have looked like real guys again all of a sudden.

Bucks are the first team to ever win both the Eastern Conference and the Western Conference - surprised that didn't happen already. Cool. I have no idea who're going to win the Finals.

Jojo's Bizarre Adventure (1993), episode 3, some quick bulletin points: Wacky episode, was good. I can only assume I'm liking this a lot more because Satoshi Kon had a big hand in writing it, . I did see some different kinds of angles and some nice complex movements in the trailer, but I'm the pickiest bastard alive about aesthetic so it kind of all goes to waste on me since all the anime art styles I like are overwhelmingly from the 80s and 90s (and unfortunately I have less than zero appreciation for 3D stuff), . Just a note: an average Sakura episode is still great, . Based on what you and the consensus on my movie site says re: how much better the second movie is vs. the first movie, the second movie should be roughly my favorite or second favorite movie of all time at worst - let's see how that turns out!

I completely forgot that lady existed up until you just mentioned her. Whoops. Haven't watched any of the new Evangelion stuff, didn't really plan on doing so unless someone gave me a good reason. I have no idea what the reception towards them has even been thus far.

Got halfway through that one myself. Was neat, but I had kind of suddenly come to the realization that I just wasn't into the narrative, and for a narrative-driven game (albeit with puzzles and environments better than your typical walking simulator), it just doesn't make sense to keep playing, so I never picked it up again, .

Sorry, I actually only know the one true temperature scale, Kelvin. 15 C is actually 288 Kelvin, . That definitely tracks with Meiling's terrible weakness to cold!