Welcome to another episode of CC: Anime, Capsule Computers Anime Podcast! In our thirty fourth episode, the CC: Anime crew discuss the latest anime and manga news, Persona 4, Danganronpa, anime games of the PS Vita in general, the upcoming Kill La Kill dub and the number of episodes per release on the decline.
Cast: Kane Bugeja, Travis Bruno and Frank Inglese.
We hope you enjoy CC: Anime Episode 34, be sure to let us know what you think.
Prof. Dr. Hao Li is a true innovator within the industry, in fact, he was named in the ‘C-Suite Quaterly NextGen 10: Innovators under 40’ and the ‘World’s top 35 innovators under 35’ by MIT Technology Review! Li’s contributions have affected multiple fields under the computer science umbrella, with leading visual effects studios and radiation therapy manufacturers alike benefiting from his work. The former Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) Research Lead and current Assistant Professor, computer science department at University of Southern California (USC), made the trip to Sydney for a Vivid Ideas talk ‘On the Future of Digital Characters’.
As was to be expected, the large majority of attendees had ties to 3D, Animation or related specialties. Li began with an overview of the visual character creation process, which many gamers will be familiar with. Speaking on the amazing fidelity we are able to achieve in presenting lifelike models today, Li turned to EA DICE’s Frostbite 3 Engine, as showcased in Battlefield 4. But what Li has been attempting to do – and is making strides in – is facilitate the creation of digital content much faster and efficiently, ideally to the point of being virtually automatic. It’s actually a reality that is well-nigh, as opposed to being a 10 year goal. We’ve been privy to the processes of developers and filmmakers who utilise multi-view stereo to obtain a fully 3D data-set and recreation of a model. However, with those methods comes limitation, not the least of which are money-related. Microsoft took the first step towards democratizing this sort of technology with the release of the Kinect as a standalone peripheral for Windows back in February, 2011. The appropriation of real-time depth sensors for varied purposes, particularly since the Kinect’s launch, has been widely documented, although Li sees the implementation of such similar quality, but much more compact scanners in our laptops, tablets and even smartphones in the very near future.
Before that day comes to pass, we must look at the steps being taken in order to get there. You may have noticed in the header image (and promotional ads) that Li is holding a 3D printed model of himself. While the cost of buying a 3D printer is extremely high, although many companies are trying to change that, what Li is actually demonstrating is the user’s ability to capture the necessary data to enable such physical recreations, simply by using the Kinect or similar hardware. The problems with this approach are the inconveniences of capturing every side of the subject, the inconsistency of lighting and shading due to the subject’s movements and a certain quality ceiling. An effective model can be stitched together from these rigid scans nonetheless, but the digital uses for this information is most intriguing. In a collaboration with USC’s Institute for Creative Technologies (ICT), a software was developed that allows the automatic rigging (adding a skeleton) of a mesh made from that 3D data, which has clear implications for 3D animation pipelines.
Looking at film practices, James Cameron and his crew, while innovating on new technologies, still had to rely on marker-point motion-capture for Avatar, which is entirely non-ideal considering the added manual labor required to correct and animate nuances and in-between movements of the face where there are no markers. And before ILM introduced a new motion-capture suit/technology able to accurately capture motion outside, filmmakers could forget any ideas involving outdoor shoots. Li proceeded to present footage showing ILM tests predating the Kinect, whereby a stream of significantly higher-resolution data could be captured within a certain space using two machine-vision cameras and a video projector. But, the data was raw, unstructured and meaningless at that stage. This leads into Li’s main focuses in his research and experimentation: how to extract low-level information from raw data via correspondences, and how to analyse and detect semantics.
The talk becomes quite technical and, truly, the best way to understand all the details and processes is with visual aids. For those who were unable to attend, or simply unaware of the opportunity, Li’s own website is a fantastic resource, where he is generous in offering video links to numerous paper videos, succinct demonstrations, as well as the almost two-dozen journal and conference papers he has written, a free geometry processing application for Mac called BeNTO 3D, and even some older lecture materials. For those with a decided interest in digitizing the real world, or the applications of such technology in medicine, military (counter-terrorism in particular), SFX and other fields, you should really check it out at hao.li. Besides a sneak peek of a top secret prototype for effectively dealing with occlusion whilst maintaining consistent, unconstrained and high-quality facial performance capture, you’ll see practically everything we saw (sorry!). Gamers, don’t be surprised if he has a hand in bringing life-like hair, garment and facial performance capture to that upcoming next-gen game that will undoubtedly impress you beyond words.
Soon, taking a complete 3D image of yourself at the press of a button will be reality. Oh, and take one quick glance at his resume for instant inferiority syndrome…what have we done with our lives?!
It was only a few weeks ago that the brand-new “Persona 4″ anime series “The Golden Animation” was announced and today the official site has released the Japanese air date for the show. It has been listed to begin its broadcast on the 10th of July and will run as a part of the Summer anime season which is actually just around the corner.
The new series will detail the events of the recent remake “Persona 4 Golden” which added a new character to the story, a girl named Marie, as well as a great deal more insight into the TV World which took the main focus of the game. The cast of the original “Persona 4” anime will reprise their roles as their respective characters for “The Golden Animation” alongside Kana Hanazawa as the newly introduced Marie.
You may know Kana Hanazawa from her roles in “Psycho-Pass”, “Sket Dance”, “Zetman”, etc. The new “Persona 4” anime is just around the corner but unfortunately, as of right now, no digital distributors have picked up the license to it. Hopefully we’ll heard news of something like that soon.
It’s something we’ve been waiting for ever since “Persona 4 Arena Ultimax” was first announced and today ATLUS have finally gifted us with it; the official box art image of the game. Now as far as cover image designs go…this one would have to be the most epic of any I’ve seen up until this point of my life.
If you’ve yet to click the image above and check out the full picture than let me pose this question to you: Have you ever wanted to see a super sexy, super alpha, super manly and all around badass image of Persona 4 protagonist Yu Narukami? Well even if the answer is “no” it’s too bad because that’s exactly what we’ve been given.
NOW go and check the image above. I feel as though you’ll be pleasantly surprised. In all seriousness; the cover art is actually really cool and honestly suits the overall vibe of “Persona 4”. The game is set for a release on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in Japan on the 28th of August this year and for the West some time after that.
Don’t worry too much though, E3 is only a day away and ATLUS have already announced that “Persona 4 Arena Ultimax” will be one of the games they’ll be showcasing this year so expect to see more from it very soon!
Welcome, friends, to week ten/episode ten of the ongoing “Stardust Crusaders” anime impression series. Before we begin I have to issue quite a real “spoiler alert”. Episode ten seems to be where the story truly begins, with the majority of it being very serious rather than goofy which we all know is what “JJBA” likes to do.
“The Emperor And The Hanged Man Part 1”, unlike the episodes we’ve seen in the past, has a great deal of substance and a level of gravitas the likes of which we’ve never seen before. It is the beginning of a new sub-arc in the storyline and features a scene made to impact the audience so I ask that you go and watch the episode before reading my thoughts on it. You wouldn’t want to ruin it for yourself.
– Culture Shock –
Culture Shock
Jotaro, Joseph, Kakyoin, Avdul and Polnareff finally make it to Calcutta. The odd thing about it is most likely that they weren’t attacked along the way which proves that locomotive travel is the safest option if you’re ever being hunted. I’m not sure how accurate “Stardust Crusaders” is when it comes to it’s portrayal of other countries but as soon as the group arrive they’re swarmed with people looking to sell to them or steal from them, either way all they wanted was some foreign cash which may or may not be true of Calcutta. I’ve never been so I can’t comment.
They escape to a local restaurant for some peace, quiet and possibly some traditional Indian food to calm their nerves. The strange thing about the restaurant; Jotaro openly likes it…possibly the weirdest thing to have happened in this series as of this episode. Creeped out by a happy Jotaro, Polnareff decides to head to the bathroom to powder his nose or “take a crap” as some cultures say but there he finds nothing but trouble as he discovers a pig trying to escape through the bottom of the toilet bowl.
It’s a whole thing, better you watch the episode to see how truly strange this particular scene was. I don’t know whether or not Indian toilets are built over pig pens as a “waste management” strategy and, to be honest, I don’t think want to know. Unfortunately that’s not the most shocking thing Polnareff comes across in the toilet. While washing up in the basin he happens to catch something in the reflection of the mirror that makes his spine tingle.
– Reflections –
Reflections
Looking back at the window, he sees nothing. Maybe his head isn’t quite in the right place right now. Turning back around to wash up, he notices the strange figure again but it’s moving, no, climbing in through the window! Glancing back once again, he sees nothing but he needs to make a move, his life has been too dangerous up until this point to do nothing, something I was very impressed was written into this scene. He remembers Jotaro talking about a mirror-based “Stand” and quickly smashes the one above the basin. He runs back out to the table where he informs the rest of the group who look at him oddly despite being aware of the situation at hand.
Despite the silly start to the episode, the coming scenes were dealt with by the characters somewhat realistically which restores my faith in the writing of the series. I love the character of Jotaro but, for the most part, this series has just been episode after episode of nonsense and I was actually starting to get sick of it. Episode ten, this episode, brought me back. It gave me faith that this can be better than it’s predecessor. Polnareff knows, thanks to Rubber Soul from last week’s episode, that the man who killed his sister is the user of “Hanged Man”; a “Stand” only visible in reflections.
He dashes out of the restaurant in a panic, ready to find the man behind the murder but the streets are far too crowded. You could feel Polnareff’s heart rate start to build as he looked around for some sort of sign. Between the music and the high-grade animation, this seen was very compelling; a “Stardust Crusaders” character showing the slightest bit of emotion! We hadn’t seen this since Joseph’s lashing out all the way back in episode two. Regardless, it was quite the sight and a very good start to the impactful second half of the episode.
– Revenge: A Truly Selfish Act –
Revenge: A Truly Selfish Act
Polnareff sets out to go on a search for the man with the two right arms alone but the rest of the group, especially Avdul, greatly disagrees with his plan. The two get into a fairly heated argument when Avdul calls Polnareff out for being selfish after he exclaims that he’s only travelled with the group to fin the killer of his sister.
It’s understandable as to why Polnareff is feeling this way; he’s scared, he’s angry, he’s got a lot of pent up rage he needs to unload on “Hanged Man” and the one that is in his face right now is Avdul so he gets the brunt of it. Each of the two make fairly good points for both their sides and Avduls devotion to his new friends is clear when he explains that he doesn’t want Polnareff to fall in battle against this enemy, that it is safer to go as a team and that this is not the right way to go about it but Polnareff just wont listen.
Instead, he lashes out against the mystic, bringing up the time he ran away from DIO in fear rather than staying to fight. It’s amazing how “real” this scene got, I finally felt a sense of empathy while watching “Stardust Crusaders” and I can only assume the other watcher felt the same. More harsh words are thrown around and Polnareff storms off, hell bent on destroying the man who took his sister from him.
– The Emperor And The Hanged Man –
The Emperor And The Hanged Man
The audience is met with the sight of a beautiful sunset over an unnamed desert as a clearly foreign man and a local woman ride across the horizon on an elephant, which was somewhat of natural occurrence in India at the time. The man and woman express their love to each other though it is clear the man is simply saying what the woman wants to hear. After practically quoting a Bon Jovi song, the man rides off leaving the woman behind to wonder what her life could have been like if this mysterious man would have married her. The man, on the other hand, is thinking everything but that as he comes across a fellow drifter and the man you will all soon know as Centerfold.
Hol Horse (the man on the elephant) and Centerfold (the man with the two right hands) chat like friends, indicating they’ve met in the past and have probably hung out like at least a hundred times. A cobra attacks them at the perfect moment, allowing them both to show off their “Stand” abilities while also looking super cool. The two then decide to head off into Calcutta to finally do what the rest of DIO’s men couldn’t; kill the Joestars…and their friends.
– Something He Couldn’t See Coming –
Something He Couldn’t See Coming
Polnareff begins his search for the killer by asking locals about a man with two right hands but comes up dry until, well…until it starts to rain. No pun intended. With the short downpour comes the two men who will send the crew into a state of shock no culture could even get close to. We’re shown a glimpse of two people walking into town but by the time Polnareff turns around to look we’re met solely with Hol Horse basking in the glow of the sun who’s just wiped away the rain. Polnareff questions him, once again asking abou the man with the two right hands but this time with a little more aggression in his voice.
The two quickly get to a place of hostility; Hol Horse knows who Polnareff is and he knows he’s to be killed, Polnareff on the other hand…he’s suspectful but not fully aware of just who Hol Horse’s partner is. “The gun is mightier than the sword” exclaims Hol Horse in an attempt to bait Polnareff who’s already been separated from the group. Polnareff bites, he sends “Silver Chariot” to attack Hol Horse as the cowboy shoots at him. “Silver Chariot” seems fast enough to block a speeding bullet but now when that bullet can be manipulated to reach a target no matter what. The round zooms past “Silver Chariot” and heads straight for Polnareff who is saved by Avdul tackling him out of the way.
The bullet curves upwards and seemingly well out of lethal range. Avdul and Polnareff then have a “heart-to-heart” while we watch as the other group members scour the city to find the fight. Avdul confronts Hol Horse, ready to do battle alongside Polnareff who isn’t strong enough to do it on his own…big mistake. Using the puddle as a reflective surface, Centerfold dispatches “Hanged Man” and pierces Avduls back which takes diverts his attention as the bullet from earlier speeds back around through the air and hits Avdul right between the eyes. His death is instant and rocks Polnareff who watched as the whole thing happened.
This episode, even though it was always just a little different, took one hell of a turn with the death of Avdul. Kakyoin reaches the fight too late and is left only with the Avdul’s dying image. He runs to the body and even makes reference to a typical Shonen trope but the man is gone. He breaks down, unable to fully comprehend what just happened. Polnareff, on the other hand, sticks to his “tough guy” facade and blams Avdul for getting himself killed but his true emotions overwhelm him and the episode ends with Polnareff in tears. Not much more can be said about this episode apart from that it was the best we’ve seen so far. It was full of emotion, great animation and gravitas. It has restored my faith in the series but unfortunately it was done through the death of a main character.
Check out the “JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders” anime on Crunchyroll and check out more episode impressions HERE.
It has been eight years since “Dragon Quest VIII” was originally released in Europe and Australia on the PlayStation 2. Eight years! It isn’t ancient but it’s still quite old for a video game. Now, all these years later, Square Enix have decided that it is time to give the old boy another run around the park, this time on mobile devices.
“Dragon Quest” is a video game franchise that has been around for a very long time and, in that time, has built up one hell of a fan base so there will always be gamers around the world with room in their hearts for more “Dragon Quest” and I don’t think this mobile release for “VIII” has come at a better time. Thanks to Square Enix I’ve been given the chance to partake in a wonderful journey, the likes of which I’ll hopefully remember for the rest of my gaming life.
Story
“Dragon Quest VIII” has players take the role of a young warrior (of which you name whatever it is you please) who no longer has a kingdom to belong to and is now working as a “mercenary” of sorts. The Hero travels with fellow mercenary Yangus and their employer who is also accompanied by his granddaughter. Trode (the employer) and his granddaughter Medea have both been transformed – one into a troll and the other into a white horse – by a benevolent being called Dhoulmagus.
The quartet now travel the land, searching for Dhoulmagus in an attempt to defeat him, stop whatever evil plans he has for the future and return the two former-royals back into humans. As you progress through the game, you meet others who have vendettas against Dhoulmahgus and you also learn more about yourself, the main character. “Dragon Quest VIII” hosts a story that seems kind of boring or generic but it just works to prove that any story type can be made interesting with good writing.
Traveling the land searching for a bad guy is nothing new, it actually seems somewhat boring in a day and age where video game stories are so diverse and outside of the box but “Dragon Quest VIII’s” story is anything but boring, with interesting characters and wondrous settings it’s hard to feel “bored” with the game. Another thing that stops it from being simply basic is that the story indeed unfolds while playing, you’re not just searching for an antagonist, you’re learning about yourself and the land as well as you fellow fighters. “Dragon Quest VIII” takes “simple” and makes it into something “great” and that’s honestly the best way to describe the story.
Gameplay
If you’ve ever played a “Dragon Quest” series title than you’ll already be aware of how “Dragon Quest VIII” plays but for those who don’t; it’s basically your “typical” RPG/adventure game that features a menu-based combat system as well as leveling mechanics and an extensive overworld. Players will travel from town to town, dungeon to dungeon, environment to environment, randomly encountering enemies, leveling up, earning weapons and armour, etc. I say “typical” not as a negative but simply as a descriptive term. “Dragon Quest” is quite traditional and it’s obvious.
That’s not to say it is dated though…it’s fantastic. “Dragon Quest VIII”, after playing, you’ll realize has inspired a great deal of newer RPG titles. In fact, the entire “Dragon Quest” series was inspired and has inspired the world of RPG/adventure games. It has nice level and upgrade system, experience from battles levels your characters up and rewards you with “skill points” which you can then attach to certain combat types. If you rather your character use swords than you can boost up the sword style unlocking certain sword-specific boosts and attacks for that particular character.
Some characters can use magic, others a strictly physical but, in the end, it’s up to you how exactly they’ll work in battle which is great! Transition from the overworld into an actual battle is fast and fluid with no visible lag time due to the struggle of a quick load. What I really enjoy about the way “Dragon Quest VIII” is played is that it is seemingly basic but has a lot to be discovered, uncovered and mastered to be able to fully appreciate it. It’s simple enough that you don’t put off actually jumping in to play the game but it is extensive enough that you can sit there for hours on end and just immerse yourself in it.
Visuals
To say that I’m “impressed” with the visual quality of “Dragon Quest VIII”…would be an understatement. I was very much taken back by how good the game looked. Now, obviously it wasn’t perfect; not only is it an older title so it is easy to see how dated it is but it has now been rereleased for mobile devices which, if you are a part of this generation, you’d know don’t have the best video game capabilities…though, they’re getting there and “Dragon Quest VIII” makes that quite obvious. I happen to be a huge fan of Akira Toriyama, creator of the legendary “Dragon Ball” series and one of the lead character/monster designers for the “Dragon Quest” series.
He’s got one hell of a distinct art style and an imagination wild enough to come up with some of the oddest and most brilliant enemies I’ve ever seen. I was quite disappointed at the visual style of text boxes throughout the game. It having a menu-based battle system, it’s crucial that the design of those particular menus are both overall appealing and suite the game. That’s something the mobile version of “Dragon Quest VIII” does not do, at least, to a high standard. Text boxes are stark, to be blunt, and are generally boring to look at. They also don’t entirely match a fantasy RPG like “Dragon Quest” and it’s quite obvious.
The overworld is extremely large and features some nice landmarks and some beautiful world views but I found that sometimes it looked a little…”bare”, and I think it was simply because, most of the time, you were the only one around with the occasional appearance of a visible enemy or an NPC. For the most part, the animation was at a very high caliber. I constantly found myself surprised at how “real” certain characters moved or reacted to certain things but it was also obvious that the game is definitely dated in some places above others. All in all, it still looked very impressive.
Audio
“Dragon Quest VIII” being a game entirely absent of voice acting, it is obvious that it relies on its musical soundtrack to add to the game what the addition of voice tracks would. The original PlayStation 2 release of the game had what a lot of people say is a fantastic voice cast, unfortunately mobile hardware isn’t as “hardcore” as the PS2 so certain things had to be cut out of the game and one of those things just so happens to be the voice acting. Thankfully the game has a brilliant soundtrack. One of the most appealing things about the “Dragon Quest” series is that it constantly shifts between light and dark tones.
This is thanks to many things; the story the aesthetics, etc, what matters the most is that the soundtrack transitions perfectly alongside the rest. The soundtrack is almost entirely populated by orchestral compositions both light-hearted and ominous depending on the situation and setting. I’d compare it, auditorally, that to “The Legend Of Zelda”; it’s soundtrack somehow makes you feel so warm but can rip that from you in the span of an environment transition, raising tension levels and getting you ready for what comes next. I would have been nice to have had some voice acting simply because it’s a dialogue-heavy game and it would have just broken up the monotony of constantly reading text.
Overall
It’s clear as to why the “Dragon Quest” series is such a celebrated one and it’s clear as to why “Dragon Quest VIII” is described as one of the greatest. Yes, its transition from the PlayStation 2 onto mobile device does have the game lose certain things in the process that make it less than desirable for old-school fans but for those of you out there who never played the original release, this may just be your chance to get in on something great. With nothing to compare it to, “Dragon Quest VIII” for mobile devices is an almost perfect release. It brings the brilliance of a well-made JRPG to a platform that, for the most part, is populated by mostly casual games.
Now it lacks certain things that make it “imperfect” but that doesnt even get close to making it a bad game. It has withstood the test of time and even with certain things cut out of it due to hardware limitations it still stands as one hell of a good JRPG. For twenty dollars it’s hard to pass up. It’s a game I’ve been playing alongside next gen titles and, if I’m to be brutally honest, it does a better job at being a video game than one that is “supposedly” part of the newest generation.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Overview A detective hot on the trail of a serial killer is nothing new but it can be something that, if done properly, will create an interesting enough story to pull in consumers. Now make that detective someone who has recently been killed and must try to find the truth about his killer and you have a great sounding concept. As such when Murdered: Soul Suspect was first announced, it garnered quite a bit of attention. However now that the game has been released, does Murdered: Soul Suspect stand any chance of being memorable?
Story Ronan O’Connor hasn’t had an easy life. With a body full of tattoos reminding him of his crimes as well as his triumphs in life, Ronan’s after life isn’t going to be any easier. A few years after his wife passed away, Ronan is on the case of a serial killer, named the Bell Killer due to a symbol left behind at every crime scene has been leaving a trail of bodies around Salem, Massachusetts.
We join Ronan as he is flying out a fourth story window and landing on the pavement, with a masked figure standing above. Despite feeling a little worse for wear, Ronan stands up and tries to persue this attacker only to find that the door won’t open anymore and worse yet, he seems to have left his body entirely. Despite trying to revive himself, the killer approaches Ronan’s body and pumps seven rounds into the body, finishing the job and turning Ronan into a corpse/ghost.
Unfortunately for him, despite seeing his dead wife in the afterlife, he cannot join her until he resolves some unfinished business which just so happens to be the identity of his killer. As such players must try to solve the case of the Bell Killer despite not being able to interact with the corporeal world. To do this he soon finds himself a plucky side-kick/medium who is willing to help him since her motivations follow his own.
As such, players embark through a number of areas, investigating not only their own murder scene, but past areas and new ones as well to try and find the truth over the course of a ten or so hour long game that starts to overstay its welcome three quarters of the way through. Sure the story is interesting in its own, and the fact that Salem is thriving with myths and history, especially the supernatural kind of history, helps add some flavor to the story.
That being said, Ronan is about as bland of a character as one can find, with only your younger assistant providing some real feeling into the story. The only shocking revelations come near the end of the game as the story picks up pace, though it doesn’t help that players will probably already realize the truth long before that point which is a real problem for a game that is as plodding and methodical as Murdered: Soul Suspect is.
Gameplay Since players are now a ghost who must solve their murder, the first thing they will do is investigate their own death scene where a number of the gameplay mechanics are introduced. Since Ronan is dead, he cannot directly interact with pieces of evidence but because of his situation the player is able to glean additional information that normal detectives wouldn’t be able to since he now has the ability to possess people.
This possession mechanic allows the player to listen in on their thoughts or influence them into remembering something specific to the crime. This is a useful tool to gather clues since not everything can be found simply laying around. Once you finish gathering as many clues as you need, sometimes all you need is two or three out of ten clues to actually complete an investigation, you will need to determine what happened there or where the killer will be going next. These moments take a bit of thought but generally are very easy to put together, then again even if you mess up there is no punishment as the game will let you try again and again until you manage to get it right.
By traveling from place to place players will travel through the streets of Salem where they will see a number of other ghosts, some of which have stories to tell and even little side-quests that involve discovering something that will help them move on. There are also a large number of collectibles littered throughout each area, ranging from certain themed items that, once they are all gathered, reveal a dark story about the place the player is currently exploring, or tidbits of information about everything under the sun.
This gives players a lot of incentive to look around and since the player an revisit areas as much as they want before the “point of no return” it is a decent way to pad the game’s length but the developers really needed to reign it in a little bit because there is just so much to find at times that it begins to feel like a real chore, since outside of a few fun moments that involve possessing and controlling a cat, the game plays the exact same throughout.
Speaking of chores, since simply exploring the ghostly world without any confrontation apparently was something that never crossed the developers mind, there are now “Demons” that have lost their reason for moving on and now survive by eating the souls of other ghosts. When demons are in the area, they can be avoided by jumping between and hiding in ghostial residue as being seen by a demon results in the player either being “killed” or in a game of hide and seek. The only way to eliminate a demon is to come at it from behind and pull off a quick time event. These demons are no major threat, aren’t even remotely scary, and serve as nothing more than a speed bump that forces the player to deal with the game’s broken hiding mechanics and even if you do “die” you will just start right back at a checkpoint.
Speaking of broken again, there are numerous areas in Murdered: Soul Suspect where the game simply refuses to work properly. Whether it involves interacting with a specific object, human beings clipping through themselves, or getting a cut-scene to properly load, Murdered: Soul Suspect is a mess. On more than one occasion in the game I needed to restart from checkpoint numerous times because a cutscene would fail to load properly and leave me wandering around with no way to progress the story.
Visuals & Audio As you explore Salem there is an interesting blend between the real world and the ghostly realm. There are ghostly blue objects from years gone by mixed in with the reality of Salem and players are able to pass through most real objects just like humans not even acknowledge ghostly areas. There is also a creepy theme that the game has going for it when it comes to specters standing in the distance, often more unsettling than anything else in the game.
As for everything else, the character designs and look of the game are pretty much what one would expect for a game like this. The voice work and everything else isn’t anything to write home about either. Ronan has your stereotypical gruff sounding voice while the rest of the cast is suitable, but hardly impressive.
Overall Murdered: Soul Suspect is a game that tells an intriguing story with a number of interesting side-stories mixed in to help add some flavor to the game, but it unfortunately is bogged down by poor gameplay mechanics, too much padding that begins to feel unnecessary, and a main character that fittingly has as much personality as a corpse. Murdered: Soul Suspect is a game that has its moments but actually making it to those moments and finishing the story is something that many will not want to deal with.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Overview Vampires are everywhere in the world despite not actually existing. There have been numerous vampire novels and movies and Japan has a certain fixation with creating manga series that either revolve around vampires or have some form of vampire in the plot. As such it takes some effort to stand out from the rest and now that Seraph of the End: Vampire Reign Volume 1 has been released by Viz Media, does this first volume do enough to make this series stand out?
Story Four years ago sudden virus swept across the world killing everyone over the age of thirteen. As this virus kills every adult on the planet, a mysterious vampiric force appears out of nowhere offering the surviving children a place to stay if they simply obey their orders. Because of this, the children staying at an orphanage end up surrendering themselves to the vampires.
Of these children the recently orphaned Yuichiro Hyakuya had just joined their ranks and became friends with another boy Mikaela. Now four years later Yuichiro and the rest of the children are living in an underground vampire base where they live as something akin to walking cattle for vampires who drain some of their blood every day. While some of the children seem fine with this life, Yuichiro has always been outspoken about escaping and killing every vampire in the world.
With the help of his foster-brother Mikaela the chance to escape from the base arrives, but although Yuichiro and the rest nearly make it out, the young Yuichiro witnesses a horrible sight when everyone he cares about is torn apart by a vampire lord. Only through Mikaela’s sacrifice is Yuichiro able to make it out alive and into the real world which he is shocked to see is still standing. Once outside an elite fighting force known as the Moon Demon Company comes across the boy and offer to train him so he can join their ranks.
After another four year time gap, Yuichiro is still haunted by the memory of his foster-family’s slaughter and has issues obeying orders and working with a team. When his unit is attacked by a demon, he again refuses to obey orders and despite slaying the creature in one stroke, Yuichiro is suspended from the organization and forced to attend a civilian school where he soon finds himself monitored by another member of the Moon Demon Company. This monitor, a teenage looking girl named Shinoa, informs Yuichiro that until he learns to work with others he will not be accepted into the company and this school life is a way to teach him about cooperation.
Considering this is the first volume of the series, Seraph of the End leaves a lot on the table as far as far as development, world building, and even character progression go. This is to be expected a bit since this volume only covers the first three chapters of the manga but at this time all we have learned very few actual details about the world other than the fact that vampires can only be slain by people who have been given a “Cursed Gear,” which is a weapon possessed by a demon that very few humans can withstand.
It also doesn’t help that, while his attitude is understandable due to the traumas he suffered early in life, Yuichiro’s personality is as typical as one comes as he is arrogant, generally unfriendly towards others, thinks with his fists instead of his brain, and treated like a joke by those around him. In fact the only likable character introduced so far is Shinoa as her sharp tongue when dealing with Yuichiro is one of the highlights of the volume alongside the few short action sequences and how dark Yuichiro’s past is presented at the start of the volume.
Artwork The artwork in Seraph of the End is handled by Yamato Yamamoto who spent a long time doing the artwork for the manga Kure-nai. One of the first things that stands out in the volume is how nicely detailed the various articles of clothing are in the series. From the vampire lord to the members of the Moon Demon Company, their outfits are superb looking and if the quick glance at a full “Cursed Gear” is anything to go by, their weaponry will be just as impressive.
As for the characters themselves, there are some nice designs but very few of them actually stand out at this point, with Yuichiro having a standard protagonist appearance being a bigger disappointment. One thing that is worth noting is that I am a big fan of the way the artist draws each characters’ eyes as well as how their facial expressions are far from outlandish and help convey a characters feelings properly without the need for exaggeration.
Extra Content With the release of Volume 1, Viz Media is including a ‘Mini-Poster’ that is a little under two manga sized pages in length. This poster features art of Yuichiro, Shinoa, and Yoichi, with all three of them on the school roof wearing their uniforms and Shinoa being the central focus. Along with this poster the end of the volume includes terminology explanations, a few chibi character introductions and an afterward by Takaya Kagami, followed by two 4-koma joke strips.
Overall Seraph of the End: Vampire Reign Volume 1 starts out dark as it explains the events that led to the current situation in the world as well as Yuichiro’s past but quickly begins to shift tones towards a school setting, albeit one hiding a dark secret that is revealed right in the first volume. With a twist on the final page of Volume 1 and Yuichiro already making progress on his goal, it will be interesting to see how things will progress from here on out, even if Yuichiro himself seems like an extremely cookie-cutter protagonist at the moment.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Overview
Coming of age films are kind of special in many ways, as they bring the viewer – no matter how old, back to much simpler times when new experiences were exciting and the world still fresh. Let Me Out falls right into the genre, featuring a group of young art students who are trying to make a film, lead by a director who knows it all, but still knows nothing. Already grabbing a ton of praise overseas, does the Korean flick Let Me Out translate well, or is it weighted down by its own cast? Let’s find out.
Story
Mu-young is ready to finally graduate film school, but has yet to make a film. With so little experience, you’d think our geeky protagonist of Let Me Out would be a bit humble, but much like modern society as a whole, this chap would rather critique others about their work than get his own feet wet. After a bit of force due to a pending graduation, Mu-young pulls it together and starts filming a zombie melodrama, titled “Let Me Out”. He has the cast, the crew – and everything else he needs to succeed, but his inflated ego and need for perfection continually block his entire team of friends from finishing the flick, along with a great deal of accidents and hiccups that all filmmakers run into in the industry.
The concept of Let Me Out is actually clever, as it gives us a look into what young filmmakers have to deal with when they don’t have a monster budget and are going off passion alone. So many people think they can do better when they watch a film, and Let Me Out acts as a bit of a commentary on the subject (ironic we’re reviewing it, isn’t it?). Its not as easy as getting some friends together with a camera. Also, you can’t let your passion and pride stand in the way, and sometimes working with friends is the worst way to start as emotions run high during long nights and hard days on the set. These lessons shine through clearly with this feature, but even though the messages are clear, the characters themselves come off as a bit lacking.
Mu-young is supposed to be arrogant. This is a kid who thinks he knows it all and during the film, constantly quotes great directors from all over the world as he tries to shoot his own masterpiece. I get that, but this is also a coming of age film, and I just couldn’t get behind his character very much as he is truly the “ass-clown” that others brand him as. Sure, the supporting cast are great. Ah-young is a quiet yet eager female lead for the student film, and as the “best friend”, Yong-woon’s attempts at producing bring a lot of humor to what would have been a dry story otherwise. That said, your lead can be the most arrogant and terrible person in the world, but he has to be likable. Mu-young has so many chances to show some heart, but the constant bickering and self pity just paint him as a miserable wannabe director who never gets over himself. There is some growth that we get to see this whole cast experience, including Mu-young, but it comes at nearly the end of the film, and that stigma is still stuck to our protagonist when the credits begin to roll.
The writing is actually strong, as in many ways, that is why I have such a distaste for the main lead. I tried to think of a good number of films that are similar after finishing Let Me Out, yet I couldn’t quite peg anything right off-hand, meaning that the viewer can at least look forward to watching a film about youth without having to deal with the whole immature storylines that plague theaters yearly. Let Me Out fails at making its lead likable, yet is better for it in some ways as it feels real. Think about your friends who are like Mu-young. How many people do you know that judge everything blindly? These are people that go to forums after seeing a trailer, whining about the smallest detail before they even see the full picture. This isn’t some story about “lets get laid” or “we got to party”, its a story about how having an ego and too much pride can make you lose everything you cherish, including your dreams. While they definitely put it on a bit too thick with Mu-young, I at least understand why – growth or not.
Visuals and Audio
As far as the whole atmosphere for Let Me Out goes, I would say that while you can tell there was a budget, the studio that made the film about making a film did a great job at capturing the feel of what it would be like to be on the set of a cheap zombie film. The cast all look their parts as well, but sometimes seem a little too high maintenance to be having this much of a struggle with finance. The make-up used definitely shows our cast’s struggles however, as the zombies look laughable – yet still come off as charming in a quirky way. Remember that “Take on Me” video by A-Ha? Well, the storyboard inspired music video also receives a nice little tribute during the opening sequence as well, as the credits for the opening and closing follow suit in giving us a nice little theme to mend this production together.
The music is a bit of a slow, dramatic taste of K-pop and rock, which suits the movie well during some of the softer scenes. The upbeat tunes at the start will get you in the mood for a fun feature and the same tune brings back the mood at the end to bring the film full circle in many ways. Of course the language is Korean, but subtitles are present. This may be a bit of nitpicking, but the grey border around the font was a bit distracting at first, though I did get over it within about five minutes and was able to follow the subtitles fine afterwards.
Overall
Let Me Out is a fun, and rather interesting look at a place we don’t get to see much in cinema, portraying the struggle before the director shouts “action”. While the lead character is an ass, he is meant to be that way and fits in well with a plot full of fake zombies, falling sets, and general disaster. This is the kind of film that gains notoriety not by dollars made, but by garnering a cult following, which I can see happening due to how quick these types of films catch fire among teens who could easily relate with these types of characters. Though it isn’t that Christopher Nolan film that Mu-young so desperately wanted to make, Let Me Out is definitely worth a watch and follows in the footsteps of Napoleon Dynamite, Juno, and Scott Pilgrim as another original independent film with some long legs to stand on.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Japanese rock band ‘Fear and Loathing, in Las Vegas’ are set to perform the second opening theme song for the animeBrynhildr in the Darkness. The opening theme will debut with the 10th episode of the series about Witches created by Government Experimentation with Alien Technologies battling for survival in a brutal world.
The song is titled ‘Virtue and Vice’, an appropriate title for a show about Witches whose virtue are in a vice of sexual tension. ‘Fear and Loathing, in Las Vegas’ have previously performed the first ending theme for Hunter x Hunter called ‘Still Awake’.
You can check out the Brynhildr in the Darkness second opening theme below. Be sure to let us know what you think of it in the comments section.
Looking at film practices, James Cameron and his crew, while innovating on new technologies, still had to rely on marker-point motion-capture for Avatar, which is entirely non-ideal considering the added manual labor required to correct and animate nuances and in-between movements of the face where there are no markers. And before ILM introduced a new motion-capture suit/technology able to accurately capture motion outside, filmmakers could forget any ideas involving outdoor shoots. Li proceeded to present footage showing ILM tests predating the Kinect, whereby a stream of significantly higher-resolution data could be captured within a certain space using two machine-vision cameras and a video projector. But, the data was raw, unstructured and meaningless at that stage. This leads into Li’s main focuses in his research and experimentation: how to extract low-level information from raw data via correspondences, and how to analyse and detect semantics.
