Vehicular racing enthusiasts are sure to be thrilled by the latest gameplay video for the rip-roaring GRID Autosport, the next installment in the critically acclaimed and legendarily loved racing game series called GRID.
The new video focuses in on the racing discipline known as Endurance, a discipline that requires the racer to endure a great ordeal in order to achieve ultimate victory on the racetrack.
You can check out the Endurance video below for yourself to get a look at what its all about. Be sure to let us know what you think of GRID Autosport and this new video in the comments section.
Bandai Namco has announced that three new characters are now available to join the fray in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle. Coming from across the franchise, these newcomers are sure to add more flair to the fighting game…not that it needed it. Joining the roster is:
Cool Ice: Considered as DIO’s most fanatic follower. He cut his own throat to prove his loyalty, which impressed DIO so much that he gave Cool Ice some of his blood, bringing him back to life as a vampire.
Narc Anastasia: A psychotic murderer with a passion for analysing. After “analyzing” the woman he was dating and the person she was cheating on him with, he was sent to Green Dolphin Street Prison. Though a cold-hearted and dangerous individual, he is in love with Jolyne and so he works together with her.
Pannacotta Fugo: A hotheaded gentlemen, and a genius with an IQ of 152. Working under Buccellati, his 152 IQ ensures that he’s the team brain. He’s normally gentlemanly, but his short temper leads him to commit violent acts, eventually leading to him joining the gang. One of his roles is teaching fellow gang-member Narancia. Unable to see the logic in Buccellati’s betrayal of the organization, he leaves the team.
So with these new characters available for $2.95 a piece, head over to the PSN and nab yourself a little more variation for All Star Battle. The game itself will also receive a new update to the Campaign mode to showcase the new fighters and truly enter them into the roster. So check out the screenshots below and get a good look at the three new foes you just might have to face in this All Star Battle. Di Molto!
Overview An Autobot’s work is never done. Having already struggled to save three planets from the clutches of Megatron’s grasp for power, Optimus and his band of loyal soldiers must work to protect yet another planet from the Decepticon menace. You know, in addition to saving the whole entire universe. But, one problem at a time.
Hot Transformer on Transformer action
Story Having already obtained three of the four Planets Keys, things are looking up for the universe…or at least they would be if the Omega Lock was actually in the possession of the Autobots for more than ten seconds. Still hell bent on power and claiming existence as their own, both Megatron and Starscream continue to vie for the Omega Lock, effectively creating a three way battle for the fate of everything…which sets the universe’s destruction at two to one odds. Yippee. Though inherently bad for the inhabitants of everywhere, Starscream’s lust for power is beneficial for the series itself. Ever the deceitful, treacherous lieutenant of the Decepticons, this series marks one of the few times that Starscream actually obtains the power he craves. Of course being the coward that he is this doesn’t help him much, but it’s still interesting to see him semi-succeed for once. It also creates an interesting fluctuation in the Autobot/Decepticon power balance as some of Megatron’s lackeys decide that they’d rather follow the newly empowered Starcream…at least for a while. Pretty much resting on par with the Decepticon leader, Starscream loses as many followers as he gains. Though are you really surprised that Decepticons aren’t the most loyal of followers?
Similar to the series that came before it, Cybertron possesses a number of plotholes and unexplained changes that just serve to add unnecessary confusion to the series. This occurrence is most notable in the representation of characters themselves. Despite following on directly from Energon, characters are entirely different from how we’ve seen them before. Take Wing Saber for example. When we are introduced to him in Energon, he was a rather inexperienced guard who, through the guilt of failing to save his friend, transformed into a powerful ally to Optimus Prime, willing to prove his worth. In Cybertron however, he is an arrogant, disrespectful Autbot with a military record littered with violations and reprimands. He even assaulted Optimus at one point apparently. It just doesn’t make any sense. I mean why bother re-introducing an old ally if you’re just going to slap a new personality on them anyway? And don’t go thinking it’s because they wanted to re-use a design…because they changed that too. When you get right down to it, the name is the only thing that stays the same.
They stand face to…much smaller face
Characters also suffer a rather substantial degree of power degradation over the episodes. Originally presented as a warper capable of keeping even Optimus Prime on his toes, Sideways progressively becomes clumsier as the series continues, to the point that the children use a tripwire to knock him unconscious. Not exactly a terrifying foe. Even the Autobots aren’t exempt from this growth of weakness, as seen most prominently in Optimus’ Sonic Wing Mode. Though introduced as a form capable of swiftly dispatching a Starscream enhanced by the power of the Transformers’ God, the transformation quickly becomes just another source of stock footage. Optimus even uses this immense power at one point to teach a lesson to some meagre Decepticon lackeys. As if it wasn’t bad enough that personalities fluctuated between the series, you can’t even trust power levels anymore. It’s all just one big ball of confusion and heresay.
The series also spends a great deal of time trying to justify why the children are a even necessary facet of the Autobots. Apart from Coby acting as a medic, Lori and Bud really don’t contribute much to the struggle. If anything, Bud is a hindrance to their cause, spending a fair deal of time kidnapped by the enemy. The children even reveal the secret of the Transformers existence (which has somehow been forgotten by the public since Energon) to their parents in what is a rather strange scene. Though the Autobots seem completely fine with the children explaining the situation to their parents, they do not appear to lend credence to the children’s ramblings. Instead of aiding the children’s explanation by providing physical evidence of their existence, they allow the kids to sound crazy for a good 15 minutes, wasting time that they really don’t have. For no apparent reason. Seriously, Landmine was right there, all he had to do was transform and prove their story true. He even has an internal monologue debating whether he should disobey Optimus’ orders and transform, only to have Optimus appear moments later…and transform. It just didn’t make any sense. Even this series explanations of confusing elements are confusing…
Well, that’s one way to use a wrench…
Visuals Following on from Energon, Cybertron utilises CGI to render the titular Transformers. Unfortunately, CGI becomes dated quite quickly, so this series from 2005 does not hold up too well. In an attempt to add detail to the 3D model, the series added an abundance of defining lines to each character…perhaps to many lines. The final designs of the Transformers wind up being visually overwhelming to a degree, a problem that is only exacerbated when you add more characters and movement into scenes. That being said, the limitations of the CGI severely restrict the Transformers’ degree of movement. Regardless of a fight’s intensity, the characters will move at an annoyingly slow pace, reducing the sense of drama greatly. Transformers will also sometimes stand completely still on the battlefield, being struck by attacks that would otherwise be easily avoidable. In a strange way, these limitations serve to support the plotholes in the series, creating situations that really shouldn’t have happened. Though, perhaps in an attempt to rectify the character’s overall lack of physical prowess, Transformers will often become cloaked in an aura of pure power, “Burning Justice” if you will. It’s…interesting, to say the least.
As this series features a much larger cast than Energon, you will undoubtedly get used to the CGI animation to a certain degree after a while. Whilst this has the benefit of making the series more watchable, it can also cause the 2D animation to become jarring at times. After spending a majority of an episode watching the titanic CGI Transformers trudge along with a minimal display of emotion, it can be kind of shocking to see faces that actually react to a situation. Though that too is something you get used to as you continue to watch.
However, there was an element to the series that was a source of great annoyance as the episode count rose. Two words that are the bane of any animation: stock footage. Honestly, we’re halfway through the third instalment of a trilogy, I think it’s safe to assume that we understand how transforming works at this point. However, the series consistently uses the same transformation sequences ad nausem throughout every episode. Even fights suffer from this replication of footage. The most notable of these being Optimus and Megatron having literally the same fight in two back to back episodes. The audio tried to save it by inserting additional lines of dialogue, but to no avail. The damage of stock footage was too great…and annoying.
Optimus doesn’t really understand personal space…
Audio Well there’s no doubt about it, the Cybertron possesses a…unique vocal cast. It would seem that whether Autobot or Decepticon, all Transformers are rather fond of Earth accents, leading to teams that are a melting pot of pseudo nationality. Australian, Scottish, Irish (I think), Southern (like from America)…70s DJ. You name it, they forced it. Though it certainly individualised the Transformers from a vocal standpoint, the accents are a rather strange choice if you’ve been following the series trilogy. Much like the personality changes that plagued the series, characters have adopted new manners of speaking for no apparent reason. Of course these changes serve no real purpose and characters pay no mind to their comrades sudden acquisition of culture. Even from a meta standpoint its strange, as many of the voice actors from Energon are still in this series…just as different characters.
In addition to accents or unusually stoic diction, the Transformers voices are laced with a filter in order to add a robotic sound. Though, much like the accents, the degree to which the filter is utilised varies between Transformers. Some characters are so heavily filtered that it can be difficult to understand them at points, whilst others have the barest metallic twang to their voice. The most prevalent example of vocals taken too far is the brief moment when Jolt speaks as the emissary of Primus. As both characters speak in tandem, the sheer difference between their pitch renders the dialogue quite difficult to decipher.
Extras Not too heavy on the extras, this release features a few character bios for the more prevalent Decepticons from the series. Plus standard anime trailers. I suppose that the final episode of the series could be considered an extra if you really think about it. Though the series officially ends at episode 51, the 52 episode was dubbed in order to round off the show’s full year run. This amounts to a dub of what should have been episode 2 (which was fused with episode 1 in the English run) slapped on after the finale. So don’t be taken aback when after the end the DVD leaps back to Coby repairing Landmine. Just consider it a trip down memory lane.
Bigger is better
Overall Transformers Cybertron Collection Two is, as unfortunate as it may sound, a portion of a series trilogy that failed to reach its full potential. Though the culmination of so much set up and development, this final half of Cybertron just seemed like another collection of routine missions for the Autobots to complete. Sure they kept noting the black hole threatening to consume everything, but there was never a sense of urgency to anything. Not that the Transformers could move fast even if they wanted to. It also didn’t help that both Optimus and Megatron threw around the term “final battle” almost every time they met. By the third time they say it you just expect both to live to fight another day. You can’t get much worse than taking the drama out of the term “final battle”, it’s seriously one of the most dramatic events in any series. Oh well. Also, despite how much I’ve referenced it, this series really had little to do with the series before it. So many plot points established from Energon are simply ignored, or worse contradicted. What happened to the Energon cities? Why does nobody know about the Transformers anymore? Just how many human friends do the Autobots go through? All questions I’m afraid are left unanswered. All things considered, Cybertron ended well for a series that continuously managed to be alright. Though I will concede that the final episode was rather uplifting and focused on the steadfast childhood truth that Transformers are truly amazing. Just maybe not in this series…
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
CINEMATIC DYSTOPIAN PUZZLE PLATFORMER “MONOCHROMA” COUNTS DOWN TO MAY 28th LAUNCH DAY WITH NEW GAMEPLAY TRAILER
Nowhere Studios today unveiled a new trailer for Monochroma, its cinematic dystopian puzzle platformer, that will launch on Windows PC, Mac and Linux on Steam on May 28th. In Monochroma players are transported to a dystopian state during the 1950’s, after two brothers witness a horrific crime committed by an evil corporation. Without cutscenes, text or spoken words, players must delve intellectually and emotionally into the story to help the brothers work together to progress past mind-bending puzzles and save the world from tyranny.
About Monochroma
Inspired by the developers’ childhood memories of moving from the countryside to urban Istanbul and the “Gezi Protests” of 2013, the most violently oppressed protest in modern Turkey, players discover the environment and follow the story through a carefully constructed black-and-white palette with splashes of red. As a result, the story is instantly understandable by players of all nationalities – without any localization required.
Spread over four chapters, discover vast ghettos built upon thousands of tenement buildings that reach into the clouds, a labyrinth of sewer tunnels, factories bellowing out industrial smoke and a city sized zeppelin hovering in the sky. The puzzles encountered in Monochroma are realistic and use physics to naturally blend with the environment.
Another Monochroma trademark is the relationship between the two brothers. Early in the game, the younger brother injures his leg after an accident, and must be supported by his older sibling. At times, the player needs to temporarily stop carrying him in order to solve puzzles. However he can only be placed near safe, bright areas—because like most kids, he’s scared of the dark. This gameplay mechanic defines Monochroma as a cerebral, methodical puzzle game that rewards players who are caring and brave at the same time. Being a responsible older sibling is mandatory—just as in real life.
About Nowhere Studios
A beacon of light in the Turkish games development region, Nowhere Studios was established in 2010 with the goal of bringing emotional and intellectual indie-minded games with top-notch production to players all around the world.
IT’S ALL ABOUT THE LONG RACE IN NEW GRID AUTOSPORT ENDURANCE GAMEPLAY VIDEO NOW PLAYING AT WWW.YOUTUBE.COM/GRIDGAME
PUSH TO THE LIMIT IN COMPETITIVE EXTENDED EVENTS WHERE ‘YOU NEVER FEEL YOU’RE GOING FAST ENOUGH UNTIL YOU’RE INTO THE WALL’
SYDNEY, 26th May 2014 – Codemasters® have revealed a new video showcasing the Endurance racing discipline, one of the five unique styles of racing set to star in the game’s new world of professional motorsport, now playing at http://youtu.be/QZ35QKDMxWk
In the video, gameplay footage of GRID Autosport’s Endurance racing discipline reveals spectacular sports cars racing into the night in extended events where “you can never win a race on the first corner.” The video also features real-world professional drivers explaining the enduring appeal of the discipline and how to succeed in the sport, including Matt Bell of United Autosports, Aleksander Schjerpen from Century Motorsport and Rory Butcher of the Oman Racing Team / Motorbase Performance who comments, “You’ve got to be quick of course. You’ve got to treat the car well to get to the end of the race. You’ve got to be very consistent over the long distance.”
In GRID Autosport’s Endurance events players must manage tyre wear and race to a strategy in extended races which provide a true test of racing skill, patience and car management. As players race, they must manage their tyres which will lose grip as they break traction or go off track, affecting performance and handling as the race progresses. Players who look after their tyres will be faster towards the end of the race.
In career mode, Endurance events are set at night for dramatic racing and an extra challenge, and gamers can also set up Custom Cup and online races to put the stunning Endurance cars to the test in day time events. In the drive to capture the feel of racing in real-world Endurance events, Codemasters has consulted with professional drivers and the experts at Autosport magazine to distil the experience into scalable races, whether online or in career mode.
Endurance events feature stunning prototypes on the cutting edge of automotive engineering and some of the most exciting and desirable production cars tuned for sports racing, each requiring incredible aerodynamics, blistering pace and extraordinary reliability. Players will get behind the wheels of contemporary and classic cars including the Aston Martin N24 V12 Zagato, Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3, McLaren 12C GT3, Audi R8 LMS Ultra, Lola B12/80, Shelby Cobra “Daytona” Coupe, Ford GT40 MK1 and more as they race on the games circuits, including Bathurst, Yas Marina, Sepang and the world-famous Hockenheimring. Endurance events test both the capacity of the cars competing to withstand the extreme stresses placed on the vehicles in this long form of motorsport and each driver’s ability to maintain concentration at high speeds over distance.
In GRID Autosport’s huge career, gamers will specialise in their favourite racing discipline or conquer them all; players will feel the aggression of the pack in Touring Cars, race into the night in Endurance events, race Open-Wheel cars with precision, show car control in Tuner events and react on the fly in Street races. Each unique category features series dedicated to different classes, including Touring Cars, Hypercars, Endurance GT Cars, Prototypes, Single-Seaters, Super Modified vehicles, Drift cars and many, many more. Bursting with content, GRID Autosport features over 100 routes across 22 incredible locations and the world’s most exciting contemporary and classic high-performance racing cars to collect, tune and upgrade.
GRID Autosport is set to release on June 26th across Australia & New Zealand for the Xbox 360 games and entertainment system from Microsoft, Windows PC and for the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system. Fans can keep up with all the latest updates straight from the studio by speeding over to www.gridgame.com and www.facebook.com/gridgame or follow the team at www.twitter.com/gridgame.
Overview
Nintendo have come a long way during the past 30 years. Mario has also come a long way as well, starting as a simple mascot from a platformer and evolving into something more special, with loads of spin-offs that each take the same universe and dive into other genres. Back in 1992, Nintendo strapped the plumber into the drivers seat for Super Mario Kart, and racing titles were never the same. These days, a Mario Kart installment typically sells more than the standard platformers we see from the franchise, which makes the Wii U’s Mario Kart 8 one of the most important releases in history. With new visuals, a blend of old and new elements, and the same gameplay attached, does Mario Kart 8 set the mark for the console, or is this racer one to pass up? Let’s find out.
Gameplay
I won’t sugarcoat it. Mario Kart 7 for the 3DS was good, but played it completely safe. We enjoyed the new features such as the in-air and underwater additions, but truthfully – the game felt like it was done before, and kind of left the more hardcore audience wanting more. Mario Kart 8 in many ways however takes notes from Super Mario 3D World, taking all of those new ideas captured in the portable version and expands upon them entirely, creating the most unforgettable Mario Kart release to date.
So what is new this time around? Well, the first thing players will notice are the tracks. Each location features ramps and hoops that can allow the player to partake in some anti-gravity kart racing. At first, this seems like something that wouldn’t change much at all, as its just a loop. In some ways, that is true, as the loops and riding on walls doesn’t redefine the game. When you add in the hang-gliding and other fare however, it brings a huge burst of fresh air that not only makes things more fluid, but finally shows some intuitive track design, which is something this franchise has needed for years.
Imagine you are riding on a track and see a blue ramp that leads you to hop up and cruise alongside a wall. With boosts planted in place, the player can capitalize on speed before launching into the air, where they can then instantly glide and get right back on the ground without missing a beat. Whether it be in water or any other terrain, this is the type of fluid gameplay that Mario Kart 8 delivers consistently, making races more exciting than ever while keeping the polish one would expect with a first party Nintendo release.
Overall, there are 32 tracks within the game. Sixteen are brand new and I must say, quite wonderful to put it lightly. Tracks such as Mario Kart Stadium start the game out at a high point, with scenic routes that capture a city atmosphere, while others like Sunshine Airport bring a flavor of nostalgia, capturing past worlds to perfection while allowing us to revisit the locales in a brand new way. Like every racer, the favorites within are going to come down to preference. There are no speed bumps in terms of quality, but I did feel a few tracks were a tad too cluttered with obstacles that interfered with speed. Yeah, the point is to be sharp and dodge, but when you have twelve participants in a race that are obtaining frequent items, it chaos builds quickly and the last thing the player will want to see is a giant pit ready to swallow them up as they jump out of harm’s way.
The other sixteen tracks are not new locations, but have been rebuilt from the ground up to fit with these new mechanics and gameplay stylings. At least one track has been put in from other installments, such as Moo Moo Meadows from the Wii version, Dry Dry Desert from Double Dash, and DK Jungle from Mario Kart 7, just to name a few. The recreations are breathtaking at times, as seeing a course as old as Donut Plains 3 remade with fresh components and such a large scope changes the way that classic race is won entirely. Add in the 30 racers overall and you have a fantastic smorgasbord of fresh races spanning generations of Mario Kart titles.
Items are usually the hit or miss part of a Mario Kart game. That really isn’t any different here. While most of the classics are back such as the red and green shells, star, and so on – the blue shell has also rose up again to remind us that some parts of Mario Kart simply rely on luck. This item is still unavoidable and seems to hit at the worse possible time. Now if it were block-able (there is a rare item that can block it, but is extremely rare) or varied on choosing a target (outside of first place), I would complain a lot less – but the blue shell to myself is nothing more than a way to punish victory. It also seems that the top players are only awarded boosts or very weak items yet again, but there is a bit more balance in that compared to Mario Kart 7, which is a plus. Coins in my opinion stand as the most important collectible however, as each coin out of ten obtained boosts speed dramatically, and can allow a player having a bad lap to catch up 11 spots in no time.
As far as modes go, the difficulty bases 50cc, 100cc, and 150cc Grand Prix options are back without much change outside of rewards, along with Time Trial Mode and Battles. Battle Mode has been completely retooled as well, and now has the player run along a normal track with the option of going in any direction to knock off the opponent’s three balloons. Sure, it works and can be fun – but arenas were more fit for the mode and not seeing them in this installment almost makes it seem that Nintendo simply ran out of time. While that is one of the game’s only sour notes, the online mode allows for up to two players to take to the servers and participate in battles and standard races. Mario Kart TV is also a great new feature that allows players to re-visit, edit, share intense bouts with others. Again, this sounds like something simple, but the presentation factor makes it feel much greater as you see all of the Miis come together to cheer on the tape.
Couch multiplayer is of course back as well. Many are going to argue about the Gamepad’s use here, as split-screen is still split-screen on the device as well as the television. The thing is, I could have cared less as when I played, everyone used Wiimotes aside from one person, and not one complaint was made the entire session. The Gamepad is great for single player however, as the player can change the screen from a horn to a map, or simply put the action on their screen entirely with a couple drags and taps.
Visuals
Where do I even begin? When I reviewed Super Mario 3D World, I bragged about how great Mario and company looked in HD. If I would have played this first however, even that would have felt like a downgrade compared to how utterly phenomenal Mario Kart 8 is visually. Every single location explodes with color and smooth textures, with animations running fluidly at 60 frames per second. Not only that, but these worlds are incredibly detailed with so much happening in the background that I had to play many races several times just to take in a portion of the lively atmospheres present. Everything is fluid, the models look incredible, and the tracks are pure eye candy with substance attached. This is the best looking title to ever hit a Nintendo platform thus far, and sets a new high standard for what the Wii U can do visually.
Audio
In this area, I will start with the voicework, as in my opinion it is an important factor as hearing your opponents (I hate you Yoshi) gives you a sense of who is coming up on your tail and who is next in line to beat. With baby Mario, baby Luigi, baby Peach, and baby Rosalina (way too many babies), it can be a bit confusing of which one is next. The same goes for all of the Koopalings, but that is a small gripe as they at least have minor differences and are find additions to the roster, even if I miss a few of the omitted past faces. The soundtrack however is simply divine. From sweet and calming tunes rushing out of a water based Dolphin Shoals to the more intense and nearly dubstep beats of Electrodome, the music is highly varied and enjoyable within Mario Kart 8, giving us some great background to drown out those loud motors.
Overall
Mario Kart 8 is the system seller for the Wii U. There is no other way to put it. While it tends to tread in familiar waters a tad too much with items and balance, the crisp and outstanding visuals and anti-gravity gimmick have redefined the franchise entirely, making it the most refreshing entry to date. Nintendo didn’t have to go out of their way to recreate Mario Kart to be honest as lets face it, this game is going to perform fine on whatever platform it is placed on based its legacy alone. Nintendo however have needed to show that the Wii U is not a force to be reckoned with and is not the same as its predecessor however, and no game is more proof of that than Mario Kart 8.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Logitech are expanding their tablet product line with the just announced Logitech Hinge and Logitech Big Bang protective cases, to be available for the iPad Air, iPad Mini and iPad Mini with Retina Display. The former is expected to release early June in Australia, with the latter releasing shortly after mid-month. Marcus Fry, Managing Director at Logitech ANZ, said;
People expect their iPad to integrate into their daily activities – from playing your favourite games to checking e-mails on airplane trays or watching movies on the couch – but until now, accessories haven’t adjusted to the kind of flexibility that our busy lifestyles demand. Providing people with accessories that are more flexible, versatile and protective is our main focus with the release of the Logitech Hinge and the Logitech Big Bang.
The Logitech Hinge is a flexible case with a smooth-gliding hinge (hence the name) that enables the stand to adapt to just the right viewing angle within a 50-degree range. It is spill resistant and made with wipe-clean materials, also offering impact protection to the standards of bulkier cases, but while maintaining a thin and light folio design. The Logitech Hinge will retail at an RRP of $69.95 across the board.
The Logitech Big Bang also brings the best of both worlds; rugged, while at the same time versatile, the Logitech Big Bang features the Essential Protection System (E.P.S.), protecting against all manner of scratches, bumps, spills, drops and screen impact. It is extremely durable, having been drop tested from 1.4m (which exceeds the U.S. Military Drop Standard of 1.22m), and its shell and case cover are made of shock-absorbent material utilised in the aerospace, automotive and sports industries. The viewing stand can shift between 5 different positions, with the case coming in multiple fashionable colours. Expect the Logitech Big Bang at an RRP of $119.95 for the iPad Air and $99.95 for the iPad Mini and iPad Mini with Retina display.
As you are probably aware, a few years ago Dragon Ball Z was re-released as Dragon Ball Z Kai. This version of the show not only cut out a large amount of filler content and shortened the series immensely, especially since it only covered up until the Cell Arc, though a Buu continuation is underway, it also saw a number of redrawn scenes to look a little better by today’s standards.
Previously FUNimation had released the entirety of Dragon Ball Z Kai and the series has already been broadcast on other channels in North America, but now this weekend FUNimation and Toonami revealed that Dragon Ball Z Kai will be joining the Toonami line-up this fall.
Eureka SevenPart 1 Studio:Bones Publisher:FUNimation Release Date: April 22nd, 2014 Format: DVD Price: $34.98 – Available Here
Overview
What do you get when combining giant robots and surfing? Eureka Seven. Previously, I got to review Eureka Seven AO, the sequel series to the original, which was some what of a mixed bag of interesting moments coupled with alright action, with way too much time travel thrown in. Now, with a release of the original series from FUNimation, we can see what it was about the show that created an audience that would want to see a sequel series. Let’s take a look at the first half of Eureka Seven and see what it has to offer.
Story
Sometime in the future, the human race is living on a planet with the entire thing covered in a layer of scub coral. Which has forced the people to build cities and villages on top of the unstable scub, using whatever means necessary to try and keep it from destroying the buildings on top. But, the differences don’t stop at the surface of the planet, as the sky has become filled with transparent light particles (trapars) which allow for a new sport by the name of lifting that is essentially sky surfing. Right in the heart of this world is a young boy named Renton that suffers from small-town life syndrome, who’s father was one of the biggest heroes in the entire world.
With his serious love for lifting and the magazine Ray=Out, that chronicles the crew of the Gekkostate a group of younger adults with their own ship and LFOs, the humanoid mechas, Renton’s finally lucks out when he manages to meet a member of the Gekkostate and finds out that his father left something behind that the Gekkostate needs. While at first glance a lot of the set up seems a little hammy and cliche, that he might have some sort of destiny, so he’s joining up with this team of awesome young adults on adventures, but the plot is actually very well drawn out and paced.
Where some stories feel the need to just dump plot and exposition on the viewer in a moments notice to get them up to speed with what is going on in the world and the characters’ lives, Eureka Seven has no problem using a slow build. Dialogue between characters will hint and imply things about the past before it is finally fully revealed, generally based around the same speed that Renton finds things out, which works so much better than characters just pouring into their life stories to him immediately. Even better, the build up across Part 1 is able to work on the emotional level as well as the stresses of their lives gets on each other and make them much more deep and realistic.
Even plotwise the show’s slow build feels natural and doesn’t needlessly raise huge questions about what’s going on as there is a steady slow reveal of more and more. At the end of Part 1, Renton finally comes to the end of the refusal of the call part of his life, which works very well for setting up Part 2 for him to actually be doing things about helping the world like he can. Though plenty has been revealed about the past of the different minor cast, there is still plenty to cover as well, without ever feeling unfulfilling.
Visuals
As the series was originally made back in the mid-2000’s, the visuals themselves are a bit outdated, with a full frame aspect ratio and slightly aged look of the animation itself. In spite of this though, many parts of the design still stand out, such as the brilliant green wakes left by lifting on the trapars through the sky and many of the ship and LFO designs. The design for the characters however is somewhat of a contrast for these though, as so much looks futuristic, while the characters tend to wear more current age styles of clothes, except for some of the advanced flight suits or military uniforms. Which helps to highlight that this is a much more dystopian future, while still giving so many of the characters a much more colorful and relateable look.
Audio
The voice acting for Eureka Seven is quite impressive for such a large cast of characters, from all the different members of the Gekkostate to all the people they meet along the way of their adventures there is a great job done ensuring that they all sound fresh. With all of excess of Renton’s emotional outbursts and Eureka’s lack of emotional inflection, the voice acting highlight of Part 1 has been Talho, as she has a pretty good range of emotions that all play well together and work even better as they build up over the course of the series.
Despite the slight age, the music still does a great job fitting the setting and feel of the series from the opening and ending themes, to the background music that sets the mood for all the locations that Renton and the team visit. The first opening theme, “Days” by Flow, focuses on the themes of the path one takes in life and holding onto memories; while the second opening theme, “Shonen Heart” by Home Made Kazoku, focuses on the themes of memories and young love. The first ending theme, “Himitsu Kichi” by Kozue Takada, focuses instead on looking to the sky and wanting to protect loved ones, though the second ending theme, “Fly Away” by Asami Izawa, mainly focuses on the theme of young love.
Extras
The special features go beyond just the normal collection of clean opening and ending themes, trailers, and video with a nice selection of commentaries for select episodes through out the series. Those that are used to seeing commentaries though should be surprised to see that all the commentaries included are in fact from the Japanese voice cast, as opposed to the standard English voice cast commentaries. It’s quite refreshing to get the other side of the anime production, which is usually handled with videos, instead done over individual episodes has a much different feel, which is great to see included in this release.
Overall
So far this is one of the best paced anime I’ve seen, with a slow build and it can be easy to see how it’s popularity would generate interest in creating a sequel series. But even more than just the pacing, Eureka Seven Part 1 features an interesting world with realistic, though sometimes troubled, characters. Though the visuals show just a bit of age, it is still a fantastic looking anime that features a great soundtrack to boot.With even just the first half, the series pays off the questions, hints, and teases that it gives along the way and sets up for even more of the slow build pay off.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Hello again, friends! Welcome back! We’re eight weeks into the new “JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders” anime which means we’re now at episode eight, an episode that changes the pace of the series quite drastically but we’ll get into that soon enough. If you missed episode 7, “Strength”, you can head to the impressions article for it by clicking here. “Strength” ended the oceanic portion of the “Stardust Crusaders” crew’s journey and it also introduced us to one scary ape, luckily Jotaro was around to take it out otherwise they would have never made it to Singapore where episode eight takes place.
The team have made it to Singapore with minimal injury and all they want to do right now is take it easy before they set off on the next leg of their trip, but DIO won’t be having any of that, he wants them killed. Now. Unfortunately Polnareff is the punching bag in this week’s episode but, as brutal as it is, it does make for one entertaining half-hour of anime.
– Foreign Land –
Foreign Land.
As mentioned; the team finally makes it to dry land, luckily for them this sanctuary away from the ocean just so happens to be Singapore, one of the most beautiful cities in the known world. Almost instantly one of them is picked up for littering which is quite the crime over there. Don’t worry though, it’s just Polnareff’s bag. It may look like trash but it’s actually his belongings which says a great deal about the man. Polnareff hasn’t been on the team for very long (two episodes to be exact) but he’s already proven to me that he’s a key member by providing a level of goofy humour none of the other “Stardust Crusaders” characters have mastered so I’m real appreciative of Polnareff, though…I may be the only one.
Heading to the nearest hotel, the team try to make themselves comfortable before having to head off once again. Even if it’s for a single night. Polnareff finally gets a little respect and is given his own room while the others have to share. Good on him! Now he’s got enough privacy to have a few drinks, take a bubble bath and pamper himself the way a good Frenchman should! Nothing is going to stand in the way of him having a good night! Not even a scary doll hell bent on murdering him.
– The Haunting Of Room 912 –
The Haunting Of Room 912.
Polnareff makes it to his room and has a bit of a look around before realizing that there’s someone else in there with him. Noticing something is a little “off”, Polnareff opens up the mini fridge to reveal a fully grown human male curled up inside. The man, who calls himself “Devo” (subtitled as “Soul Sacrifice”), baits Polnareff into attacking him and is almost instantly killed when he’s stabbed three times in the face and falls from the hotel balcony. This scene, once again showing off the animation capabilities of David Production, really made an impact on me; it was gritty and rough but flowed amazingly.
Polnareff peers over the edge to make sure Devo (Soul Sacrifice) truly did die but there’s no body to be seen on the ground below. Given absolutely no time to think the situation over, Polnareff is attacked and his ankle is sliced open. Looking around the room, he notices nothing strange and just writes it off as an “aftermath” of Devo’s confrontation. Polnareff actually does something smart now, he rings the rest of the team to explains to them that he was attacked and the attacker may still be lurking around. They all agree to meet but this may be one rendezvous Polnareff won’t be making it to. Now it’s time to search for his keys that, even though were clearly thrown onto the bedside table next to the creep doll, are now nowhere to be found so he checks around the room eventually ending up under the bed where the keys were hiding. This is where the episode gets good.
The enemy makes a move and ties Polnareff to the bottom of the heavy-looking bed, the colour of the scene changes and the audience now knows we’re about to see a brutal fight. Polnareff is blinded when the enemy sprays shampoo in his eyes but that’s not the worst part. The miniature assailant then begins sawing the legs off of the bed and crushes Polnareff underneath, thank the gods that he’s a hulking mass of French muscle! The gods didn’t quite look out for the bellboy though…he enters the room and is killed almost straight away. This is where the episode shifts from being a typical Shonen anime to a gory horror movie.
– It’s All Just Child’s Play. –
It’s All Just Child’s Play.
This is where the true fight begins. Polnareff, now face to face with his enemy spends the rest of the episode struggling to stay alive as he defends himself against a barrage of unconventional weapons all the while being tied to the bottom of a bed, bound and blinded this may be it for Polnareff. Devo does absolutely everything he can to send Polnareff into a state of unwavering fear. Devo knows about Polnareff, he knows about “Silver Chariot”, he’s done his research and at this point in time he has the upper hand. “Silver Chariot” cannot attack what Polnareff cannot see so he’s essentially just stabbing at anything and everything in the hopes that he may accidentally skewer Devo but the odds are against him.
Devo basically toys with Polnareff for the majority of the fight, slowly getting more and more cocky with “Silver Chariot” occasionally landing a hit, though not good enough of one to do any real damage. This episode outdid itself when it came to the animation quality. Not only was it simply good but the film techniques used within it were brilliant, half the time it didn’t even feel like you were watching an episode, it was anime movie caliber when it really wanted to be. “Silver Chariot”, while stabbing furiously at anything it can, just misses Devo and breaks the mirror scattering glass around the room. Devo decides “enough is enough” and begins emptying every liquid he can onto Polnareff and the bed, this is the end.
Devo shorts out the hairdryer he found in the hotel bathroom so that it’s sparking uncontrollably (it’s also spewing out fire at this point in time), his plan is to electrocute Polnareff and it looks like it may just work. Devo drops the hairdryer but Polnareff is a lot smarter than we all give him credit for and, using the scattered glass around the room, pinpoints exactly where the Devo is and skewers both him and the hairdryer. “Silver Chariot” then proceeds to torture Devo as he attempts to flee the scene, killing him in the process. Never underestimate a Frenchman.
– The TV Will Help Us! –
The TV Will Help Us!
Before I move on to the finally of the episode I just want to say that the “Stardust Crusaders” team as a unit is terrible! They were meant to meet five minutes after Polnareff made the call and even though he mentioned that he was attacked, after forty five none of them thought of going to his room to check out whether or not he was alright. Eventually, when he does turn up all bloodied and bruised, all they can say to him is “Jeez you took a while!”. That’s not a good team! Anyway, Polnareff is taken to the local jail to be questioned and Devo’s real body is found in a hotel bathroom mangled and almost unrecognizable. Lucky old man Joestar has connections, he quickly calls up the “Speedwagon Foundation” to get Polnareff out of police custody.
Apparently there’s nothing that foundation can’t do! Joseph and Avdul, doing their best to prepare for what will come next, use Joseph’s Stand to consult the universe. This time they use the TV instead of a camera but the TV brings some terrible new; there’s a mole in the group and his name…Kakyoin. The episode ends with a menacing image of the young boy’s face and leaves us in suspense for next week. Is Kakyoin the mole? Is Joseph going to replace the hotel room TV? Is Polnareff ever going to be treated kindly? We’ll have to wait until episode nine to find out!
Check out the “JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders” anime on Crunchyroll and check out more episode impressions HERE.
