Betrayer, the first-person action adventure title from independent studio Blackpowder Games, has landed on Steam. We previewed the game – the creative team for which is comprised of No One Lives Forever and F.E.A.R. developers – last August, when it was released as a Steam Early Access title. It has since enjoyed many additions, from new gameplay mechanics and U.I. improvements to color and contrast sliders that allow players to customise the look of the game to their exact liking.
Game Designer and Writer, Craig Hubbard, had this to say about the eerie, and flat out creepy game;
Betrayer is the kind of game we’ve been wanting to make ever since we shipped FEAR. You can explore large, open environments in search of clues and loot. You can tackle challenges aggressively or stealthily. You can outfit yourself with the equipment that best suits your play style. It’s a very player-driven experience.
Betrayer, focusing on “a mysteriously abandoned New World colony in 1604 as the player tries to piece together what happened to its inhabitants and survive the supernatural threats they encounter along the way”, is available here for $19.99. Check out the gallery of new screens below, as well as the launch trailer embedded further down.
Compatibility: Requires iOS 6.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. This app is optimized for iPhone 5.
Description
Old School Arcade Gamers and lovers, rejoice!
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How many Arcade Video Games can you name?
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Levels are unlocked progressively, but don’t forget to clear them completely in order to get all the achievements and the highest ranking in the GameCenter leaderboard!
Featuring an outstanding selection of more than 500 arcade games to guess, carefully divided in 10 levels of ascending difficulty: from the most played arcade game in history, which caused a shortage of quarters, to the most obscure coin-op title only true gamers will be able to identify!
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More VideoGamesQuiz Series info at http://www.videogamesquizcentral.com
Coilworks is a fresh development team of six people out of Sweden, and Cloudbuilt is their first release. The sextet aim to satisfy the gamers of the world who want to develop and test their skills of dexterity, speed and precision. Cloudbuilt is definitely a skill-based game with a significant, organic learning curve and high ceiling. A mix of shooter, platformer and action, Cloudbuiltchallenges players to speedrun these obstacle course-like levels in order to achieve the fastest time amongst friends and the world, although there’s also an intriguing story to be uncovered, stage by stage.
Story
Waking up in foreign, confusing surroundings, the player character – who remains nameless throughout the journey – immediately tries to make sense of it all. Following a bright light to a red door, she sees… herself, bedridden in a comatose state. Through a series of e-logs, narrated by the character, we discover that she was a soldier in an unexpected war. Her body and mind are undergoing a reconstruction procedure after suffering severe damage due to an explosion. Choosing to follow one of four routes, the player gains new information and back-story with every level completed. The four paths offer as many takes and conclusions on the character’s experiences in this dream world. Common amongst them is the sight and realisation of cybernetics integration. Is it all a bad nightmare, however? A window into the future? A psychological defence mechanism of some kind? Or some sort of redeployment exercise?
Gameplay
Since our hands-on preview of Cloudbuilt last month, what would become the final release build has seen some additional content added. The game has just over twenty levels to conquer, and a new Practice arena can be accessed from the level selection screen in ‘the Room’, though a short Tutorial is still present and presented to the player at the outset. In Practice, you are allowed to familiarise yourself with the controls without the threat of opposition. That being said, there is a time trial attached to the stage, but no pressure to pursue it. It incorporates all the verticality and layouts conducive to experimenting with the various free-running techniques at your command. Inside the Room, the player may also access their workstation, which simply holds all the audio logs collected so far. Finishing the inaugural level results in a branching out to two paths, and later another. Upon completion of a level, a letter-ranking is calculated by taking into account the number of lives you lost in the process and adding three seconds for each to your overall time.
A cap is in place, limiting the number of retries possible; when they run out, you are prompted to either select a new level to try or restart the current level from the very beginning, ignoring any checkpoints you reached. Depending on which ranking you receive, the cap is increased by one or more lives. In that respect, when stuck on a hard section with your lives whittling away, it could be advantageous to tackle an easier level on a separate path to build up your cap and give you an extra shot at success. Traversal is free-flowing and fluid, with customisable button mapping enabled. On default, Left Shift is your Boost, with Release Grip assigned to Left Ctrl – the only input I remapped, although also the least used. Running up and across walls is as easy as jumping at the required angle and holding Boost, throttling it to maintain elevation on a wall run and releasing it to gradually descend. Boost is governed by an energy bar that slowly refills. Much like health, it can also be instantly and strategically replenished with a well timed pick-up, allowing you to continue a climb just that much longer.
Robot, turrets, moving lasers and mines endeavour to stifle you, but charging up a gun blast will incapacitate the majority of your obstacles, while expert timing will be necessary to surpass some particularly formidable areas. The excellent use and placement of these adversarial elements, along with the fantastic layout of the geometry mean an increasingly challenging game that will necessitate intelligent approaches and instigate skill-building. There is hardly ever a single pathway to take in getting from point A to point B, but they are all balanced by differing risks and rewards. If Cloudbuilt is somehow not arduous enough for you (who are you?!), you can always redo a level in unlocked Game Modes, such as No Ammo (self-explanatory) and Fragile (where you can only withstand one hit before dying). Rounding out the unlockable Game Modes are Super Charged – granting infinite super-charged boosters – and Beacons – changing the goal entirely as you must collect all beacons on any given level and return to the starting location as quickly as possible.
Visuals & Audio
Do you remember learning shading techniques in school? If not, then you had a terribly bland school that obviously didn’t care about art… but I digress. Cloudbuiltutilises a cross-stitch overlay on the entire world that gives this pencil-drawn visual aspect that lends to the perception of a cel-shaded art-style. Although boosting through a level already feels fast, the fish eye lens aids in portraying speed in motion, warping your periphery. The landscape is appropriately surreal, being vividly coloured even in the more dark stages. It’s essentially the dreamscape of our player character, and is as individual and unique a vision as it would be in such a case – no two persons’ imaginations match up and project the exact same image, and similarly, this world’s portrayal can only originate from the mind of said character. Musically, Cloudbuilt is a more contemporary homage to 8-bit and 16-bit music, being retro-inspired but not a flat out imitation, which fits the tone of the game perfectly.
Overall
Unique – that’s the best word to describe Cloudbuilt. For a time in the games industry, unique titles and ideas were scarce, but with the rise of the Indies, a new era of creativity has captured our attention. Coilworks has contributed to the movement well with Cloudbuilt. There is ample replay-ability with the game, not only in attempting to better your standing on the Local, Global or Friends leaderboards, but also in challenging yourself to complete each level’s conditional run-throughs/further game modes. Cloudbuilt might prove hard for many, and plain frustrating for some, but it’s a rewarding experience getting through the gauntlet. While unsuccessful in reaching all alternate endings before this review, I found the story effectively weaved between the four paths, giving different perspectives as you progress along each and an appreciated sense of non-linearity to the plot. Cloudbuilt is a demanding, eye-catching and truly incomparable video game.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
On April 15th, 2005, Fuji TV began to broadcast a late-night anime block targeted towards young adults, particularly college students. That block was titled ‘noitaminA‘ which low and behold is ‘Animation’ spelled backwards. The naming convention actually was quite appropriate for the block because the types of anime that have aired on ‘noitaminA’ over the years have been anything but straightforward, they have flipped the anime medium on its head multiple times over. It is hard to imagine that such unconventional series such as those that run on ‘noitaminA’ would have been ever made without the existence of the block. So out of all the brilliant series that we have been graced with from ‘noitaminA’, which ones were the best? Well here is our top 5 ‘noitaminA’ anime:
5. Eden of the East
Jason Bourne what are you doing on noitaminA? Who cares, it’s awesome! Now this is one series that really caught a lot of people’s attention when it first aired an is a big part of the success of noitaminA. This series raised a great amount of awareness for the block and gave anime fans a taste of the offbeat style that noitaminA is now known for.
The series follows Akira Takizawa, a man with no memories, a phone that can do anything he wants and the goal of saving Japan from itself. It is a killer hook if there ever was one and the high intrigue style of the series is addictive in all the right ways. Eden of the East definitely takes a measure of influence from Robert Ludnam’s The Bourne Identity. The mystery and suspense is part of what make Eden of the East one of the best series to have aired on noitaminA. I think the fact that it spawned three films is a testament to the series success. This is the series that brought noitaminA to the global stage and damn it is a good one. It didn’t hurt that they had Oasis performing the series opening theme song. Eden of the East is just plain awesome.
4. Un-Go
One of the best detective anime there is, Un-Go engaged viewers with it’s unrelenting complex yet oh-so-simple mysteries. Set in a near future Japan, Un-Go mixes the supernatural with the real to sublime affect. The week to week mysteries are deep and intriguing and the series as a whole is highly thought-provoking.
This is a truly intelligent show that will give your brain a bit of a workout. This is a series that highlighted just how complex and detailed a noitaminA series can be. There isn’t any limits in noitaminA and Un-Go’s unending search for truth is evidence of that. Its unlike anything else in anime and it is all the more better for it.
3. Tsuritama
Enoshima Bowl! Weird as weird can be, Tsuritama is yet another incredible noitaminA anime series. This could arguably be the most bizarre series to ever air on noitaminA. The series revolves around fishing and an alien invasion, if that’s not the weirdest combination of ideas on noitaminA, I don’t know what is.
Tsuritama is memorable for a number of reasons. It features a superb cast of characters that are each highly developed over the course of this short series, the concept of fishing is explored in rich detail and the light-hearted fun nature of the series will have you hooked. At its core it is a coming of age story, underneath all of its bizarre elements there is a lot of heart in Tsuritama and it has proven to be one of the most memorable series to air on noitaminA.
2. Kids on the Slope
From legendary director Shinichiro Watanabe and based upon the award-winning manga of the same name, Kids on the Slope was always a series bound for greatness. A series like Kids on the Slope is a perfect example of an anime that wouldn’t have been possible without noitaminA. Set in 1960’s Japan and focusing heavily on Jazz music, Kids on the Slope is somewhat niche in terms of its subject matter. But it is the story that lies at the heart of the series that is universal. The struggle that we all go through in our lives, growing up.
This is undoubtedly one of the greatest coming of age anime of all time and Watanabe’s incredible directing coupled with Yoko Kanno’s unforgettable musical compositions, Kids on the Slope becomes the stuff of anime legend. A series that etched out a place in the pantheon of anime history as one of the all-time bests. This series has heart and soul unlike any other. It’ll grab a hold of you and it won’t let go, it’s the swing and sway of life in moving pictures, it’s Kids on the Slope.
1. Psycho-Pass
The line between this series and the last was so thin, it wasn’t an easy decision by any means. While Kids on the Slope was a universal heart-warming journey about growing up, Psycho-Pass has a bigger game in mind and its lofty ambitions and grand exploration of topics such as existentialism, corruption, technophobia, nostalgia and freedom make it a cut above the rest.
Psycho-Pass comes from mad anime visionary Gen Urobuchi, a man with a reputation for going to some dark places in anime. This series is undoubtedly his magnum opus. It is his greatest work and the story he tells here is one that you’ll likely never forget. The messages that Urobuchi expresses in Psycho-Pass will have you thinking long after you’ve finished watching. With a second season and film already in production, the success of Psycho-Pass is highly evident and it is of course all possible because a block such as noitaminA exists to give a chance for a series like this.
The world of Psycho-Pass is deep and complex with a multitude of layers to it. The cast and concepts are highly unique and will have you engaged from start to finish. It it thought-provoking, heart-breaking, intellectually stimulating, shocking, powerful, incredible anime at its finest. This is the type of anime that noitaminA was made for.
That concludes this edition of Anime Listed. Do you agree with this particular list? Sound off in the comments section below with your thoughts.
Turbo is one of the latest 3D animated films from Dreamworks Animation and tells the story of a day dreaming snail with a huge passion for racing who finds himself with the power to travel faster than an F1 car. From the makers of Madagascar and Kung Fu Panda, Turbo features an all star voice cast with an interesting premise, but is this enough for Turbo to speed into our hearts? Read on for the review.
Story
Turbo focuses on the character of Theo, a young ambitious snail looking who loves Formula 1 racing who desperately longs to break out of his monotonous lifestyle where his small snail community wants for nothing more out of life than to simply survive. Through some sort of magic involving a street race, a supercharger and some NOS, Turbo acquires some strange car related abilities such as his eyes becoming headlights, a crazy radio that acts up at the worst of times and most importantly, the ability to reach speeds capable of matching an F1 race car. A large, Mexican taco salesman named Tico finds Turbo and his brother one day and brings him home to a snail racing rink, home to a crew of racing wannabes that all have dreams of going fast. From there the story gets a little crazy as Tico wants to enter Turbo into the Indianapolis 500 (the largest F1 race in the world) to help promote his brother’s taco stand after a bunch of failed experiments (taco’s and monkeys anyone?).
The story is a fun time but the plot is rather predictable. The movie is very much aimed at the ‘kids’ audience rather than being for the entire family but adults should still have a good time with it. Turbo, and his human counterpart Tito, have this infectious, relatable ambition and as the viewer it’s hard not to get behind them and want to see them succeed and live their dreams against a world that wants to supress them. This kind of mirror of personalities between Turbo and Tito (and also between Turbo’s brother Chet and Tito’s brother) is one of the highlights of the story. Turbo features a rather large cast of secondary characters who won’t have you rolling on the floor but are a good for a small laugh. From the hard talking Whiplash to the oblivious White Shadow, Turbo’s tag along snail friends provide some smiles for the audience and support for Turbo.
This isn’t really a spoiler as it didn’t really change the course of the movie at all and was forseeable early on in the movie (but by all means skip to the next paragraph if you want to avoid spolers at all cost), but one thing that I didn’t appreciate at all was that one character (who is Turbo’s inspiration for the entire first half of the movie), later reveals himself to be an evil, self involved villian. The movie didn’t seem to need this kind of obvious ‘bad guy’ and this could of been a large point of difference in the story to seperate it from the many other kids movies out there. The character makes alot of fantastic inspirational comments that were actually great and prety inspiring, and when he turned out to be a simple archtype villian it kind of ruined all that. I would of much rather seen Turbo race against a respectable opponent he admired than some cliched jerk opponent he now just wants to beat because of a new found grudge.
Visuals
As expected from an animation power house such as Dreamworks, Turbo looks amazing. The characters, both humans and snails, look great with a simple visual style while the world around them is incredibly full and detailed. Turbo and he’s friends sometimes enter these dream sequences where the characters are taken out of their normal environment and into some crazy, fast moving vortex which looks really psychedelic and is filled with tons of interesting imagery such as race cars turning into tomatoes. Seeing Turbo speed past an F1 car leaving a blue trail of nitros oxide behind is awesome and the whole film is bright, colourful and vibrant. All these qualities shine through excellently and with great clarity on the Blu-ray disc and the menus are also nicely personalised to fit into the Turbo universe.
Audio
Not much can be said about the sound in Turbo except that the world sounds as good as it looks, with everything sounding clear, sharp and matching with what you see on screen. The soundtrack of Turbo is mostly filled with catchy R&B and hip hop songs (no surprise as Snoop Dogg provided the theme to the film), with the song playing at the time always fitting the mood correctly. The highlight of the soundtrack is the auto-tuned ‘That Snail is Fast’, which is a parody of all those autotuned YouTube songs based around someone saying something funny on the news.
The voice cast features a rather large all star voice cast including Ryan Reynolds, Paul Giamatti, Luis Guzman, Samuel L. Jackson, Maya Rudolph and more. All the voice acting is done well and it’s nice to see that the characters looks have been somewhat influenced by their voice actor, such as Snoop Dogg’s and Samuel L. Jacksons snails. Ryan Reynolds does a great job as the lead snail, especially considering this is one of his first roles as a lead voice actor in an animated film.
Extras
Turbo features a large dose of extras that really help add to the package. There is the standard theatrical trailer and one deleted scene that shows an alternate introduction to the character of Tito (in animated storyboard form) with a small introduction from the director about why it was cut. There is also a storyboard of the scene where Turbo get’s his powers that is played alongside the scene in the movie to show just how unchanged the storyboard went all the way through the production of the movie. Champions Corner features a real life interview with Turbo set up to look like an official F1 piece and also contains a bonus commercial for Adrenalode, the movie’s made up energy drink, that pokes fun at how rediculous energy drink ads normally are.
Other special features include Smoove Move’s Music Maker, that lets you relive the songs in the movie with beatmatched music videos, Team Turbo Tricked Out, that takes us through the details of each snails visual look including the update they get at the end of the movie and Be An Artist, which explains step-by-step how to easily draw the characters from the movie along with a description of certain drawing techniques. Apart from all these video featurettes there is also the interactive Shell Creator that let’s you take a main snail from the movie, customise their colour, shell decal, spoiler, engine and background to create your own savable picture. One strange ommitted bonus feature that is normally included with these kinds of movies is a ‘making of’ featurette, but what is here is more than enough extra content to keep you satisfied.
Overall
Turbo is a welcome addition to the Dreamworks lineup. Turbo’s cute, yet predictable adventure provides an inspiring story as well as a few laughs and is accompanied by stunning visuals and a fun soundtrack. While Turbo seems to ignore adults more than family movies tend to do these days, it’s hard to not get behind the lovable characters of Turbo and Tito as they try to break free of the supression the world places on them. The Blu-ray features a healthy amount of extras and it’s not long before you’ll have the menu song ‘That Snail is Fast’ stuck in your head. Turbo is a great movie to entertain the kids, and to a lesser extent, any adults that want to sit down and enjoy a fun story of a snail against the world.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be foundhere.
In a surprising move during noitaminA’s 10th Anniversary event, the expected sequel to sci-fi anime Psycho-Pass not only received a trailer, which you can check out below, but a movie has also been announced. More info has been added to the official website.
Psycho-Pass 2 will be aired during the fall season in October this year while the anime film is penciled in for winter. To amp up the hype and re-jog our memories, a newly edited recap of 11 episodes from the first season will air in July.
Taking place in the future, Psycho-Pass is set in a society that can now measure a person’s tendency to commit a crime as well as decide an individual’s employment prospects. The story is centered around enforcement officer Shinya Kougami and detective Akane Tsunemori.
If you haven’t seen our reviews for the first season, be sure to check out Part 1 and Part 2 published by Funimation.
Ubisoft‘s much anticipated game has suffered a few delays, but fans will finally be able to get their hands on the hotly anticipated title on on May 27th, 2014. In Watch Dogs, players will follow the adventures of Aiden Pierce, a hacker who has witnessed an event that marked him as a wanted man. With the help of a special smartphone, Pierce will hack his way to vengeance by using the environment to his advantage. Pierce is more than just a hacker, he is a skilled free runner and is more that capable of going toe to toe with a few enemies that have the misfortune of being in the way.
With the help of the smartphone, players will be able to raise blockades to shake pursuing vehicles off their tails, drop cargo containers on enemies, and, as the trailer succinctly states, “turn the city into a weapon.” The game will feature roughly 30-40 hours of content, including multiplayer support. Players can join their friends in the city for a variety of multiplayer modes or sneak into their enemies’ games to steal precious information from their smart phones.
Watch Dogs will be released for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Wii U, and Windows PC. Be sure to check out the new story trailer to learn more about Watch Dog’s plot and Aiden Pierce.
The thought of high expectations having negative effects on an anime series is something that hit me in full only recently. Though I’ve experienced this many times throughout my anime-watching life, it is only now that I’ve finally decided to question whether or not fans of anime SHOULD have any expectations for a series at all. Anticipation is an incredibly powerful feeling for people and with anticipation comes excitement, with excitement comes expectation, and with expectation comes a level of comparison so powerful it is almost enough to break a series for some viewers.
“Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann” was and still is an absolutely brilliant anime series that will go down in history as one of the greats, which is a fantastic feat for those who put so much time and effort into the development of the series, unfortunately for those people when they come together again to create another series, fans have already decided in their minds that it MUST be better than that of their previous one.
This seems to be the case with series’ like “Kill la Kill” and “Space Dandy”, two new animes that are still airing and have somewhat been victims of the affects of high expectations, it is just lucky for those two shows that they have now proven themselves as “legendary” works. At least, for most people watching.
Though the popularity level for animes like the two just mentioned is quite high at this present moment, there was a time (before they were even released) where fans were already comparing them to other works; “Kill La Kill” to “Tengen Toppa Gurren Laggan” and “Space Dandy” to “Cowboy Bebop”. That comparison which lead to a high expectation of the two could have potentially meant failure for the new animes and I’d go as far to say that, at the start of their run, they were affected by these expectations.
I noticed it on a small scale with friends mentioning how they hope “a” is as good as “b”, and “a” worked on “b” so “c” better be great, comments of that kind flew around social circles of mine quite frequently and they have been for a very long time, it is only once I caught myself doing it that I realised maybe it has to stop. I’m sure fans of “Baccano!” had high expectations for “Durarara!!” and I’m sure fans of “Fullmetal Alchemist” had somewhat high expectations for “Silver Spoon” despite the fact that they are two totally different series’ only connected by the “mangaka” that created them.
Once again, they were lucky enough to live up to the hype but what about those who don’t? What about the fantastic pieces of work that get pushed to the wayside simply because they didn’t live up to what becomes unreachable expectations? A lot of people choose to follow a series based on the the creator of that series and their past works.
On a past CC Anime podcast, us Capsule Computers anime fans spoke about Goro Miyazaki and his past “failures”, for lack of a better word. We ended up agreeing on the fact that it was high expectations that “ruined” projects like “Tales From Earthsea”. Had his last name not been “Miyazaki” maybe people would not has asked so much of him and maybe those same people would have greatly enjoyed his film, but that doesn’t seem to have been the case. If you’re interested, you can listen to that episode of the CC Anime Podcast by Clicking Here. Maybe I’m looking too much into this, even I can see why people would think that because, for every series affected by high expectations, there are a great deal that don’t.
It is obvious that my knowledge on anime throughout the years is not infinite so I’d like to ask this question to all of you out there: High Expectations – Are They Wrecking Anime? Please use the comments section below or our official Twitter @CCAnimeOfficial to voice your opinions on this topic. I and the entire team at Capsule Computers would love to hear your thoughts.
Nobunagun Gun No. 12: Operation Stone Forest (Part 2)
After a long and explosive fight last episode, Sio finally managed to put a bullet between the enemy squid/octopus thing’s eyes. Battleship sunk. Victory achieved…or so you would think. Well similar to any situation where somebody says, “Things can’t get any worse,” things took a turn for the worse. Time for round two against an opponent who has transformed all the weaknesses of its predecessor into strengths. Should be any easy fight.
Fully armed and completely dangerous
Poor Sio. Just when you think she’s done fighting, a second giant cephalopod emerges from the briny deep and gets a lot too personal with her right off the bat. Am I the only one who doesn’t understand the pragmatism behind tearing her uniform in two specific locations? I understand how it fits into the hierarchy of anime but seriously alien dude? That’s your attack strategy? Anyway, regardless of how restrictive her new situation is, Sio manages to pull of something no other character has been seen doing: Activating an AU weapon from a different limb. I know it’s not exactly practical enough to have made an appearance prior to this moment, but it was interesting to see that it’s possible. Just another example the series throws at us to show how inventive Sio can be in combat.
Now I know the enemy are specifically classified as Evolutionary Invasion Objects, but holy crap. Who’da thunk they could force such radical changes in such a short time? Over the course of a single fight, the species managed to create a new member capable of combating every single weakness its “parent” possessed. These kinds of changes have always happened off screen and in between fights, to see it happen specifically due to the fight being shown was more involving in a way. Like the enemy continues to push forward faster and faster, inventing new ways to just screw over humanity. Not that we can’t do the same in return. I of course speak of the power of science. When forced into the middle of combat, I was kinda worried that Hunter would remain the archetypal coward. Then part of me remembered that this is the final fight and when that magical time rolls around, the cowards cut loose in one way or another. Utilising the power of his smart sciency brain, he devised a plan that was equal parts brilliant and malicious. I mean, having an army tear itself apart? Brutal. Though truly more Hunter’s speed. After damn near breaking down after killing an Object, the series reminds us that not every DOGOO soldier was built for this kind of duty. A fact that’s easy to forget when most weeks focus on Sio or Jack. In the same vein, we are given a brief glimpse of society, struck by awe and fear as their entire lives are turned upside down. It served to show that there is a world beyond DOGOO, full of people without the power to fight back. It really puts things in perspective doesn’t it?
Battered, bruised, but not beaten
Speaking of, Jack and Geronimo also got a chance to lets their slasher smiles show as they tore through roughly 1000 Objects each. Now that’s one hell of a kill/death ratio. In order to win the slaughter bet they agreed upon (the body counter was a nice touch), Geronimo unleashes a new power, a mode change entitled Ghost Protocol. Though not 100% explained, the mode grants her a power boost with an apparent increase in her aggression. Also a gratuitous amount of weaponry sprouting from every limb. I’d call it ridiculous if it weren’t so damn effective. On the topic of bizarre transformations, our old friend Jack also receives a combat upgrade in the form of some shiny new wings…made of knives. Contrary to Geronimo however, this mode change was not instigated by Jack, but rather the soul of the Ripper who dwells within. Possessing the unexplained ability to see Sio from kilometres away, through a wall of stone might I add, the spirit tells Jack to help her. Now, this exchange alone is rather interesting because it expresses that there is a dialogue possible between E-Gene and Holder. Our main example up to this point has been Sio who is consumed by Nobunaga’s persona, so I definitely liked getting the chance to see this different kind of relationship.
Oh yeah, it turns out that Jack also has two E-Genes within him. That kinda came out of nowhere. In addition to Jack the Ripper, Jack also houses the spirit of Florence Nightingale, manifested in the gloriously winged Nightingale Mode. Now I know I say this a lot, but man was that an interesting turn of events. Nothing from previous episodes hinted at the possibility that two E-Genes could co-exist in one body, let alone the spirits of a serial killer and a nurse. Though they never said it wasn’t possible. This situation could be the reason that Jack is not so readily consumed by the desires of his E-Gene, having two dragging him in separate directions. The implantation of both may have also been on purpose, as a way to utilise the “talents” of Jack the Ripper without losing control of such a volatile spirit. Perhaps that’s why the Ripper always seems so polite to Jack? Either that or he’s that kind of suave villain type. Regardless, I’m definitely curious to see what Florence Nightingale brings to the fight. (I honestly think that’s the first time that sentence has ever been written)
The Angel of Death
Well folks, I’m gonna say it like it is. The world is in crisis. From the brief glimpse we gained of the other platoons, the fight isn’t exactly leaning in humanity’s favour. But with a newly transformed Jack and the iron willed Nobunagun, we just might have a fighting chance. Though they might want to pick up the pace a little, there’s only one episode left.
Kodansha Comics confirmed over the weekend that one of its newest manga titles “The Heroic Legend Of Arslan” will be hitting North American shores sometime in the near future.
Unfortunately no specific release date was announced for the manga though but it has definitely been confirmed for a release outside of Japan. The manga series, written and illustrated by acclaimed “mangaka” Hiromu Arakawa – who is known for the brilliant series “Fullmetal Alchemist” and the great slice-of-life series “Silver Spoon” which was only recently adapted into an anime series – follows the story of Arslan; a prince whose kingdom has been taken over by a neighbouring nation.
Now kicked out of the throne, Arsland must gather the lands greatest warriors in order to build a powerful army and take back the land that is rightfully his. The manga is Hiromu Arakawa’s take on the the original “The Heroic Legend of Arslan” which is a series of Japanese fantasy novels written by Yoshiki Tanaka that are actually still being written to this day.
As mentioned above; there is no exact release date for the manga but as soon as one is released you can guarantee it will be reported on here at Capsule Computers so stick around.
