Digibro’s Media Journal (February 2013)

God damn, what an uneventful month for media. You’d think that leaving my job would mean much more time for stuff, but nooo, ponieponieponieponieponie. (I ended up throwing some pony on the list too, so it would at least be indicative of what actually happened this month.)

Just how serious was this pony takeover? It’s not just a matter of making so many videos—it’s also a matter of constantly reading comments, talking to people on skype and AIM about the show, looking at fanworks, and getting swamped in news and recommendations. I keep thinking I should also do something else, but it’s hard to even bring myself to, because I’m so wrapped up in the excitement of my videos rapidly increasing in popularity. Suffice it to say, I’m not complaining, I’m just overwhelmed. And it doesn’t help that the three-plus score is in seriously short supply this month.

+++ Media

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Season 3 Finale

I’m spotlighting this particular episode because it was kind of a big deal, and because I spotlighted the season premiere back in November. After a couple of weaker episodes and a whole tidal wave of drama that went through the fandom this month, the season finale made it all better for me, and for some others—though far from everyone. It was one of the most controversial episodes of the show, preceded by a shitstorm, and succeeded by equal showers of shit and praise. I was among the first responders with a message of absolute ecstasy.

What will survive all the fandom stuff is an amazing musical episode with some of the coolest visuals and directing flair in the series. This episode brought me the kind of excitement that I used to feel when watching something like the first episode of Fate/Zero, or an Akiyuki Shinbo show, when I was just being blown away by the flair of it all. But this one has the virtue of also being part of my favorite show ever, so yeah, it’s a big deal.

++ Media

Doctor Who Series 1

I’ve been primed for watching Doctor Who by the rampant crossovers it has with the My Little Pony fandom, but nothing actually prepared me for what this show is—ultra fucking cheesy. That’s not a bad thing, though there’s times when it gets hard to care, when the show starts explaining things out of its ass that it doesn’t actually care about making sense of.

Still, it’s a great show. The Doctor is a brilliant character from the conceptual level, and I really enjoyed Christopher Eccleson’s portrayal of him (still getting used to David Tenant). Once the show started hitting all these big emotional moments around episode six, I got a lot more invested, and the sci-fi elements are very cool. I wish there were less episodes that took place in modern London, but whatever. The season finale was such an amazing payoff that it makes the whole series worth recommending for me.

Wonder Woman volume 1

The only comic book I read this month; a holdover from my New 52 marathoning last month. I stopped reading comics for a few reasons: the lack of involvement by Brandon Tolentino, the fact that I can’t afford to buy them flippantly anymore, and of course, ponies.

Wonder Woman is ultra kick-ass as an action story. The characters are cool and likable, and the designs are some of the coolest that I’ve seen out of the New 52. Centering the story around a battle between the Gods was a great idea, and the story does well to give weight to their presence. Plus there’s some badass fights.

Vinyl and Octavia: University Days

Probably effectively my favorite fanfiction. I’ve already made a video about it (see above) and that’s pretty much what I’ve got to say.

Astolat – The Faceless Mask

Interestingly enough, I discovered this band via a song they linked on Reddit, which I happened to click when I was randomly reading musical subreddits months ago. I commented on the video and they put me on their youtube mailing list. When the EP finally came out, I think I was the first to buy it, and am still one of only a few (sadly).

It’s a progressive doom metal album, though it’s probably special in that this title doesn’t immediately tell you what they sound like. There’s an odd kind of clarity to it for a doom album, but it’s definitely got that crushing, sorrowful atmosphere, especially on songs like Atlus’ Burden. It definitely deserves more attention then it seems to be getting so far. If you’re into prog or metal or, you know, music, give it a shot.

SWAG.MOV

The epic conclusion to the Pony.MOV series, which has been a sort of staple of the MLP fandom since close to the beginning. It’s infamous, but at the same time, it really is a good series. and it’s not just some flippant bullshit. Max Giliardi put his heart into it, and there’s a reason he gets panels at so many MLP conventions.

SWAG.MOV seems to reflect the ultimately positive feelings that Giliardy has about the fandom and the series, in that he actually gave it some kind of twisted, badass happy ending. I think it was Omo who said something about how a great ending can make a whole series wortwhile, and I think that kind of applies here.

Ask Jappleack

So, I was aware that there was a side-blog to the Pony.MOV canon and that it was supposedly serious and quite good, but I only got around to reading it after watching SWAG.MOV. The story was more interesting than I expected, and had a lot of heart and real dramatic weight to it (more than just some bullshit sadfic). I enjoyed the hell out of it, and I think it adds a LOT to the .MOV canon (kind of justifies it as a canon in the first place.) Also, Jappleack is adorable, and saves the entire pony multiverse.

Le Soldat Pony

I listened to just enough Le Soldat Pony that I feel like I can list him, whereas I’m skipping over a whole lot of musicians and video makers who I only watched one or two videos of this month. Le Soldat is cool as a shit, and while I don’t like all of his songs, the ones I do like are very worthwhile. He gives me the same kind of vibe as TV On the Radio for some reason, where I feel like he’s just content to experiment a lot and do whatever he feels like.

Space Pony – SoGreatAndPowerful

I’m a giant SGAP fan, and I think I’ve featured him in one of these before, but I’m always looking for an excuse to do so again. This month, he released three short songs which, when put together, form one long song called Space Pony. It’s one of his most imaginative works to date, and I think it’s just THE SHIT, OKAY?

+ Media

Dr. Hooves and the Assistant

I watched/listened to the first four of these I think, which is what launched me into watching Doctor Who itself. I love the voice work in this series, because the actors have a great chemistry together, and they really seem to enjoy doing it. I still have to get around to listening to more, though there’s an extent to which I think it’s only *so* worthwhile. Still, I’m not done.

Destroyer;Preserver – I

I found this on reddit, referring to itself as “like Coheed and Cambria.” This comparison is almost an understatement—the album very much wears its CoCa influence on its sleeve. The titling conventions, the way the music and vocals are, everything pretty much screams CoCa. It actually has more energy than the latest CoCa releases (which we’ll get to in a minute), but ultimately, it’s not that interesting. I’m sure this music is for someone, but it’s not really for me. Giving it a + partly for support.

~ Media

Giana Sisters DS

I still haven’t managed to finish Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams, which I +++’d last month, but I figured I’d give it’s nearly-unknown DS predecessor a shot just for shit’s and giggles. And, well, it’s kinda shit. The controls are stiff, it’s not very tightly put together, and more than anything, it’s just boring and generic as fuck. The music is nice—the art isn’t.

The Afterman: Ascension & Descension – Coheed and Cambria

These albums are just boring. Coheed doesn’t bring anything interesting or exciting to their new releases. They sound like “generic Coheed songs,” which is not something that really existed before these albums came along. The only song on either album that really pops out is Number City, precisely because it DOES sound like a fresh Coheed sound, and is a good one at that. The rest is almost entirely forgettable. I didn’t have high hopes for these albums because I’m not a big fan of Year of the Black Rainbow, but it’s still pretty disappointing to see a band that I really like putting out mediocre music. (NOTE: This whole write-up could very well prove untrue before long. It wouldn’t be the first time that I ended up liking a Coheed album way more than I originally did, down the line.)

No “Others I Tried” section this month.

Not Yet Qualified: These are all the media that I’ve consumed to some degree and am not yet done with. They might fall into any of the lists above on my next journal post. Any media from last month’s post which aren’t in any above category still apply to this list.

Doctor Who Series 2 (5 eps) (Hard to keep my excitement up, honestly)