Digibro’s Media Journal (April 2013)

Did this month even happen? Where am I? Holy fuck. For real, I have no idea what happened to me this month. I guess I’d have to use my posts and videos to figure it out. At least most of what I remember was media-related, so this month should be a bit more exciting than the last two were.

Honestly, this journal is incomplete because I mostly listened to a shitload of music thanks to The Needle Drop, but most of it I haven’t had enough time with to really talk about. These Media Journals get more complicated to do every month I swear.

+++ Media

Tomb Raider

I still haven’t finished this yet, but god damn have I been enjoying it. I’ve come to realize that two of the things I value most in video games are the feeling of movement, and exploration, and Tomb Raider totally fits my needs in those departments. There’s way more to discover than meets the eye, and the mechanics are a blast to play with. Yeah, I absolutely hate the scripted sequences and shit, but I’m willing to look past those things because the rest of the game is so exciting. I also skipped all the cutscenes because like, whatever. I don’t care.

Little Witch Academia

This got me more excited about anime than I’d been in a long time, and I was hugely disappointed when I found out it was just a one-off thing (I hadn’t known before watching). It’s drop-dead gorgeous, with some characters who really deserved more show to be in, and has a truckload of heart. It reminded me a lot of Stray Little Devil, which I suspect it would’ve been a lot like if they made a whole show.

MrBtongue’s videos

Someone introduced me to this guy recently, and I very quickly binge-watched all his videos. This guy is without question up there in the top tier of games analysts with Errant Signal and Extra Credits, and I look forward to anything he might want to talk about in the future. Also, I’m up for using the word “shandification” from now on.

Shane Koyczan – The Crickets Have Arthritis

I can’t remember if I shared anything by this dude last month, but I just found this video this month, so that’s enough of an excuse. I don’t know what it is about his stuff that gets to me, but god damn I love it. He’s given me a much larger interest in spoken word poetry to be sure.

++ Media

Brandon Tolentino’s Top 100 Songs

Much like the top 100 bands list back in February, I listened to Tolentino’s Top 100 songs this month, and found I liked a lot more of it than I expected. He’s still kinda struggling to get through my list, but at least he’s making an effort. I’m thinking of trying to help him broaden his musical horizons by getting him into metal music.

Suisei no Gargantia (4 eps)

Easily the most exciting anime to come out this season, Gargantia is gorgeous, has tremendous attention to detail, and is exciting to look at. I’ve got a list of issues with it that are ensuring it’s lack of favoritism at this point, but I’m nonetheless enjoying it and hoping to see it go in interesting directions.

m b v – My Bloody Valentine

So, I’d never actually listened to My Bloody Valentine until this new album of theirs, and I’m in love with it. I listened to it on repeat while playing Tomb Raider and enjoyed it a lot, though the last two songs don’t grab me as much as the rest. I haven’t been able to get as much into their other albums yet, but I’ll certainly try.

Smooth McGroove

DUDE, JUST LOOK AT IT.

The Needle Drop

I was introduced to The Internet’s Busiest Music Nerd this month and started using him as a recommendation radio of sorts. I spent a significant amount of time listening to his whole loved list for the year and other stuff that he reviews, and as a result I’m WAY more up to date on music than I’ve ever been in my life.

Shingeki no Kyojin (4 eps)

All I knew about this manga is that everyone likes it, it’s dark, and all the women are insanely beautiful. The anime doesn’t quite capture the gorgeous character designs, but it nonetheless looks fantastic and… really Madhouse? I’ve got suspicions that this is where the people who left Madhouse have gone, since it really feels like them in every way. So far the story is pretty standard shounen affair, albeit on the dark side, but it has fun stuff. Sasha is the best so far. Oh, and that great OP by Linked Horizon!

Louis CK – Oh My God

I’m a huge fan of Louis CK, and his latest HBO special doesn’t disappoint. I’ll probably watch it a few more times before too long.

+ Media

Meir – Kvelertak

A very cool riff-frenzy of an album, which constantly walks the line between hard rock and extreme metal, with interesting results. My friend Brando got really into this album, but for me it’s not quite my thing. Still worth a shot, though.

I’m Drowning In Footwear

This dude has all kinds of weird stuff on his channel, from game reviews in the style of someone like the Angry Video Game Nerd, to My Little Pony gangster rap songs, and even spoken word poetry like the excellent piece above.

Beer and Board Games

A fun show in which some dudes get royally drunk and play board games, ranging from mundane to utterly obscure. Just generally fun stuff.

Van Canto

Acapela metal music. Need I say more? Well, yes. As impressive as this gimmick is, the band unfortunately has chosen to do pretty much generic metal riffs and structures, so I haven’t really gotten into it beyond this song. Still fun to know about, though.

~ Media

Bioshock Infinite

I’m still getting weird looks for not liking this game, though it shouldn’t be too surprising. I think it appeals more to people who follow games regularly and are more accustomed to shooters and AAA games in general. Having declared in this post already that sense of movement and exploration are my favorite things in games, you might see why this game didn’t appeal to me much in its core mechanics, and I also found the story totally bland. I’ve got a review here, though really Errant Signal does a better job.

Darksiders

I’ve written about this one as well. It’s pretty funny that I spent the bigger portion of this month on games that I ultimately didn’t like, having spent at least a day or two on the three games in my ~ list. Darksiders was just a means to get through my top 50 albums list, and  I still couldn’t bring myself to ride it through to the end.

Final Fantasy

Yep, I’ve started on a project to play all the Final Fantasy games. I played FFI up through getting the first crystal before deciding there was nothing left to see here (fwiw I’ve played through almost this whole game 8 years ago). I can totally see the appeal of this game in its historical context, but everything that it does has since been expanded on SO much that it’s really difficult to come back to.

Others I Tried:

These are mostly things which I played/watched anywhere from ten minutes to several hours of and couldn’t get into them. I probably won’t pick any of them back up.

Dansai Bunri no Crime Edge (1 ep): Utterly incomprehensible, and for some reason looks like it was made in 2007 on a low budget.

Kakumeiki Valvrave (1 ep): Gave me cancer. I’ve rarely seen such inept directing in a show with this kind of budget, and I had no idea what the fuck was happening.

Ginga Kikoutai Majestic Prince (1 ep): Boring and slow and really bizarrely bad sound direction, which is a rare problem.

RDG: Red Data Girl (1 ep): Almost fell asleep this shit was so god damn boring.

Karneval (1 ep): Bland BL show by Manglobe. At this point, I don’t think following the studio is really worthwhile anymore. This show doesn’t seem bad, but not my thing.

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.

Aku no Hana (1 ep)
Hataraku Maou-sama! (1 ep)
Makthaverskan – II
Iceage – You’re Nothing
Foxygen – We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace and Magic
The Progressive Era – PEEP: The AProcalypse
Milo – Things That Happen At Day/Things That Happen At Night
Circle Takes The Square: Decompositions Volume Number One
The Dear Hunter – Migrant
Ghostface Killah – Twelve Reasons To Die
Envy (band)