Okay, you've waited long enough. "Games, Zach!!!! I'm a nerd, feed me!!!" you've probably cried during my discussion about music and movies. "I need to eat games,,, to live!!" Well. Here's this year's top five in no particular order. But you'll kinda get the idea of which one I liked most. Majora's Mask 3D
"don't forget to like and subscribe"
I want you to think back to that one time that you had to put butter in a hot pan. We've all done it, each with our own reasons that brought us there. For some of us it was a choice that we willingly made, we chose to put the butter in the pan. For others it was a matter of life and death—putting the butter in the hot pan was our way of paving a greasy path to avoid starvation. But everyone, for good or bad, has put butter into a hot pan, and we all know what happens when we do that: it dances its mesmerizingly tragic dance. We watch it slide hither and tither as its congealed fats and salts and... yellow stuffs begin to shimmer and seep. Like the forlorn song of a dying swan, the butter's beautiful dance precedes only one outcome: its eventual death.
Playing Majora's Mask 3D for the 3DS was a lot like this, for me, personally. A very beautiful stick of butter that I watched melt for like the 10 hours I sunk in, and then.. it was gone. With nothing to sauté in the hot butter juice, I ended up not finishing the game. It was far and away one of the prettiest games I played all year (any game that's effectively able to dazzle me with its use of purple is game of the year material), but playing a game I'd already played plenty of times as a middle schooler was not necessarily high on my gaming priorities for this year. Majora is a fave of mine, doing things no other Zelda does (like spitting in your face), so maybe in 2016 I'll be able to justify it.
Q: snake, what is best in life?
SNAKE: it's dogs, dogs are.
SNAKE: dogs.
Phantom Pain is one of the few games in the last few years that I've actively thought about when I wasn't playing it (2015 gave me a couple of games that did that, incidentally). Sitting in my car on a break from work or spacing out on the couch, I would often find myself thinking of different ways to successfully invade enemy territories, or figure out ways to trap would-be comrades. With the level of detail and interactive design (and one of the most complicated-yet-totally-works-after-you-play-it-enough control setups ever), there's really no limit to what you're capable of doing. One time I air-lifted a car into an assault chopper with a weird balloon. One time I made my horse defecate on a road, which caused a jeep full of missile-toting jerks to slide and crash into a wall. One time I told my dog to run up to this dude and electrocute him with this rad electric knife. One time I threw a grenade from an impossible angle and had my sniper-buddy shoot the thing into a tent filled with bad men. I painted my helicopter purple. I listened to "Take On Me" while I jumped out of a careening jeep with four C-4 packs strapped to the front of it as it entered an enemy prison where a group of guys were mobilizing to look for me because one of their snipers had seen me and told someone and promptly fell asleep right after because of a choice sleeping dart I shot into his shoulder and they were offended and ready to kill me but before they knew it I had already won.........
It's the perfection of the series, in my totally correct opinion, and it's great because p much anyone can play if they want to but have never played the previous games. "5" is a pretty intimidating number to feel like you're coming in on, but the game certainly won't punish you for it at all. If you want to know more, there's no end to your growing cassette tape collection (the game takes place in 1984, even though some of the tech is years beyond our own) that allows you to catch up on any details you might wanna know more about. Or any music from the 80's you might have missed out on.
But more than that, it's just a fun game to play. With no set-in-stone ways to go about the missions, you can decide to play differently each time (and benefit from doing that, as enemies will learn your patterns), maybe blowing everything up, or sneaking in and out without leaving a trace behind. This and Undertale are tied for my Games of 2015, as both covered an incredible spectrum of what the Video Game has become and what it's capable of. I highly recommend it.
[turns away from this image] oh, hi
[turns back to this image] oh, yes
I bet you weren't expecting to hear about this game for the umpteenth time, huh. Well. Look at my blog title....... (ump.... teen..th) haha, jokes on you. I'll be brief because I like the game too much to ruin it for possible converts and you might also be sick of hearing/seeing so much about it on the internet due to its overnight success and larrrrggeee fandom.
It's my favorite game of 2015 and is currently at the top of my list, "Favorite Games of Zach Mendelson's Puny Life". It's a real list, and it is hidden in my heart, where it shall remain until the sun blows up and brings us our Final Peace.
Undertale is a game that watches you play it and will let you know frequently that it knows what/why you're doing whatever it is. I sincerely believe that this is the largest step we've taken towards treating the medium of "games" as "art", an age-old discussion that I'm quite frankly sick of because of what so many people will claim is art, or rather settle for, in order to justify something they feel otherwise embarrassed about with people unfamiliar/uninterested with the medium. Games have a hellllll of a long way to go before we can start really thinking of the entire medium that way, but there are a handful of games I'd argue that have taken these revolutionary steps towards whatever That is.
Undertale is one of them. And you should play it. If anything I've said has interested you, please let me know! I have a couple copies of the game I've purchased for evangelistic purposes and would love to just straight up give it to you, so long as you promise to play it honestly to the end. Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate
i can't really explain it. just watch this and you'll get the idea.
Monster Hunter 4 was the other game I fantasized most about this year (the first chunk of it, at least). Apparently set in some other dimension in the future where society has collapsed and we've reverted back to hunter-gatherer stuff, you take the role of a hunter (or gatherer! there's lots of that) who wants to get to the bottom of this weird thing that's ......
Okay the story's great but that's not what's cool about MonHun. It's the game. The game is... it's really cool. Imagine a game where you hunt gigantic dinosaurs and you look for tell-tale clues to lead you to them on these big maps and when you find them you have to basically figure out how you're going to kill this thing that's like 20 times bigger than you and dead-set on eating you alive. The delight from the game comes from planning the Hunt. You spend most of your time organizing and crafting items, weapons, and armor from different creatures you've hunted or from the resources you've gathered in the field. That gigantic tooth on that One Thing makes for a reallllly cool lance, for example. Or the shell from that gigantic beetle that basically impaled you 100 times makes for a really cool helmet/breastplate combo. Every item matters in this game, and learning how to best use them is part of the experience. Now imagine doing all this with a friend. Or two. Or three!! (wowwww) The joy of the multiplayer hunting is what kept me going for a majority of my play-through.
But what's most fun is the battling itself. No two Big Things are the same, and all of the monsters fight very differently from one another. One of them is blind, using sound to both sense where you are and attack. Another is a weird shark frog..... it's weird. And then there's more traditional enemies like Big Frickin Dragons, who take to the skies and dive-bomb you with flames and big sharp teeth and stuff.
It's loads of fun. It's portable, and it's usually on sale. Check it out if you have a 3DS. Or don't. You have the choice to do the wrong thing.
once more into the fray,
into the last good fight you'll ever know,
to live and die in this ink,
to live and die in this ink.
And here's the best multiplayer game of 2015, and, possibly, ever. With a metric ton of charm and a world literally oozing with creativity, this is probably Nintendo's greatest IP since Mario (shots intentionally fired). Basically: it's squid-kids with super-soakers trying to lay down as much colorful ink on the map within a time limit to secure victory. There are many more game modes too, some of which debuted months after the game's launch for free (a very clever way to keep people interested/playing), including an explosive capture the flag, king of the hill, and... like, imagine king of the hill but the hill moves and you have to take it to the opposite team's base........ hard to explain, but that one's the best by far. [clenches fist and stares at the rainmaker...]
Light on story, heavy on fun gameplay (as Nintendo is known to do), Splatoon is far and away one of the most enjoyable, frenetic multiplayer experiences you'll ever have. With its only flaw being the lack of local multiplayer (unless you've got a bunch of Wii U's and TV's lying around....), you'll be hard-pressed to find anything else to fault it with. Simple in its execution, expansive in its playability, unforgettable to those who pick it up.
Stay fresh.
~ ~ ~
Honorable Mentions (there's a lot here, basically because i'm an awful hikikomori [sly smile] nerd):
Persona 4 Golden - i want to finish this game soooo badly. but. it's a jrpg. and i've got like 6 different jrpgs on my plate right now. i'm 7/10's of the way through, i promise. just... give me.... more time.....!! Trails in the Sky - i couldn't finish in time for 2016, so i'm planning on merging a review of it with SC for next year's list. i loooove the localization though--probably the best thing about it. Witcher 3 - my open-world game of the year... if my harddrive hadn't wiped my 40 hours of progress. maybe i'll get around to it again... or watch a friend or my children play it when i'm like 78 and have time. Pokemon Trading Card Game - has the potential be the best rpg in the world. Monument Valley - best mobile phone game i've ever ever played. highly recommend. v short. Fallout 4 - it was great for the first 6 hours when i was terrified of everything, and then i got better weapons, and... it got really boring. Yo-kai Watch - a very good game! i enjoyed it more than i've enjoyed the last few pokemon games, but... it was too short, and pretty light on rpg mechanics, so i wouldn't mind playing a more complicated version of it some time in the future. Story of Seasons - this is only here because i spent the most time behind MGSV playing this (roughly 50 hours) and i'm scared of what will happen if/when i load it up again... farming simulators have always been a sort of stumbling block for me. Xenoblade Chronicles X - if i had more time this probably would have been up there. Danganronpa - the best M-Rated Phoenix Wright game i've ever played
do it do it [hits desk with fists] do i t doitd o i t do i t!
I must iterate here, at the beginning of my splurging about Oldboy, that I'm only forever going to speak positively about it's original Korean adaptation from 2003 and act like that xenophobic modern American-atrocity never happened.
Okay, sweet. Yeah, this movie rocks. As you might have learned about me, through casual conversation, in-depth conversation, idling conversation, workplace banter, obsessive text-messages, weird phone backgrounds, scary voicemails, I'm a really big fan of The Count of Monte Cristo. In my opinion, the original novel is probably the best revenge narrative we'll ever have--the Form of Revenge, I'll even say. I'll die for that, that's something I'd die for, yup. But... in the year of our lord 2015 I had some serious stumblings when, from a close friend's advice, I watched Oldboy (2003) (the Korean one) (not the American one) (the good one) (the Actual Film) (not that masturbatory action flick, the american one) (I don't like that one (the American one)). A terrifying tale about [Stuff That Would Spoil The Whole Movie], you are thoroughly engaged like........ the whole time. The cinematography is great (yeah, I know what cinematopgraohghtu is..), use of color off the chartsssss, and the music with its synthy absurdity only helps to plug you into the spiralling insanity.
Though, what I liked most about this film was how much it appealed to me as a creator—this is the sort of movie that I really would hope you'd watch and go, "haha... zach's pretty messed up, but this is totally something that he'd like/want to make". It's currently on Netflix and I sincerely hope you check it out after my vague fangirling, but this is one of those movies that really begs you to know absolutely nothing going in for you to fully enjoy it. It's a risky tale to tell (thus the weird/awful/terrible/[vomit noises] American adaptation that sought to downplay the absurdity in favor of action-porn), but I think it's a beautiful gem that you've probably never seen anything like before (unless you've forced yourself to sit through I Come with the Rain, in which case... man why did you do that).
bestttt best best bebstbs tbs tbe tbs tbe sbte character, for sure
Who would have thought that my favorite Sergio Leone spaghetti western would be one without Clint Eastwood? About 7 years ago I sat down to watch this and turned it off after like 20 minutes when I didn't see Clint (thinking it was For A Few Dollars More), and turned on For A Few Dollars More. Which, was, a tragic mistake,,,
Don't get me wrong, the Man With No Name trilogy is fun and great and good, but it's nothing compared to Leone's epic Once Upon a Time in the West. That's great, good, wonderful, superb. Characters, sets, plot, dialogue, lack of dialogue... the best part of this movie, in truth, is whenever there's nothing to be said. Such care went into every shot, every line, every crescendo, and it all shows. Similar to Kurosawa's method of having actors pick a gesticulation for the audience to identify them by, Leone is able to masterfully do the same, though obviously more subtly. This isn't kabuki.
I would loooove to see film return to long-form storytelling again, but I think we've phased that out for the convenience of the "television series" and Netflix binging (which, to be fair, isn't evil, and is, in fact, p great, if you do so with good stuff (stay tuned for my television post)). We can easily stop and walk away, allowing us to eventually sink in more than a few hours for a usually 8/10 storyline, making it seem a better alternative to planting yourself for several hours in this high velocity culture. But I'm probably only one of a few that would love to abscond with the silver screen for several hours. If you're like me, or wanna feel what it's like to fall in love with Film, check this out.
Also: there's an incredible Morricone soundtrack, which should be justification enough.
bae: come over
me: i'm busy allocating this kingdom amongst my sons
bae: my parents aren't home
me: [just throws my kingdom to my sons]
I watched a loooot of Kurosawa in 2015. I know I'm really late to the party, but you'll thank me for sparing your more blubbering about Seven Samurai. That one's nice, sure. But have you seen his other stuff??
"Ran" is great. It's based on King Lear, a Shakespeare I never had the pleasure to read, which made for a pretty thrilling movie. If you know the story of King Lear, then yeah, it's pretty much that set in the Sengoku era. And if you're like "zach..... i've already read that.......... and if it's not a straight-exact-adaptation, why would i wanna watch" and that's when i say "man it looks incredible". That opening is in my top 3 film openings of alllll time. Check this out. Tell me you're not like "WHAT! GRASS????" after watching this.
What's most interesting to me about this Kurosawa film compared to the other works I'd seen is its use of color. The picture I picked for the post is a pretty good example, if I do say so myself (I do). Primary colors (each representing one of his sons) are bold and defined by obvious shapes, while Ichimongi's white clothing causes him, by contrast, to remain set apart from the rest of the scenes (usually dark, covered in smoke, soot, shadow, etc.).
I worry about treading too far into plot discussion since I know people who like Kurosawa and Shakespeare and I would only create a torrent for myself to get beat up in, but suffice it to say: it good. It's also a really long movie, so, set some time aside for one of the better reimaginings of Shakespeare you'll ever see. Probably. Idk.
i wanna make a joke real bad but this part is too sad, so instead i'll say an unrelated joke: donald trump
Alright. This one was hard. I wanted to put it up higher on my list, but it wasn't for any legitimate reason. The reason it's here at all is because of the severe visceral effect it had on me when I watched it. This is probably one of the saddest movies I've ever seen.
For anyone that's seen a movie with me, they know I'm a crier. I cry at like any sign of intimacy or innocence or anything Good, so you're probably going "of course you cried, you crier, you baby man, you glorified sprinkler head". At several points in the movie I had spilled over, feeling incredible sadness for this tortured character, but the ending caused me to do those dry heave things and my eyes hurt throughout the next day because of how much crying I did. This is that sort of movie that you can probably use to test people to see if they're actual human beings with actual feelings or not, it's that bad. A surefire litmus—if you watch this with a friend who doesn't cry during the bathroom scene (or at least kinda gets freaked out), then they are probably a demon sent to tempt and eventually devour you.
Watch The Elephant Man, but do it with a box of tissues, please.
I resolved that I wouldn't write about Star Wars because everyone (myself included) is probably sick of seeing it all over the place. So I decided instead to talk about the movie that was responsible for the creation of R2-D2 and C-3PO. It's...... a Kurosawa film [gasp].
That knuckle-headed, dragged-along-for-the-ride humor is the centerpiece of this film with Tahei and Matashichi, two lowly peasants who find themselves caught up in a civil war of sorts between two tribes. Princess Leia is there, sure, and Toshiro Mifune (Lucas' original target for Darth Vader/Obi Wan) is there too. All your Star War is there. But, thankfully, this story doesn't take three films to tell.
What made this Kurosawa film so much more enjoyable to me than others that I watched was how the characters developed and played off of one another. The loyalty of Mifune's character to the princess and the dead-beats that follow him make for a pretty wholesome adventure movie, filled with its share of hijinks and moments of awe (the battle scene and honorable death come to mind). It might not be the most exciting to some, but I sure as heck had a good time with it. And, though I'm loathe to mention it any more, if you're really interested in checking out what inspired George Lucas when drafting the original Star Wars trilogy, you'll notice a lot of little things that went into the series from this film.
~ ~ ~
Some Honorable Mentions:
MAD MAX - this was the first film i ever went to see in the theater all by myself. it only took me until i was 23 to experience how cool that feeling was. and it was a great movie to do that with. WAKING NED DEVINE - an irish black comedy that is just really really really good.' YOJIMBO - i don't need to talk about kurosawa anymore NORTH BY NORTHWEST - this was a really good hitchcock film, and i recommend it if you wanna know more behind kanye west's nomenclature methods. JURRASIC WORLD - i want to be a dinosaur
Welcome! As I'm writing this it's like, two days, before my blog-post-extravaganza, and I'm stress-eating and drinking, a, lot, of,, coffeee,,, so bear with me as I work through my Innermost Feelings to bring You, the Reader, my Humble Suggestions and Correct Opinions on Things. As I mentioned in the big ol' post that'll probably show up below this one when this is published, I'm gonna write in a specific order that takes advantage of your attention span. The best way I can think to share my thoughts with you is to share my most Malformed and Probably Least Knowledgable Area of Entertainment first, before all the other topics that I know muuuch more about, to familiarize you with my vernacular, my wit, my handsome blog interface (it's green!! (!!??!!??!!??)), and... well, really, just to get my creative juices flowing by trying to think well on a subject that just largely evades me in general: music.
Alright, let's start this thing. Music is the thing I know how to write well about the least, so, please, don't excuse my unceremonious nature when talking about these tunes—but also don't say anything negative because I refuse to listen to anyone who would say I'm wrong or snobby, for I know very well that I'm usually both of those.
In no particular order, but with obvious bias written in appropriate entries, here're the things I enjoyed listening to the most this year, 2015:
ABSOLUTELY NUMBER 1: Alive! At the Village Gate 1962 - Coleman Hawkins
Yeah this was probably one of the best things I listened to this year that I think would be the most generally appropriate thing to share with you, the Reader. Jazz is pretty cool sometimes, and Coleman Hawkins is probably even just as cool.
Real talk: this is basically a big ol' cover album (though, how much of jazz and bebop wasn't? (rhetorical—I don't actually know, please don't tell me though)). With some old spirituals (Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho is probably the absolutely number 1 best song on the album, jsyk) and other popular numbers from around that... decade or so, like Mack the Knife and Bean and the Boys (those are nice, you'd recognize them, probably, I swear!), this live album is a collection of Really Good Stuff that you should Listen To. This is the kind of warm music you'd listen to in a cafe or bar that had a lot of wooden furniture and yellow lights. The chair's soft and you're just whiling away your time, listening to this, maybe tapping your foot and thinking. Or something. That's what this sounds like.
I really like Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho and feel like I need to link it here and be done talking about this album, though, because, I can't really.... accurately talk about music. And there's more music to talk about..!!
Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho, and He Did a P Good Job If It Sounded Anything like This When He Did It
ACTUALLY, THIS IS MY #1 BUT I WANTED TO SOFTEN YOU UP: Happy End (はっぴえんど)
I chose the entire band's discography for this, but it's not cheating, because I make up my own rules on my own blog that I update once a year-ish. So, yeah. Happy End was a band that was around for a couple years after 1969 who made a couple albums and then fell apart, largely in part to their disillusionment with America—they were, as a lot of young Japanese fellas during the time, kinda enamored with western culture. As their success grew they were recognized by some higher-ups in America and offered a shot to make an album with a record company... Things didn't really pan out and because they didn't speak much english they were taken advantage of and yeah, they broke up and broke hearts across Japan with their wholly unique (at the time) sound.
I read that in a blog post I can no longer find earlier in the year, so I paraphrased and got most of it right. But that's not why I'm telling you to listen to them! I just wanted to prove that they were real, maybe to you.. maybe to myself.
Anyway, if you were the type that found yourself listening to J-Rock and J-Pop like ME in middle school/high school/dark moments in your college career/etc. (I FREELY ADMIT IT), but find yourself wanting to hear something a little more folksy because you're in your mid-twenties and That's A Thing Right Now, you might like these guys. If we're Facebook Official Friends then you'd probably seen me post numerous times about them when I first discovered them, but you should really check em out if you haven't.
I have a suggestion for listening to them: burn some on a CD, get in your car, make sure it's like 90 something degrees that day, and drive around with the windows down. This is that Summer Music, that Sweet Lovin' You Need, that Pick-Me-Up-Why-Don't-You we all inevitably need in this collapsing economy. American Culture won't last very much longer, and soon all will rust and things that you thought used to mean so much to you will pale in the cold light of the Trump-Clump-Cult's all-consuming empire, but... you'll always have catchy tunes like this until the Electromagnetic Pulse that'll kickstart the second stone age pops.
tell me why this doesn't sound like some summer day in your misspent youth, i want you to tell me to my face
#8 In the Court of the Crimson King - King Crimson
This was my eighth fave album this year.
I wasn't really into rock and stuff in 6th-7th grade when everyone was buying their black Dickies jackets and covering them with patches from bands like "Poison" and "ACDC" and "Gunmetal Sex Roses" (the latter of which should totally be a band), but I'll always remember that that happened. Do you guys still have those jackets?? They probably still fit, they were HUGE. No, instead, I got a patch of a hyper-realistic mushroom and tried to put it on my backpack because I like the Mario Brothers and was a Huge Nerd.
Anyway, I thought this album would remind me of those days, in a way—a lot of kids listening to music with mature subject matter we all pretended to understand, like girls, drugs, different roads you could take in Hell, uh... sex?? I think I got it all. But it didn't, thank goodness.
Instead, it felt like listening to some weird medieval fan fiction set to music. I was reading a lot of Chaucer at the time (ann appropriately-timed humble brag) and could only imagine lowly bards with skull-caps singing these songs. Imagine my horror when I saw that they all actually are very hairy men. Maybe don't click that, though, if you want to have the same vision I did while listening to their (very difficult to secure outside of a physical CD) albums. I've only listened to the one, but it was really wonderful. It's also really moody too, which is probably why everyone in 6th grade loved it. I'd post a song right here, but, the band's really touchy with internet (which I feel only helps to play towards my head-canon of them being a group of luddites cast back in time to play music for a ruddy king whose heart is cold and dead), so, here's that picture I was talking about earlier. I'll link it again. Please don't lookatit, though.
THE BEST: 1967-1975 - Prokofiev - Piano Concerto 3, Ravel - Piano Concerto in G, Gaspard de la nuit (Martha Argerich, Claudio Abbado)
To summon more memories from my Formative Years (just 6th grade, my catalyst and crucible), when I was sad or writing (usually those coincided) I would lock myself in the bathroom as this was the only place in the whole house I could get absolute darkness in the middle of the day. I would take out my Handy-Dandy Walkman and turn the volume waaaaay up and listen to, on repeat, the Manfred Symphony by Tchaikovski, because, that's who I was back then.
In the dark I would be able to sculpt incredible landscapes and plot-arcs according to the music I was listening to, and Manfred served me well for many years. It's still one of my favorite pieces of music to listen to while trying to be creative or sort through difficult thoughts (I also couple it with Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 when I need some ~spice~). You can thank Geneon's Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo, a cyber-punk anime with a much healthier dose of Boy-Love than I initially noticed, for these classical piece recommendations, as that was like my Bread and Butter. A moody space anime based on my favorite novel of all time??? sign ggn;krme e upp (don't click that link around children, please. let them grow in heathy environments before you expose them to potentially harmful, degenerative memes.)
Anyway, all that being said, I believe I've found the next most important album for my Life (as I'll be digesting this album for the rest of it). Claudia Abbado and Martha Argerich, the latter a mystery to me and the former quite popular on the classical station I listen to on my way to/from work daily (KUSC, 91.5 FM, etc.), work together to perform works from Prokofiev and Ravel in a way wholly ethereal. If I had time/enough sanity to justify sealing myself in a completely pitch-black room, I'd run headlong in with this massive collection. The first 30 minutes alone have enough swell and passion to completely Mess You Up.
I want to grow old with this album.
we live in an era where you can just listen to this whoooole performance for free, please abuse this
BEST FEEL GOOD MUSIC FOR WHEN YOU DON'T FEEL YOUR BEST/GOOD - Katamari Damacy Original Soundtrack
"Oh no... a video game so und tr a ck . . . zach i, gotta, go ,,,,"
It's okay, you can leave. I'll sit here and wait for you to come back. I'll stick around and talk to everyone else who stayed about this really great Japanese album.
"haha...!! it's japanese, huh??..... [sweating] zach i forgot to eat lunch and my hypo's acting up rn, so, lol, i'll brb???? i'll be back before you finish talking about this ... uh anime??? right?
??????"
.... .. . . ... . . . .
For those of you who stayed, let's talk about How Good This Album Is. Prior to this album, it was extremely rare for games to have as much lyrical work as this one did—especially not music that was so bizarre. Never before, I CLAIM, WILLING TO DIE HERE ON THIS HILL, has a game soundtrack so brilliantly complimented the game itself. You've got your dub-stepping call of duties, your "wah wah wah"-ing mario games now, and you've even got that lurid jpop shrieking through garbled neon menus in all your anime games nowadays, but Lord Knows we'll probably never have something as charming and wholesome as Katamari Damacy ever again.
The game itself focuses on you creating new stars and planets after your irresponsible father, the King of Cosmos, sambas through the galaxy and destroys most of them besides Earth. You are sent to Earth to collect all its excess (a big talk on materialism in our culture I will omit because Your Ears Will Burn) and crumple them together to make new Space Stuff.
That plot should make you like all hot and bothered, now imagine having the perfect soundtrack to accompany you while you set about restoring the universe, all the while being cajoled by your father. Yes! It does exist. And it's incredible. The album can stand very well on its own, too, otherwise I probably wouldn't be evangelizing here right now. Through many rough spots in college and times since then where I've felt the cold grip of [insert any number of discussions on the presidential election, syrian refugees, the police, my career, what i want to eat for lunch, etc., here], I've turned to this album to bring myself cheer. Its upbeat pace and incredible (!!!!!!) instrumental accompaniment is enough to pick you up off your feet and get you back on track for... whatever your track is leading to, I guess!!
Like all the other pieces I wrote about, I'm not very good at explaining the finer details, so suffice it to say: you should definitely check some of these out (my faves being Katamari on the Rocks, Que Sera Sera, and Gin & Tonic & Red Red Roses).
you could be better, this is your chance
~ ~ ~
Some Honorable Mentions (mostly video game ost's because i knew i wouldn't be able to keep you interested that long in my already weird selection):
A Love Supreme - John Coltrane - i would try if i could write about music better. def check it out, tho. Pokemon Trading Card Game (Game Boy Color) OST - woof. WOOF. [hoot and hollers loudly] UNDERTALE OST - Toby Fox - i'm gonna write a lot about this game so i'll save you the hassle of skipping past more writing about the best game of 2015 Trigun OST - Tsuneo Imahori - my theme song collection
~ ~ ~
Anyway, that really concludes what I've got to say about Music I listened to in 2015. Join me tomorrow for a thrilling discussion on Video Games! A thing you might be embarrassed about, but join me in embarrassing myself! People like that.
This is a Formal Announcement that I, Zach Mendelson (curator of the incredible www.facebook.com/extremedanceclubpartymaniaforeverx) will be writing "Entertainment I Consumed for the Better: 2015 Edition", a small series of blog posts where I talk about my Feelings and Opinions about Things!
Obviously you, my fans and treasures, already know about last year's "Media I've Consumed for the Better: 2014 Edition", but I'd like to explain it a little for those of you who are new to Zach Mendelson and have yet to catch up on How Good I Am.
So basically here's the deal: for the first 7 days of the New Year (2016) I will be posting a new Blog Post (a revolutionary medium) for each of the individual mediums I engaged with that year (2015) with a list of 5 (or more, or maybe less... or maybe even more???) Things in that genre that I feel worth sharing. Take a look at last year's to get an idea, but know that there'll be Even More Content than last years to read. So, if you need to, take some time off work and let your family know that you'll be taking a Digital Sabbatical to wander through the Nice and Pretty blogs I've prepared for you, the consumer. My subscribers. My acolytes.
Here are the 7 different mediums I will forcibly tackle:
1) Music (stuff u listen 2)
2) Movies (stuff u watch)
3) Games (stuff u play)
4) Television (stuff u binge)
5) Animation (stuff that was good and then we ruined it)
6) Comics/Manga (stuff u read w/ pics)
7) Books (stuff u read w/o pics)
I've organized them in such a way that you are completely interested in my opinion more and more from day to day and become enamored with my Brand. What makes you so excited about my Movies post? Well, Music is really good. And you'll be like "music is in movies! man i wonder what sorta movies he watched if this is the music he listened to?! i'm sweating!!" And then you'll be like "games! what a nerd thing! but hey, look at the movies he watched.... maybe being a nerd, can be, a good, thing, ???" Then when you get to Television you'll be like "hahahaha! i watch that! okay, i'm not a nerd!", but you'll get all like "haha....!!!" when I talk about Anime and Stuff with Animation in the next article. The next day is Comics and Manga, but I can tell you now there won't be any Captain Avenger or Spiderbat, so your ears will burn and you'll feel cornered by my incredibly picky selection of comics.... When we get to Books pretty much everyone will have dropped off the map with shame, so I'm really only writing about Books to remind myself that I wanted to get a degree in literature so I could write about Books. That's what I wanted, and now I have to do it.
Anyway, that's some stuff to look forward to. What game in 2015 did I think of as "an incredibly beautiful stick of butter that slides back and forth as it melts in a nonstick, brandname pan"? What television series made me want to "desire a Sisyphean curse to shatter millions of windows over and over again with a Tickle-Me Elmo, just so I could avoid ever seeing it again"? Man, even I wanna know what that show was!! All that and more: in like two weeks or whatever. Today's the 9th, so, like, a little less than a month.
Alas, here we are! A whole week since my last post and I am still present, digitally and mentally, here, to provide you, my reader, with things I'm currently entrenched in. Things I'm engaging in, wondering about, maybe even eating (which is a great idea for a future Knee-Deep, actually, now that I think about it...)! Here is this week's helping, this healthy portion, set aside for you, my dear reader.
Let's get the most obscure out of the way first, though that isn't to say it's the least of this list! What a title, what a game. Protect Me Knight 2 is a sequel to the equally obscure Xbox 360 Marketplace Download exclusive Protect Me Knight (that is a mouthful, but I'm not sure what exactly you're supposed to call the Xbox 360 exclusive downloads since they're hardly ever talked about (at least in my corner of the universe)). The basic idea of both games is Interactive Tower Defense Action; you have a princess (instead of a tower) whom you protect by way of setting up barricades and running around the map, fighting creatures and their respective spawn points to end the level. Once all creatures are defeated the level ends, and you can use resources gathered in battle to purchase and upgrade any number of exciting power-ups and weaponry, unique to each of the six classes that you can play as within the game.
It's stupid charming and if my rudimentary Japanese was any better I'd be able to enjoy the other (apparently) wonderful facet of the game: its self-aware dialogue. The game is (once more, apparently) very much aware of its overcooked "Damsel in Distress" theme and makes light of it on many occasions throughout the game's story. I'm sure that it is incredible—I want it to be incredible, especially since this game is rumored to be in the midst of localization [citation needed] and would make a fine penny in the hall of Recent-Retro-Reimaginings that games like Mighty Gunvolt and Shovel Knight have ~plowed~ already. (that was the best shovel-knighty pun I could summon from the deep...) The design of the game parodies the Famicom system (Nintendo Entertainment System for us Americans) from pixelated graphics and chiptuney music, all the way down to fabricated screen-tear and the boot-up requiring you to blow on the digital "cartridge" (via 3DS mic) in order to start the game........ so like if a game that requires you to rend the 4th wall to boot it up doesn't convince you that this is spectacular, then I really have no idea what I can do to help you.
For those who have access to a Japanese 3DS, and roughly 8 bucks, I would very highly recommend this game! And I wouldn't worry about understanding any Japanese at all (though chances are you know a little given you'd have to own a system), as the game is extremely clever with visual cues and has very straight-forward, engrossing gameplay that will teach you trial-by-error. You'll have plenty of time to learn as the game, out of its whopping 100 levels (not to mention unlimited access to user-created QR code maps you can download), has roughly 15-20 levels that let you ease into the action before the Real Grind happens. If you are interested, here's the QR code (--- >) to take you to the eShop page, and here's the wiki you can use to find basic info (albeit in Japanese) on the game. If you have any other questions regarding the game, maybe I can help! Shout out in the comments or hit me up on twitter!
biggest flaw: they missed a wonderful opportunity to use Arcade Fire's hot single for the intro...
Here's one that's a little different in tone from pretty much everything else that'll be included in this post... and pretty much any post on here (except for maybe that chunk I wrote about 2666...). Black Mirror is a British television series that started in late 2011. It has two seasons, and it's messed up! It's real messed up. But in the very satisfying sense... well, I guess it depends on how you define "satisfying" and what kinds of things "satisfy" you. As someone who's a little concerned about the desensitization of violence and morality, it's refreshing to see that Charlie Brooker (creator of the series) shares in those concerns, though it may be presented in a way that's a mite too abrasive for some.
The best way I can describe it is "Mature, Modern Twilight Zone". Each episode is its own vignette, following a set of characters who interact with a particular idea or situation that may mirror something similar to issues in our own world. Though they are obviously exaggerated to a degree, the point made is salient and sometimes heavy-handed, but justly so. You walk away from each episode wondering if the outcome was the "best" outcome, thinking what you would have done differently, pondering what the "right" thing to do would have been in such morally ambiguous situations. This is the one show that I feel it important to explain a bit of the first episode in order to entice (or possibly, warn) folks who might be interested in diving in.
The first episode begins with the Prime Minister being woken up to a state of emergency: a terrorist has captured a princess and uploads his ransom video to Youtube (it's impossible to take down, it spreads through the entire world; everyone knows), along with his peculiar demand. If the Prime Minister wants to see the princess returned in one piece (and hopefully, alive) he must have "relations" with a pig on the most popular public television channel, live. The question arises, "Should he do it? Is her life worth the horrifying action required to save it?" That's only the first five minutes of the 45 minute episode, what follows is the tension that gives Black Mirror its namesake; we question ourselves, looking into a black mirror to discern what we think is the "right" thing to do.
As I said, not recommended for all! I could only handle one episode at a time of the first season (there are 3 episodes per season, and currently two seasons and a Christmas Special (oh joy)), and each one had its own message that caused me no small amount of anxiety throughout. But, if you can stand it, I do think that the over-arching messages are worth wading through. It is very important to be aware of ideologies that seem harmless now and could come to consume us as a culture in time (I'm looking at you, episode 3!!). The season finale of season 1 was incredible, and I think the best episode I've yet seen. It's all on Netflix, so check it out if that's your jam. Though if you're not interested, I think Breaking Bad is still up, and that's a more palatable dose of moral ambiguity for most.
Ha! HA! You were probably sitting there going, "Dang, he talked about a weird game and an invasive TV show, but at least he didn't bring Miyazaki into anOTHER post!"
Looks like the joke's on you; I basically worship this guy. But for serious, I just finished this book of essays and interviews written by Hayao Miyazaki himself (well, I mean, he didn't write his own interviews, but semantics), and I'm an enlightened creature. I've been thinking on it for a while now, and I have come to the conclusion that Miyazaki's animated films are fiercely rivaled by his own writing. Whether it's the spectacular, unbelievable, incomparable, jaw-dropping, divorce-causing manga-behemoth Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, or his musings on environmental issues and the purpose of mankind, he's a babbling fount of succinct (and oft times offensive) wisdom.
Starting Point follows Miyazaki's life via essays and interviews from 1979 through 1996 (as the title suggests). At first I thought it would merely be thoughts he had on certain films he made, maybe even some extended discussion on the complex themes that layer his repertoire, but I quickly found that this was only a small portion of what was written. The book is filled to the brim with interviews about his thoughts on Japanese animation, how the Japanese interact with nature, and even contains some colored scans old sketchbooks that he worked on during different films and productions he was a part of.
If you're a fan, a big fan, owning this is simply a must. He is one of the most brutally honest, kind men I've ever read of (and I hope to some day meet [cries]), and this book is an absolute treasure. I still reread certain portions when I feel down in the dumps. Among my favorites are the times when he goes to elementary schools to talk to kids about pursuing their dreams, or gives lectures at aspiring artists in college. I've also begun Turning Pointthis week and am eager to continue to learn from this modern prophet, this ascetic monk.
Ah, yes, Jojo... well, actually, this time it's "Giogio"....
This is a particularly odd thing for me to review given that it's a portion of a gigantic series that's been ongoing for years, the Jojo's Bizarre Adventure series. So this portion has a prerequisite, more or less, of having read up to/past this point in the manga. But! But if you're merely interested, I have plenty things to opine over and won't really spoil the plot.
For one thing, and I won't tarry to get this out in the open, I wasn't the biggest fan of this arc. Jojo is a really delightful manga, one of my favorite in years, that seems to only get better and better with every new "part" in the series. Phantom Blood, the first part, starts off pretty shakey. Some weird art, some weird dialogue, and some weird plot points lead to an overall "weird" experience. But oh, oh, oh man how good it gets. Though you may not have read any of Jojo, mangaka Araki's style is one that you've likely noticed elsewhere. For example, if you're a fan of the Super Smash Brothers series, you may notice a very flamboyant masculinity about the character Captain Falcon. Masahiro Sakurai, the director of Smash, is quite the fan of the series! Captain Falcon's entire move-set would be not be unfamiliar in a chapter of the series.
That is to say, it's over the top. People with special powers, "Stands", similar to familiars or auras, do battle with one another in fantastic circumstances with maximum flamboyance and style. And it's incredible. It's very difficult to describe, so if you get a chance please check it out! It isn't the equivalent of fine literature, and probably wouldn't be considered for the Criterion Collection in film-talk, but it doesn't strive to be those things; Jojo is ridiculous for ridiculous' sake, and does that superbly. It is reading for pure entertainment, and lives up to its namesake. As for the anime (beginning with the third part of the series), I'm afraid I cannot vouch for it. Aside from the fact that I haven't watched it, what I have seen has not been nearly as lustrous as the manga. The animation seems somewhat dried out compared to Araki's usually detailed style.
check out the coal-smudges that passed as shadowing back in early part 1...
dark times
But I digress, il Vento Aureo! Well... well it wasn't so hot, in my humblest opinion. Usually each arc focuses on a new "Jojo" character, this arc's being "Giorno", a handsome Italian lad. Throughout the their journey we get to know the main character and grow attached them and their motley crew. As they progress, fighting other Stand users, learning each others' strengths and weaknesses, a natural chemistry, or camaraderie, binds the reader to the pages, making it very difficult to put down. It only took a couple weeks for me to read the thousands of pages of the first four parts! But Giorno's adventure lacks what made the others' so appealing: character.
Giorno, though a very interesting character (with heavy teases throughout the beginning to possible plot-twists/reveals), does not seem to be the star of his own story. His thoughts are often kept to himself, the reader is never let in. During battle sequences we see only what is necessary to know as the partially omniscient audience, nothing more. We don't get an idea of his personality other than that he is a very calm, collected individual. The friends he makes seem to have more facets than he does, and are ultimately what cause you to continue reading. At the end of this portion I find it very hard to put my finger down on what, exactly, I liked about it. The art style became more busy than the previous entries, and unfortunately the translation I was reading seemed to grow cruder from the middle til the end.
Though it is necessary reading for any fan of the Jojo series, I would daresay it pales compared to its predecessor Diamond is Unbreakable, or Part 4. Josuke &co. hunting down serial killers in suburban Japan, a fully realized design, and extremely lovable characters made for an unforgettable experience, and I only wish the best for Giorno as I continue to forge on to Part 6, Stone Ocean.
Shinji looks cool in this picture, but trust me:
he's not
So, like, if you don't know what Evangelion is at this point, you've either made a conscious effort to avoid it, really enjoy it, really really enjoy it, or openly revile it. There's not really any other way to feel about it, that's just the way it is. Though not completely new in its genre as a mecha anime, it does offer something that wasn't so popular at its debut in the early 90's: a healthy dose of nihilism. Well, maybe. I wasn't really cognizant of anime trends in the 90's, but one cannot deny that this was one of the more popular to make use of kabbalistic themes.
Though, I don't really wanna talk about the television series. Though the cornerstone, creator Hideaki Anno stated that it was created for another generation. He has in recent years ordered a cease-fire for production of the original anime, and began to reproduce the anime for a newer generation, with a more succinct storyline and trajectory, wrapping itself up in four films. A tetralogy. With this, he seeks to accomplish what he sought to with the advent of Shinji's oedipal complex and other characters' freudian slip-ups.
As of right now, the first three films are out there, in the wild, for people to watch, with the fourth on its way this year (2015 being the same year that the world ended in the original anime... whoa, whoa??! whoa!!!!). In order to mentally prepare myself for what will be probably the most confusing thing I willingly put myself through this year, I decided to rewatch the second and third films back to back. I didn't bother with the first as it was basically the first two thirds of the television series, of which I've already watched several times in recent history for my senior thesis (wow humble brag no big deal I wrote about anime for my senior thesis). What followed was nearly 3 hours of pure mind-numbing confusion.
very very very prettyyyyy
It must be said that one of my favorite things about Evangelion isn't actually the watching of the films (though the animation in the films is incredible and worthy of checking out on its own ^^look at dat gif^^), but reading about the films after watching them. Because there aren't concrete details ever in the show, the fan speculation is out the wazzooooo online, and it's one hell of a beast. Where the television series may have a more palpable (debatable) series of themes that people can analyze, the as-of-yet finished tetralogy is still ample for discussion and has even more cryptic ideologies at play than the television series could have ever hoped to achieve (one of the fundamental reasons being that the manpower required to animate Anno's current vision for the world would have been superhuman to accomplish in the 90's). The films cover much more territory in a much shorter span of time (which has its ups and downs), and seems to be held together by a much stronger sense of self. A lot of unhappiness with the television series lies in the fact that, during the middle of the series, Anno had a serious bout of depression that caused him to alter, noticeably so, the direction of the show. It is somewhat clunky, and leads to an (unfortunately for some) unsatisfying end.
I am a big fan of Evangelion, and I'm also a real big fan of Anno. Anno has spoken out quite a bit about the over-commercialization of anime (and other faults with consumerism, especially with the Japanese people post-Bubble Economy), and Evangelion being one of the biggest (if not the biggest) commercial rackets for anime figurines and merchandizing just seems to play into this "performance art" piece, if you will. (Recently his crew at Gainax worked on a short animation called ME!ME!ME!, which heavily contributes to these ideas. It is definitely worth checking out, but be forewarned: it is definitely definitely definitely NSFW.) However, I want to be careful. I'm not really well-versed enough in this area to talk with too much authority, but the PBS Idea Channel dudes did some mad talks on this and how the television series could be an incredible take on the "Death of the Author" discussion. It's only five minutes (the other half is answering questions), so check it out!
All that being said, if you have seen the show and are nonplussed but originally wanted to enjoy it, maybe check out the films. Condensing the plot, making it more understandable (to a degree), and taking the focus away from Shinji's annoying inner-monologues adjusts the trajectory of their scope to a much more meaningful end. 3.0, the third film, takes the series to territory never tread before (though dragging at parts) and has set up the finale to Evangelion as either the most spectacular accomplishment or failure ever seen in anime. If anything, it's some of the best animation for technology that exists. Geez, I could watch those guys hop in and out of EVA suits, cuing up holographic computer programs for the rest of my life. But I guess we'll see soon enough, come the final film's release this 2015.
~ ~ ~
That about wraps up all I wanted to talk about what I was doing this week... I did a lot... and there's even some stuff I didn't mention. I guess this is one of the perks to having the attention span of a dead cat. But I've prattled on long enough, and if you've made it this far with me: thank you.
Thank you for listening to me talk about anime and video games and violent shows and cute old men. To think that I could get anyone on Earth to do that... the internet really is magic.
Please join me next week as I try to do the samething all over again with different things! If you hate my flawed interpretations of Evangelion, let me know in the comments! If you love my obsession with older Japanese men, send me a message letting me know I'm not alone! And if I scarred you for life with Black Mirror, please contact my lawyer.
I'm still not sure what I'm supposed to write about here, on my Umpteenth Blog, but my last blog-post got some decent feedback and more attention than anything else I've ever written for the anonymous Internet Mass, so I thought I'd start a small series of posts to talk about what sorts of things I'm doing (specifically with things like books, movies, games, music, caribou hunting, etc.), what sorts of things I'm currently "knee-deep" in [oh whoa that's what the title is! wow!!]. I use the really weird phrase "knee-deep" to insinuate that maybe whatever I'm currently invested in might not be so interesting as much as something I'm having to dredge through... But maybe that won't be the case? We'll see?? And hopefully these posts will take advantage of my poor attention span and convict me to spend more time being thoughtful about what I'm interacting with. In the spirit of that other post [shameless link], I will try to be brief and use my words carefully to express what I'm thinking about that Thing.
So here's hoping it's not terrible and that you guys will be encouraged to return on the weekly basis I'm aiming for (very ambitious, yes, mmhmm)! If not to keep up with Me, then maybe to find out about really cool things that exist out there for You and Me! Anyway, here goes.
(Oooh, look, I embedded a post from my own Tumblr! The world is truly truly Big and Magical.)
I mentioned in my previous post [another shameless link--have you read this post yet???] that one of my favorite films of 2014 was "The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness", a wonderful documentary following the final year of production on another wonderful film, but did I mention much about the scoring of the film? Maybe a little. But I was bashful to talk about something so beautiful without getting a better chance to listen to it as a separate entity. It has just been released and boy oh boy oh boy I highly recommend checking this out if you're into doing Literally Anything While Listening to Music.
Takagi Masakatsu might be familiar to you if you saw 2012's Wolf Children, as he did the scoring for that too. Somewhat of an eccentric, Masakatsu is a somewhat of a secretive musician. Lord knows it was difficult for me to find him in the first place, and waiting for his album to release (missing several dates) was tantamount to torture, but alas here he is in all his glory. The track I chose is somewhat of a flagship for the album, as though the name itself didn't give you that idea. Beautiful piano melodies that make you feel as though you're sitting in Ghibli's veranda garden, sunlight filtering through the gingko leaves onto your slightly unbuttoned shirt, giving you that "devil-may-care" look, as you drift in and out of a good ol' snooze... that's what this album is. Easily worth the $10. I highly recommend it, it's my favorite, let it be your favorite too, please, yes, okay, alright!!
If you like it, here's his SoundCloud and his website, both of which are intermittently updated when he feels the need to do that.
wow look at that don't you feel the need to get in on that, gosh wow!
Keeping with the Ghibli theme, this has been something I've been working through for about a week now—and it's been ever so loverlyy (sp?? ). For those not savvy, this is the latest joint effort between Studio Ghibli and a Video Game Company (Level-5), the previous (and only other) being this ~wonderful~ artistic interpretation of Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, wherein you are Nausicaä's Mehve and fly around shooting the sacred flying Ohmu. Please, please, please tell me you cringed. That was supposed to make you cringe if you have seen the film/read the manga and don't have shell-shock.
whoa! am i seeing double??!! well actually you are, it's okay, sorry
I digress. Basically, Ghibli worked on the visuals and the arts and the cools that fill this game to the very brim and all that runneth over into our own reality. [beat] If my attempt at creative writing there didn't make much sense, that was to say that they made a real-life Companion Book of sorts to accompany the game, a Wizard's Companion as it's called, which you could use to read up on the magic creatures, items, and spells (which you could draw on the touch screen to cast!!!). Filled with different illustrations, and its own magical language, the book itself justifies the rough $30 it costs to import it. Which brings me to an unfortunate truth if you are reading this blog in English and are, sadly, limited to that language... the DS version of the game, the only version that includes the physical book, was only ever released in Japan. The PS3 version boasts impressive cel-shaded visuals and is worth considering if you MUST understand the game/want to read the book in English, but Level-5 unfortunately could not justify the localization/publication costs to make a physical book and resorted to a glorified PDF of sorts which you could control with the dual-shock analog sticks. [audible shivers run down your spine]
All that being said, I don't really understand a lot of Japanese (but I'm learning!!!!!) and am able to get by just fine! There are severalguides online that you can find to help guide you as well if you need, but a lot of the game is really self-explanatory thanks to a lot of (really well-designed) visual cues. Though you might argue that the PS3 would be the better version to play, being in your own respective language/region, let me remind you that you could play both and have different experiences due to various plot differences and entirely different gameplay elements. Where the PS3 version could be likened to Final Fantasy XII's battle system, the DS's could be just as well likened to early Dragon Quests (both, obviously, with their own twists). And the art in the DS's version is also really, really, really worth checking out.
Anyway, I've said too much. It's good, I'm about 8 hours in and really enjoying it.
I'm a bit predictable if you've read any of my other posts (there's only one, and it's this one), so seeing Ghibli and Murakami on the same page shouldn't be that surprising to you (and hopefully this is something that will not be so frequently stated in the future, maybe I can shrug the shackles of these incredible influences). But this one is very different from his other books, as it's not fiction at all! Rather a nonfictional chat about creative processes and Stuff. If you've ever read a Murakami book before (if you haven't you should because he's the best omg), then remember how he depicts everyday life. It's simple, relaxing, patterned, and oddly satisfying to read. This book is basically his philosophies on how to live like that; how to eat white fish and vegetables, why it's important to keep in shape through daily exercise, how to think well. That last thing is something I've been wondering on for a while now, and it's a treat to hear someone, whose writing I so admire, talk at length about.
He talks a lot about running, which is his running metaphor throughout the book (hehehehe), and shows excerpts from articles and books he's written that exemplify the qualities discussed. If you're like me and looking to find your nook in life, to find that comfortable pattern that suits you best and ultimately works to make you Better, then you should probably check this book out. It's pretty short, I'm 3/4s of the way through after about two days of light reading, so it's not much of a commitment! Though if you plan on applying some of his thoughts to your lifestyle, it could become much more of a commitment. Maybe, maybe even ~life-changing~.
Anyway, I think I've written enough for one week. Hopefully I'll get back to you next week (probs Friday, I want this to be a Friday thingy) with other things I'm enjoying or destroying. If you liked this post/the idea behind it, let me know! If you don't wanna hear about my opinions any more, then, well, yeah, lemme know about that too, but let me down easy. Thaaanks.
I've never really written a "best of" thing for any years in particular, but now that I've been ejected from the education system I thought I'd try to crystallize as much of my tastes as I can before society reverts my mind to mush. I rewrote this about three times and used to have about four paragraphs for each item, but I think one of my greatest flaws is spending paragraphs where sentences will suffice. So here's what I thought of some stuff in 2014 (note: not all of this stuff came out in 2014, I just got around to it in that year)
Books
2666 by Roberto Bolaño One of the most jarring novels I've ever read. Grasping the reader in one hand like a dilapidated Barbie doll, Bolaño forces you to kiss the contents of his other hand: a slimy Marimo of innate depravity and consummate evil. Though the metaphor may be, he does not do so amateurishly, and he does not mince his words. Weighing in at nearly 900 pages, he hardly concludes his agonizing account of the human condition... but can anyone succinctly tie-up the story that's been told since time began? [beat]
The Works of Haruki Murakami (with particular attention to 1Q84 and The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle) I'm sorta cheating here, but it's mainly because I just discovered him this year. His catalog of works largely deals with similar subject matter, with themes like purpose, jazz, and swimming. It's hard to explain just what about him is so intoxicating, especially when the two books I've highlighted are some of his more "fantastic" novels, but if I had to nail it down it would be the way that he portrays the mundane. Chopping cucumbers, washing laundry, walking... and his taste in music is impeccable. Murakami has replaced Borges as My Current Favorite Author, and I figure he'll hoard the position for quite a while.
Milky Way Railroad/Night on the Galactic Railway by Kenji Miyazawa Electronic squirrels, an ominous neon Jesus, and an interstellar train able to visits space birds that can be condensed into delicious cakes... Oh, and it's a really swell story on top of it all. Miyazawa was a big deal in Japan for his children's stories, and it's no wonder with bizarre fantasies like this. Covering the basics of life, death, and Whatever's Next, Miyazawa lays a lot out for kids to think about at such a carefree stage in their life. These are issues that I'm very sensitive towards, and feel everyone should be thoughtful about in how we talk to children. But he does so subtly. What Miyazawa says is hardly frightening, rather hopeful and lighthearted. One doesn't find themselves despairing (unless they think hard about the [actually very mature] ending), but filled with wonder and a burning desire to live (and try those space bird cakes).
Games
Dark Souls Well, I don't actually think Dark Souls was a very good game (I was quite fanatical about it for a time), but I find it worth mentioning. I found it difficult and thought that because I could make such hurtles, that I could steam in frustration for hours before accomplishing something that should not have been so mindlessly difficult.. because of that I thought I was having "fun", because I was part of some elite group that was "in the know" for some ridiculously difficult game that most people did not finish. A hard game does not a good game make. Ghosts 'n Goblins is not fun, but a lot of people who spent money on that quarter-munching arcade game think so because of all the money they shoveled into that greasy machine (or because they are simply sadomasochistic). Dark Souls' difficulty did not justify the horrible amount of time I spent on it. Coming to that realization was the benefit that this game gave me. For me, games are a small respite from this world, and I don't want that area of my life to become a chore or ridiculous badge of honor. While I do recognize some Rad Ideas the game proposes, I'm just not into it. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ (p.s. Dark Souls 2 was better, but I didn't really touch that in 2014, so see you next year)
"Let me love you!"
Captain Toad It is a simple, straightforward puzzle game wherein you control a cubic microcosm upon which the adorable Captain can tromp. Three of the four face buttons do the same thing (either cause you to run while in movement, or make an adorable noise when stationary). One button is dedicated to turning your headlamp on or off (largely aesthetic, but I mean that's incredible). The rest of the buttons don't really do anything at all. And that's... really it. You can't jump, you could hardly call your running more than a trot, and each level has the same goal: collect the three optional glittery jewels and grab a star to bring the level to a close. Solving the puzzles wasn't so much about collecting the various items for me as it was exploring the nooks and crannies of these wonderfully self-contained worlds. Many moments had me go "AWWWW" and "NOOOOOO THAT'S CUTE" and "WAHHHHH". Anyway, check it out if you can. 10/10.
Perfect napping game.
Music
Earthling by David Bowie Why didn't anybody tell me about this album. You guys are messed up and thanks to you I'm about 17 years late to this party... But probably for the better, as this is a great album to listen to once you've graduated college, capturing quite a bit of that fresh societal angst. Shout out to "I'm Afraid of Americans" for summing up the last few months of 2014, and "The Last Thing You Should Do" for making me feel the most insecure I've felt since middle school. I needed this album and it happened across my path just in the nick of time.
True Detective Gritty and wonderful. I don't wanna talk too much about it because it's spectacular and worth your time, no matter who you are. Maybe it's a little graphic for you... well that's too bad because you're missin' out. It's the climax of the McConaughaissance, and you will be hard-pressed to find more hard-boiled television than this. But if you know me at all, you'll have heard about this a million times by now. Do yourself a favor and don't let time become a flat circle for your life.
The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness An incredible look at the every-day life of animator, director, and producer Hayao Miyazaki, specifically during the last year of work on my [undocumented] Favorite Film of 2013, The Wind Rises. If you're into him, then you have to check it out. If not, probably don't. It's slow, very slow. But to any fan, every second drips with wonderfully gelatinous gold. Miyazaki-san is a wellspring of wisdom, as well as one of the more handsome abysses of cynicism you'll ever see.
Only Yesterday (Japanese: おもひでぽろぽろ lit. Omohide Poro Poro, "Memories Come Tumbling Down") What better way to begin the last semester of your collegiate experience but by watching an animated film that focuses on a woman who wonders if she's living the life she wanted to live when she was a more idealistic youth? I can't think of any better way to start than that. Too bad it was too late in my schooling to drop everything for the simpler lifestyle that I've found my soul to long for in these recent years. My grievances aside, Only Yesterday is a very important animated film, and it's a crime that it was never released stateside. However, you can find subtitled versions of it online, if you look hard enough... Isao Takahata, mentor to aforementioned Hayao Miyazaki, captures the mundane in such a familiar and magical way that I BEG you, reader, to watch the film and see for yourself as your soul is unfolded in front of you. His film captures purity and sincerity in a way I've never seen before.. it's pretty cool.
The Man Who Planted Trees by Frederic Back The most moving film I saw this year was on Youtube for free. You won't find it anywhere else, unless you have access to a French DVD player (and a thorough knowledge of the language), so in a way you luck out being able to see it at all. A short animated film based on a shorter story of the same name, the story follows a young man who becomes fascinated by an ethereal older gentleman who plants trees. What Happens Next Will Astound You. Unfortunately, like some of my other recommendations, this one is very difficult to explain without spoiling, and I count on you, reader, to watch this short film if just for the facts that it's FREE and I'm LINKING IT RIGHT HERE:
Well that about sums up what I can remember... You can comment here, or wherever I shared this thing, if there's anything you have to say. Lemme know if you'd like to hear more opinions about things I like (or didn't like!). It's okay if you don't, this is the internet after all--it's not like we're trying to foster relationships here! Ha! POST POST SCRIPT: I was a fool and forgot to even mention my one true love MANGA. Because I forgot (and have much more to talk about since I read a loooooot of manga in 2014), I'm only gonna give two lil baby reviews of things that were the most spectacular of 2014 for me. Touch by Mitsuru Adachi Touch was one of the best manga I've ever read, and rivaled the last "one of the best manga I've ever read" of the same author, Cross Game. I think the best way to explain it is the way I did in 2013 and 2014 (when I read Cross Game and Touch, respectively):
Jojo's Bizarre Adventure by Hirohiko Araki Jojo's Bizarre Adventure is just that: bizarre. Each part (there's 8) travels from Generation to Generation of the Joestar Family while they duke it out against evil in whatever cool, hip, new manifestation their bizarre family super power blood takes form. It's fun action manga, and there was a metric ton of it, and now I don't really know what to do with myself... I'll leave you with some of my favorite caps from the comic. (also: blogger has awful image grouping capacities, so I apologize in advance for the garbage heap style guide following this text)
