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They did a wonderful job of animating this part of the story - definitely blew away my expectations! You should spill some of them out here.

Anything in particular that's bothering you? I've found it fairly easy to tweak to fit my needs.

My dad is a motorcycle nut. I thought they were super cool, myself, until at one point while taking me out for a ride when I was still a kid, we ended up running into unexpectedly ridiculous high winds. This wasn't a big deal for him, so he quickly adjusted for it, riding in the same manner as the image below: While this was all routine for him, I found the whole thing to be so utterly terrifying at that time, that I never, ever, went on another ride at any point afterwards.

Thanks, but no thanks. I apologize, but I think I'll keep making my lame jokes, regardless if you approve or not.

It's okay. I forgive you. Well, maybe eventually, anyway. We had a nice thing going, you know? Why'd ya have to come in here and wreck all of it? Where's the consideration? Shit. ... Ahem. Welcome to AF! This is a friendly place built out of rainbows, unicorns, pixie dust, gingerbread, and the blood of the innocent. Treat lightly.

Welcome back! You're in luck - us newcomers haven't wrecked the place as of yet, though we're doing our best to cause as much trouble as possible.

I don't really think the Umineko anime is all that worth bothering with, to be honest - they only ever adapted half of the story, with zero indication that they're ever going to go back and finish the rest... and add to that, it was a fairly mediocre adaptation. You'd be better off reading the visual novels (which have all been translated), in my opinion, though they're a bit of a hand full. As for myself, the only things I'm watching are Re:Creators (the first Re:Whatever titled anime that I've enjoyed thus far... we'll see if it hangs in there!) and the second season of Attack on Titan. With that said however, I haven't yet gotten around to sampling all that the current season has to offer, so another anime or two may yet get added.

Anything at all would make me lose my bloody mind, to be honest. At this point I think I'd be fairly easy to please, as long as it's not a direct sequel to Other M. Beyond that... I confess that there's nothing really that I'm clamoring to see at E3 at the moment. ^^;

Hopeful that we'll hear news from Nintendo that a new 2D Metroid is in development! ... ... ... ... ahhhahhahhahahAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAahahhaahhahhh ... it ... could ... still ... happen ... right ... ? It ... has been so long ... so very ... very ... long ...

Naw, I've largely sworn off competitive multiplayer at this point, due to how sick I've gotten with having to deal with people I'm afraid. ^^; (going to make an exception for Midair when it releases, against my better judgement, but that's about it)

I had the chance to see Kumiko in a theater during a local film festival, which was a complete and utter blast to say the least! Both of those movies should make for good gateway drugs, I think, and are high on my favorites list - should be fun! :3 Doing all of the formatting, getting all of the trailers and such did take a little while... thus my often times lazy commentary on the movies. Hope you like them!

I only really got into it a fair little while after release, so I was fortunate enough to have a PC that did a pretty good job running it without any issues when I first played it. The nanosuit abilities combined with things like the functional day/night cycle added a tremendous amount of depth to the FPS formula. Seriously, I don't think I've ever had as much in an FPS as I did 4v4 team deathmatch games in Crysis with my friends... every time the sun went down, everyone started stealthing around like ninjas. It was hilarious and a ton of fun... not to mention tense as hell.

Sadako vs. Kayako http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yw0Ip5XoXyw A girl, Yūri Kurahashi, after watching a cursed videotape together with her friend in a haunted house, becomes trapped in a conflict between the two murderous ghosts: Sadako Yamamura and Kayako Saeki. I'll be completely honest with you: this movie is extremely silly... it's also extremely fun, and manages to make the concept work decently well. I went into it with extremely low expectations, but was very pleasantly surprised. _________________________________________________________ The Wailing http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43uAputjI4k A stranger arrives in a little village and soon after a mysterious sickness starts spreading. A policeman is drawn into the incident and is forced to solve the mystery in order to save his daughter. This movie is a bit... different. Early on, it flip-flops between tension and absurd comedy before finally settling on being suspenseful as all hell. Basically... an old Japanese man moves to a small remote Korean town, which soon after starts to experience an outbreak of violence and madness. As one might presume, the first person that anyone suspects is the foreigner. _________________________________________________________ The Host http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HRTy26s4hw Gang-du is a dim-witted man working at his father’s tiny snack bar near the Han River. One day, Gang-du’s one and only daughter Hyun-seo comes back from school irritated. She is angry at her uncle, Nam-il, who visited her school as her guardian shamelessly drunk. Ignoring her father’s excuses for Nam-il, Hyun-seo is soon engrossed in her aunt Nam-joo’s archery tournament on TV. Meanwhile, outside of the snack bar, people are fascinated by an unidentified object hanging onto a bridge. In an instant, the object reveals itself as a terrifying creature turning the riverbank into a gruesome sea of blood. Amid the chaos, Hyun-seo is helplessly snatched up by the creature right before Gang-du’s eyes. These unforeseen circumstances render the government powerless to act. But receiving a call of help from Hyun-seo, the once-ordinary citizen Gang-du and his family are thrust into a battle with the monster to rescue their beloved Hyun-seo. this movie is friggin' hilarious. A monster attacks a South Korean riverfront park and abducts a little girl, who's family then decides to go full on monster-hunting-vigilante to try and rescue her. _________________________________________________________ Rurouni Kenshin http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXkyJxyJT3E http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJgqWzErnlw Former legendary assassin Kenshin Himura has now become a wandering samurai. Offering aid & protecting those in need as atonement for his past deeds. During this time Kenshin Himura comes across and aides Kaoru Kamiya (Emi Takei). Her father opened the Kamiya Kasshin-ryu, a kendo school located in Tokyo and Kaoru is now an instructor there. Kaoru then invites Kenshin to stay at her dojo. Their relationship develops further, but Kenshin is still haunted by his violent past I liked these movies more than the anime. Come at me. _________________________________________________________ Harakiri This one is... old. Really old. Filmed in 1962, in fact, in stunning black and white. I confess - I haven't really liked many of the super old Samurai movies that I've seen... I couldn't make it through Yojimbo or Seven Samurai - they just weren't my cup of tea. Harakiri, on the other hand, is a bloody masterpiece and is easily one of the best movies I've ever seen. _________________________________________________________ And... there you go. Anyone else seen any of these, or have any other movies that you'd like to recommend?

Any fans of Asian films around? I've recently started watching a lot of Japanese and Korean movies (and some others, beyond those), and have been extremely happy with some of what I've seen. While it obviously isn't all good, there are a lot of gems around that offer a very welcome change of pace from what you typically see in your typical American films. Here are some of the things that I've watched, in no particular order, that I'd recommend. (Movie synopsis are from letterboxd.com) _________________________________________________________ Why Don't You Play in Hell? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZW6jGDCemo In Japan, gonzo filmmakers hatch a three-pronged plan to save an actress’s career, end a yakuza war and make a hit movie. This one is... different. The filmmakers in question are a small rag-tag group that run around proclaiming themselves to be the Fuck Bombers, of all things, while acting like delusional children for lack of a better way of putting it. They end up getting mixed up in a yakuza war, in which they see their chance to finally strike it big. It's hilarious. Completely, absurdly, hilarious - to the point that I'd say that this is one of the funniest movies that I've ever seen. _________________________________________________________ Kumiko The Treasure Hunter http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDK9jdtwdTo In the massive city of Tokyo, Kumiko, a twenty-nine year old, lives in utter solitude. She works a dreadful, dead-end job under an awful boss, is intimidated by her well-off peers, and nagged incessantly by her overbearing mother who is exasperated by the fact that her daughter is not married or even in a relationship. The only joys in her life come from a grainy VHS tape – an American film in which a man buries a satchel of money in the snowy Midwestern plains – and her beloved pet rabbit, Bunzo. Kumiko is somehow convinced that this treasure is real, and obsesses over its discovery. With a hand-stitched treasure map and a quixotic spirit, Kumiko embarks on an incredible journey over the Pacific and through the frozen Minnesota wilderness to uncover a purported fortune. Japanese woman digs up a VHS tape of Fargo, watches it, and becomes convinced that the money that is stashed away in the movie is real. As her day to day life wears her down further and further, she becomes fixated with this idea, leading to her purchase of a one-way ticket to America. It is funny at times, absurd at all times, and at the same time a downright heartbreaking drama as the main character's frankly miserable existence is put on display. _________________________________________________________ 71 Into the Fire http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuAfubkv3y0 A civil war broke out in the 1950s between North and South Korea which changed the country forever. 71: Into the Fire centers on the struggles of 71 student soldiers who fought through the Korean War. Using real people and events based on the opening moves of the Battle of P’ohang-dong, the film exposes the personal and physical conflicts that these students faced when finding themselves on the last line of defense at P’ohang-dong Girl’s Middle School against the NKPA’s advancement, needing to hold out until back up from other Korean troops and the Allies arrived. Yikes. I don't quite know what I was expecting with this one, but it honestly blew me away, and was one of the most impactful war movies I've ever seen. It has a fairly slow start, but once it gets going, it keeps going. _________________________________________________________ Assassination http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLs5zf5XtGo Assassination is set in Korea and Shanghai in the 1930’s during the Japanese occupation. The government resistance assigns a secret commando group with killing collaborators. This one is a real treat! The Letterboxd synopsis doesn't really do it justice, to be honest. It's about a group of three resistance fighters being sent into the heart of Japanese occupied Korea to assassinate a key general and a well known collaborator. What should be a fairly straight forward plan is instead complicated by betrayal and unforeseen circumstances, resulting in a narrative that is wild and complex without ever (in my opinion) being difficult to follow. Jun Ji-hyun's character is a major highlight of the movie. _________________________________________________________ Train to Busan http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyWuHv2-Abk Martial law is declared when a mysterious viral outbreak pushes Korea into a state of emergency. Those on an express train to Busan, a city that has successfully fended off the viral outbreak, must fight for their own survival… I love zombie movies... or, rather, I want to love zombie movies - unfortunately, not many of them seem to want to be loved. This one, on the other hand does, and by God do I love it. This Korean take on a zombie apocalypse is absolutely fantastic and horribly tense all through.

Never really been a fan of Counter Strike myself, unfortunately. Crysis and FEAR were always my go-to games when I felt like going online with an FPS... sadly the multiplayer components of both were grossly underrated and underappreciated. :'(

Oh Gawd. I had a hard time figuring out exactly what rating to that post. 'like', 'funny', and 'creative' didn't quite do it justice, so winner it is. Definitely a more in-depth response than I would have ever imagined, but for what it's worth that was quite amusing to read. ^^ With that said, for the sake of not intimidating people away for fear of having to make similarly long and involved posts (though those are more than welcome!) I present to you: something a little bit lazier. _____________________________________________________________________________________ I'm pretty sure I could take Kobayashi in a fight. Probably. She might be a bit unpredictable while drunk, but by and large I'd be confident of my chances... with that said, however, if I had done something to offend her to the point of wanting to hunt me down like an animal, I'd have to presume that her maid would be similarly upset with me... and so... with that in mind... I would run. To the ends of the Earth, without stopping and without looking back. And when the time would come for our inevitable meeting, I would throw myself to the floor and beg forgiveness for whatever sin I had committed, hoping against all hope that my apologies would be sufficient enough to keep me from being roasted alive by her overly excitable dragon companion.

Have a link to the wallpaper in question? I'd be interested in seeing how it looks while animated. Also, +1 for Touhou wallpaper.

The avatar above you is hunting you. You have a small head-start, but circumstance and contrivance will conspire against you to force a confrontation. You don't know why you are being hunted, but it seems safe to assume that it's for some sort of particularly nefarious purpose. What do you do? Where do you go? How will you fight back? Tell us the epic tale of your heroic last stand against whatever terrifying antagonist it is that you end up facing. It's okay if you're not familiar with the character or characters in someone's avatar - just go by appearances. _____________________________________________________________________________________

Disclaimer: While I absolutely adored the movies, I wasn't really a fan of the anime and thus went into the movies without any preconceptions about how things should be. If you're a big fan of the anime, some of the changes made might bother you. With that said, I think it was a solid adaptation overall and a very fun and approachable seriess of movies - I've introduced some folks to it who don't really like anime at all, and they found it to be a blast. So... yeah, just an FYI... with that said though, I still definitely recommend giving it a look.

The first movie was an adaptation of the series' opening, and features Udō Jin-e and Takeda Kanryū as villains. It's a bit condensed and features a decent number of changes to certain events and how a lot of the characters are introduced, but it works extremely well in my opinion, and made for a very nice and very stylized movie that wraps up quite nicely. Likewise with the second and third movies, which adapted the Kyoto arc.

Figured it was time to get back to my regularly scheduled programming.

I feel a bit silly saying this, because I posted it elsewhere as well, but ah... perhaps Clannad? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ There's a fair bit of variety in terms of the characters, several fairly assertive ones, and a heroine that - while she's usually not terribly assertive - slowly becomes more so. With that said, the Clannad visual novel might be a better example than the anime, since in it the more assertive characters are given their own paths with which to take center stage.

That's really about the only answer I can think to give for this... I mean c'mon, it's basically the most famous video game failure in history - if you adjust for inflation, it was basically a billion dollar screw-up that, along with a bad port of Pac-Man, basically sunk Atari, and screwed over the gaming industry of the day - clearing the way for Nintendo to come along and start putting the pieces back together.

Hm... gotta disagree with you on this one - I found the live action Rurouni Kenshin movies to be a total blast to watch.