In case you’re new here to M3, I aspire to be the ultimate (if not a tad stereotypical) geek by not only specializing in anime but also in game programming, and so I’ve taken the liberty here with Randall’s great hosting to combine the two into a near-perfect storm of geekiness (only missing out, I suppose, by not caring about Star Trek, or something).

That is, if you haven’t seen that little Games page at the top navigation bar, and now even if you have, check it out, as it contains some of the freeware games that I’ve programmed for fun (and to avoid work) over the years.

There are two more additions to the page today, which is why it might be worth your time looking at the page again; I’ve detailed the games there (most recent additions are at the top), so I won’t waste my breath here. One of them is CUT/OFF, a commisioned game of an original game show concept – and a two hour production, and the other is the third version of a soon-to-be-franchise-like-substance, Battle Tetris #SEMI-AUTO, an update of the Tetris-with-benefits (er, attacks) game now featuring multiple modes, customization options, and all-out stuff. This was more of a two-month production.

Again, the link is here to all of my games. I hope you enjoy them. And if not, I found more Sacchin pictures. Rejoice! (They’re after the jump, for size issues.) Read the rest of this entry »

It’s red alert at M3 camp following the sudden revelation that all the shows I’ve been watching are ending.

With the combination of some ace 1-cour shows this season with some excellent carryover shows from the fall season, the next week or two is looking to be one giant send-off to many high-tier shows…which looks to be a recipe for a couple nights’ worth of pure anime heaven, followed by a big blank void.

I’m just zetsubou’ing because there doesn’t look to be a whole lot of interesting names in the new season of anime for spring; something that won’t stop me from eventually watching half the shows based on critical praise from around the blogosphere, but still, something that’s distressing, as in the past at least there’s been one or two big names or concepts. Fall had Clannad to leave Key fanatics like me drowning in their own drool. Winter had the combo of H2O / True Tears, two visual novel adaptations which promised to be good…and oddly enough, both were.

Here, the most interesting thing to me is a three episode OVA. (Yes, it’s Bus Gamer, pronounced “Biz Gamer” apparently as it stands for “Business Gamer”. Who came up with that one?)

My stash of backlogged material is probably what will subsist me through the next few months but as I’m still busy looking for the next (last?) big gem to add to that backlog, there’s a certain state of panic here.

One which I must say leaves me very malleable for peer pressure, so, hey, influence me. Details after the jump, along with some advertising for some of the shows I’ll miss dearly: Read the rest of this entry »

 
you can clean MY house anytime, if you know what I - oh, uh, is that a sword in that broom you’ve got there? I think I’ll shut up now.

The real post, as always, will probably come tommorow – if lightning strikes I might be able to do a Kaiji / KimiKiss comparison and contrast post, provided that the latter’s episode 20 is sufficently awe-inspiring as the former’s, which shouldn’t be too hard. At least, I’m good at getting worked up in a good lather of Mao hate. We shall see. Failing that, it’s one or the other, but it’s all good, because both shows have excellent points to discuss.

Until then, I’ve been tinkering around with those random text display things, so here’s some new blogs and shows for pimping. Please enjoy them and give them a fraction of the massive 100-odd hits I get every day. Hopefully Danny Choo will come along soon and tell us how many seconds it takes him to get that many. :P

(Seriously, I’m happy with triple digits, although I wonder why the old Eternity blog still gets more hits than M3.)

Blogs added to the rotation:

• Borderline Hikikomori, because they post a lot, because I like the word ‘hikikomori’ after Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei (Kiri~), and because they make me feel good that I’m not the only one to watch KGNE / Rumbling Hearts recently. OK, the first one, really.
• Minimum Tempo, because it looks really professional and the articles are a good mix of snarky and smart.
• Anime Academy, because it does what it says on the tin and has academically apt articles about awesome anime. (Alliteration = awesome.)
• The Scrumptious Anime Blog, because KimiKiss. Also, DNAngel. Tokyo Marble Chocolate. etc. Somehow I miss all the really incredibly sappy romantic romances in most of the visual-novel / harem I watch these days.
• The Pink Sylphide, because I didn’t know that many releases of Cardcaptor Sakura existed, much less that some of them were $900 for a full set. Still cheaper per episode than certain controversial pricing schemes, but, wow.
• Gaijin Smash (which yes, I just heard of), because nothing cures Japanophilia better than stories about getting stabbed in the ass by Japanese schoolkids. Although, it does do wonders for splitting your sides.

Series added to the rotation:

• Kimi ga Nozomu Eien / Rumbling Hearts. Through episode 5 so far and probably won’t post about it until series conclusion, but it’s sure…interesting. School Days lite (I say lite so far, ha) for sure, the time-jumps are all sorts of mixes of messed up and intriguing, and it’s far too much fun trying to explain this show in brief to others, using the terms of Haruka’s sister. “Well, first he hooked up with the first girl and ate her, and then she got liquified by a car and the other girl went to him and asked him to eat her and then they did and then time paradox and … “
• Tokyo Marble Chocolate, which is probably getting done a disservice by not getting posted about by me. Personally, while it wasn’t godly awesome like Owen and usagijen claimed, it was very touching and a bit tear-inducing; all manners of emotion in short, and that’s what I like about an anime, when it can invoke that sort of thing. I think this show will resonate very differently depending on whether one has actually been in any form of relationship or really, truly longed for one. Being on the other side of the divide, that might be why this didn’t quite hit home as well as it could have.
• Soon, True Tears will be added as well. I haven’t really come up with a way to sum it yet, because it really sort of is typical visual novel stuff, and there’s not a lot that can describe how it stands out. But it doesn’t have that “been there, done that” feel when you look at the characters. It’s strange, but I like it. There’s lots of possibilities for directions it could head, and as Stripey mentioned it’s incredibly hard to get into the head of the characters clearly, something I enjoy.

Also, you’ll notice a new Tiers page at the top of the navigation bar in the banner. This is code for “random page where I dump my list of favorite characters”, since those seem to be common along blogs and I need more space for Sacchin Shiori Sakura Nagato fanboying. It’s getting completed as this update goes live, so if it’s not fleshed-out yet, check later. I hope to make it a bit different by adding some flavor text to the list itself. Oh, and if you’re wondering “why tiers?” it’s because 1) I tend to rank things in groups instead of in absolute 1st, 2nd, 3rd order and 2) I want to make a True Tiers joke.

And, since it’s obligatory for me to make an excuse as to why I’m not posting as much, blame computer science. Wheeeeee cheap fan games~ (P.S. Mikoto, I’m working on your issue for Battle Tetris, will post when it is resolved)

-CCY