This might seem like an unusual post to write as I have hardly talked about the Marvel Cinematic Universe (henceforth referred to as the MCU) before so this might seem out of the blue. However, I have been thinking a lot about the MCU as of late and thought that I’d discuss my history with the films. Unsurprisingly, the first MCU film I saw was Iron Man (2008). The first film in what would become the MCU, I can remember being at a friend’s house and he decided to play the DVD of Iron Man. Not knowing anything about the…
Category: 2019
Ever since the beginning of the medium of video games, there has been a dream of photo-realistic graphics. Whenever a new console is released or a new form of graphics technology is created, developers immediately demonstrate games or tech demos that push towards realism. I have no doubt that this will also be the case for the newly announced Playstation 5 and Xbox Series X. It’s true that photo-realism can suit many types of games but, concurrently, I am often drawn to games that deliberately eschew realism for a different style of art. Let’s start with the disadvantages of photo-realistic…
In the run up to Christmas, I have been thinking about how different cultures celebrate this event. Unsurprisingly, the culture I’m most interested in is Japanese. Japan has a unique culture compared to the west and, as one might expect, celebrates Christmas in some very different and even unusual ways. Christmas has not traditionally been celebrated in Japan with Christmas only beginning to be celebrated post World War II. This is down to the fact that Christianity is a minority religion in Japan with only an estimated 3 millions Christians out of a population of 126 million. Because of this,…
This might seem like an unusual topic for an article but hear me out. One of my most fond but unusual memories comes from when a friend and I went into a bookstore called Waterstones. We went over to their manga section and quickly realized that many of the manga titles were organized incorrectly (at the time my thoughts accused the staff although, thinking back on it, it’s likely that other customers were the ones who had ruined the arrangement). We began to correct this, moving titles around so that volumes 1 to so-so were arranged from left to right.…
I’m sure that as many of you began watching anime, you noticed how different it was from western animation. The content and art style are certainly two notable aspects that differentiate this medium from western animation. However, these are not necessarily unique to anime with a lot of western animation now embracing the content and art style. Instead, I want to focus on the differences in animation techniques and how they give anime a distinct feel. In order to explain how the animation techniques of anime are so unique, I first have to explain the techniques of western animation. Looking…
Here is the conclusion of my list that began in “My Ranking of the Main Final Fantasy Games Part 1“. 6. Final Fantasy XIII A controversial entry, I’m sure that many of you are shocked that I rank this game so highly. In contrast to many people, I actually like the characters and story (except for Snow who I found very irritating). The graphics are absolutely incredible (particularly for a 2009 game) with an art style that I actually prefer to the much more recent Final Fantasy XV. The combat system also feels highly engaging although I’ll admit that it…
As I have mentioned in “Why I Prefer Turn-Based JRPGs” and “Is the PC a Good Platform for Japanese Games?“, I am a massive fan of Final Fantasy. I thought a nice way to discuss this series would be to rank the main Final Fantasy games that I have played and completed. That means no spin-offs will be ranked here and it also means that I will be excluding Final Fantasy II, XI and XIV as I have not completed them. Therefore there will be 12 entries on this list. Also a reminder that this list represents my personal opinions…
Something that has always fascinated me is how people find out about different manga series. Considering the relative lack of marketing that manga receives in comparison to films, TV shows, video games or even anime, it makes sense that people would have to find other sources to discover new manga series. This thought process began when I was thinking about Akira Toriyama. Undoubtedly one of the most successful mangaka of all time, having penned the highly successful Dragon Ball series, it’s surprising how few people are aware of his second most popular series, Dr Slump. If one of the best…
I was browsing the internet when I came across the trailer for the new Lupin the 3rd film. Titled “Lupin the Third: The First”, it is going to be the first Lupin the 3rd film to be animated in 3D CGI (Computer Generated Imagery). As established in “Discotek Media Spotlight“, I’m a big fan of Lupin the 3rd. Watching the trailer, I felt mostly okay with the style of animation (although I feel that they ruined Daisuke Jigen’s character design) but I still had to question the decision of why this film is CG. I wish to start by saying…
I’m sure that by now it has become clear that I’m not content with merely watching the most recent media. However, it can be difficult getting my hands on older anime shows and movies. While we have seen various distributors such as Anime Ltd and even Funimation dipping into the classics, I want to bring particular attention to Discotek Media. Let’s start with their origins. Discotek Media was founded in 2005, making them relatively recent by distributor standards, with a goal of releasing vintage anime. Since then, Discotek Media have released a vast amount of series, movies and OVAs and,…