Immortallium's Blog

The History of PC Ports of Japanese Sega Games

Published July 2, 2020

There was a lot of excitement recently when rumours began to spread that Persona 4 Golden was coming to PC. When it was finally released on the 13th of June, it quickly broke the concurrent players record for a JRPG! However, the effort that eventually saw Persona 4 Golden released on PC actually began many years ago.

As I’ve spoken about before, there was a long time where Japanese game publishers and developers didn’t release their games for PC. This was for a variety of reasons but, around 2010 to 2012, we began to see more Japanese games release on PC. Excluding the Sonic series, the only Japanese game that Sega released for PC at the time was Binary Domain (the port of which proved divisive).

2 Comments

Telling True Stories Through Manga

Published June 29, 2020

When one thinks of manga, it is quite likely that your mind will go to the fantastic such as fantasy and sci-fi. However, it is important to remember that manga is a medium like any other and can be used to tell any story. While I’ve spoken about how I think basing media on true stories is overrated, I nonetheless find myself interested in the use of manga to tell true stories (this fascination might stem from how I feel that manga based on true stories is rarer than in other media).

I should probably clarify my criteria for what a manga based on a true story is. In my research on the subject, I saw people bring up historical manga such as Vinland Saga and Kingdom. While it is true that these manga are set in the real world and follow real events, I think referring to them as “based on a true story” gives the wrong idea. Instead, my focus is going to be on manga that tell very personal stories either about the mangaka or about someone else.

Historical manga such as Vinland Saga aren’t what I think of when I think of “Based on a True Story”.

Leave a Comment

How Popular Is Anime In Japan?

Published June 25, 2020

When talking to other fans of anime, it becomes quite clear that many think of Japan as a paradise where people are watching anime all the time and all of their favourite shows have massive followings. This could not be further from the truth and it is important that we, as Western fans of anime, learn how popular anime truly is in Japan.

Let’s start off with what anime are actually popular in Japan. Taking a look at the recently released broadcast ratings in Japan (keep in mind that many are currently reruns due to the pandemic), we notice that many of the most popular shows are series either unreleased (Sazae-san, Chibi Maruko-chan) in the West or have been released (Detective Conan/Case Closed, Doraemon) and failed to make a splash.

Despite being one of the most popular anime in Japan, Detective Conan/Cased Closed fizzled in the West.

Leave a Comment

Asymmetric Multiplayer: A Discussion

Published June 22, 2020

I was recently watching The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (great horror movie by the way) and decided to look up the character of Sally Hardesty. On her Wikipedia page, it mentions that she is referenced in a game called “Dead by Daylight”. I was familiar with this game from a few years ago but seeing it again reminded me of the topic of asymmetric multiplayer and, given the recent release of Resident Evil: Resistance as part of Resident Evil 3, I thought it worth a discussion.

Let’s start with what an asymmetric multiplayer game is. In contrast to normal multiplayer games where team sizes are typically the same (think of Overwatch and how each team is typically 6v6), asymmetric multiplayer games (usually) feature imbalanced teams where each side is mechanically distinct. Taking Dead by Daylight as an example, a team of 4 survivors attempt to activate generators and escape the premises while the other team consists of a killer who attempts to hunt them down.

A shot of gameplay from Dead by Daylight.

2 Comments

Comedy in Manga

Published June 18, 2020

Contrary to popular belief, comedy is not a universal language with different cultures admiring some forms of comedy and rejecting others. The comedy of manga is no exception since it comes from a specific, historically isolated culture and the fact that a manga format requires a new method to time and deliver jokes.

Let’s start with Japanese comedy in general. Japanese comedy tends to be very heavily focused on both slapstick and puns. Slapstick, as you might imagine, is very visual and works well for the manga medium (although admittedly the set up is quite often dialogue heavy). In contrast, puns are extremely difficult to translate with your only choices typically being to explain the pun so that the audience understands it and drain all comedy from it or to create a new pun which works in the translated manga and retains the spirit of the original (also known as adaptive translation).

The cast of Ranma 1/2. — Ranma 1/2 features a lot of slapstick comedy and I love it!

Leave a Comment

The Widespread Perception of Anime/Manga Sexualization

Published June 15, 2020

I was browsing YouTube videos lately and stumbled upon a video by Jesse Cox. While quite a funny video, one of his lines that stood out to me was when he mentioned that there were “animu ladies” in the game and that he assumed they would be “in various states of dress” which was quickly proven true. The cliche that anime and manga are only about sexualizing female characters is irritating to me but, unfortunately, it is also very easy to for me to see how this stereotype is perpetuated.

Let’s start with why this is a common outlook both outside and within the otaku community. I recently wrote an article titled “Fan Service: Past, Present and Future“. In it, I detailed how prevalent fan service featuring females in provocative outfits, positions and situations have become in anime and manga. Much of this comes down to merchandising where figurines, body pillows, plushies etc have become a vital source of income to publishers.

An image of some body pillows of female One Piece characters. — Some One Piece body pillows.

Leave a Comment

What It Means To Be A Reviewer

Published June 11, 2020

The topic of “What it means to be a reviewer” provokes a large variety of opinions and thoughts. I have had people say to me that they could not think of a more worthless job than a reviewer while I have had others jealously tell me that they would give anything to be able to become a reviewer. I have strong reservations about both of these viewpoints but I do believe they serve as excellent jumping off points for a discussion.

Before I go into my thoughts and opinions about what it means to be a reviewer, I should explain my experience as a reviewer. While I technically released some review videos in 2009, I consider 2013 to be the year when I really started to review media. Throughout all that time, I have never been paid to do a review from anyone (although I have received free products) and have only ever made money through adsense and affiliate linking.

My first manga review which was released in 2013.

Leave a Comment

Games As A Service

Published June 8, 2020

Within the last few years of gaming, a buzz word going around the industry is the term “Games as a service”. An odd phrase with strange connotations, it’s worth exploring the advantages and disadvantages of this format and why, while it works for some games, it should not become the new default model for game development.

But what is games as a service? It refers to a business model where a game, which can either be free to play or bought, is continually updated with a combination of free and paid content. MMOs with their monthly subscriptions were amongst the earliest examples of this model but games as a service has since expanded to include microtransactions, DLC and season passes.

Meridian 59 was one of the earliest MMOs to have a subscription.

Leave a Comment

OEL Manga, Manhwa And Manhua

Published June 4, 2020

When I think of manga, I immediately think of Japan. However, as this world continues to become more global and interconnected, it is obvious that cultures will continue to influence and inspire each other. As manga continues to grow in popularity in the West, it is worth looking at some “manga” that come from other cultures, in this case OEL manga, manhwa and manhua.

OEL (Original English Language) manga are titles drawn by native English speakers and are inspired by both the storytelling and art style of Japanese manga. This form of manga did not develop until around the 1980s when both anime and manga began to be exported in larger quantities to America. Popular OEL manga include Megatokyo and Nightschool.

Leave a Comment

Sports Anime and Manga: A Niche in the West

Published June 1, 2020

I should preface this article by explaining that I’m not a fan of sports in general. Despite much peer pressure from both family members and kids at school, I have never been part of a sports team (with the one exception being a chess team in primary school) or followed any sports teams (even e-sports teams). However, that does not mean that I can’t enjoy a story about sports. The effort and determination to be the best at what you do is quite endearing and can create engaging stories.

Sports has been an important source of stories for anime and manga for over half a century. The popularity of sports in postwar Japan as well as the hosting of the 1964 Olympics caused a boom in the production of sports manga and many of these were later adapted into anime series. It has remained a popular genre with several sports series making the list of best-selling manga of all time.

Slam Dunk is the highest selling sports manga of all time at approximately 126 million copies sold!

Leave a Comment

Immortallium's Blog Posts