Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo

Okay, I know that A LOT of people hate this show, but I actually really enjoy it.

I've been watching it recently, mainly at a snail's pace but it still counts as watching, and I've really enjoyed it.

The show seems to have the delivery of children's humor, but in that delivery it pokes fun at itself in an endless cycle of self-deprecating, fourth wall breaking, continuity out of the window throwing funniness that it becomes worthwhile.  

But the truly INTERESTING part of the show is that even though it has all of this wacky Looney Tunes styled humor, it somehow has a rather serious (using this term liberally, here), consistent, and driving plot.  As a parody of shōnen anime and manga in general, Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo lampoons Dragon Ball, Gundam (Mecha in general actually), and many other fight-style series.  Actually, Bobobo throws in a few parody scenes of shōjo as well (a la schoolgirls prancing through meadows with flowery backdrops, for instance) which even further breaks down the boundaries between audience and script.  One scene poked some fun at the ridiculous children's shows in Japan (which aren't really much different than any other children's shows) with a seemingly infinite chant of "Honk honk, smells good!"

The show is, in fact, SO ridiculously vast in its archive of references  that it actually takes some brain power to recognize the various connections it makes.  In one episode, Don Patch uses a lyric from Marvin Gaye's song Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology) as he runs to a Mr. Earth (Bobobo).

It is noteworthy that I have only watched the English dubbing of the show, but from what I hear, the show is just as witty in Japanese.

In short, Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo is one of those anime that makes people change the channel for some reason, but for the few that sit through an episode it is comedy gold.  Seriously, if you have some time, I recommend an episode or two, and if you have more time watch the whole series.

Rare Games

My collection of the original .hack// series is almost complete, I only need Quarantine and the whole set will be done!  I was at ACen, the big Midwest anime convention, and I spent hours looking for some games to add, and I found the 3rd part, Outbreak, but I still didn't have part 2, Mutation.  But I could recognize the opportunity, so I didn't pass it up and forked over the cash to claim my prize.  About a week later I spent two days driving around from Gamestop to Gamestop in search of the elusive part 2 of the original .hack// series until I found it.  It wasn't in its original case, but it still had the bonus anime disc from the original release, which was actually more than I had expected.  I feel like the fourth episode will be hardest to find; Gamefly doesn't even have a copy to rent out!  .hack is a great series, in my opinion, even if the gameplay isn't all that amazing, the world that was created is pretty amazing, I think.
Oh, speaking of ACen, there was a gaming room with TONS of games available for play.  And I MEAN tons; there was Battletoads, Katamari Damacy and its We ♥ counterpart, M.U.G.E.N, some old SNK games with their arcade style controllers, and there was a HUGE crowd around the new Marvel vs Capcom (that game was a HUGE hit at ACen, its booth was always crowded).

So what I want to know now is, what rare games have you enjoyed playing/searching for?  What's the holy grail in your opinion?

Wow, I skipped April

I'm a terrible blogger, seriously!
Sorry that I skipped April, it was a...tough month, let's say.
Anyway, I never finished FFXIII, I couldn't take the torture.
I also tried my hand at Fable III, but the copy I was playing was pretty glitched.  I might try it again later though, it seemed good enough, though it lacked something; however, I did like the departure from silent protagonist, that cliché has been beaten to a pulp and beaten even more.  I know that it began with the technological constraints of the time, and for a while the homage was even desirable, but the trope has lived far longer than ever it needed to. 
That rant aside, games are looking good in the near future.  I checked out a preview for The Old Republic, and I have to say, I'm feeling pretty optimistic.  The game, it seems, will be departing from the plotless grind of MMOs, and moving toward a story centric mechanic, and knowing BioWare, a moral guideline from the Light to Darksides.  The PvP could go either way at this point, and I suspect some catches in it, but it shouldn't be poor enough that it keeps people from leaving WoW.  Speaking of WoW, I was quite disappointed with Cataclysm when that came out, the story-centrism wasn't very present, and where it was, it was poor and hardly central to the game at all. 
Another game that I'm excited for is Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.  It looks like an improvement on Oblivion, and this Dragonborn plot sounds good.  I read a preview for the game and it sounded as if the world is more affected by player actions than any game before.  I also read that if you see an NPC doing something, you can do it too, which adds another level of immersion.  It seems that Skyrim aims to improve upon the concepts that Fable introduced to mainstream gaming, though Elder Scrolls had been working on a greatly interactive world for a while. 
Other games that look good are the new Deus Ex installment, L.A. Noire (which should definitely appeal to my love of story and plot), Duke Nukem Forever, The Last Guardian (yes, I was a fan of Shadow of the Colossus, even though I never finished it), and The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword.
There are a couple games already out that I haven't played yet, the primary concern is Portal 2, which I hear is beautifully genius, better than the first.
Oh, and since I'm blogging I might as well mention this whole Osama thing.
There, I mentioned it.
I'm going to avoid that topic for as long as can, though.

Anyway, I'm really looking forward to 2011 as a good year for games.

FFXIII Update

I'm into disc 2 now.
I gotta say that the game is losing it's sparkle for me and I'm wondering if I'll make it all the way through the game.
One of the biggest problems I have with FFXIII is the lack of an overworld.
Now, I know that it's not a requisite for a good game, but FFXIII kind of eliminates the whole exploration scheme that I've found in all the other games that I've enjoyed.
I can't go back and explore the locations I've visited in the past, everything seems kind of "mission-based" as in Halo or almost even Time Crisis!
This sort of linear gameplay really sucks the life out of me and just wipes me out.
In fact, this game is sort of becoming a hassle for me.
The plot is okay, but it has a really slow progression that kind of bugs me and there have been no twists or shocking reveals yet.
The battle system is kind of good, actually I think that may be what has kept me for so long, but it's not good enough to base a game off of, and you can even autobattle for goodness sake!
I'm really missing the glory days of the first Final Fantasy I've ever beat, FFII.
THAT was a great game.
It didn't try to be epic with it's story, but it was.
It even had that rebellion theme I love so much.
And the level system?
Wonderful!  I could replay that game over and over again coming up with new roles to play!
I'll try and finish this game up but I'm making no promises.

Final Fantasy XIII

I just got Final Fantasy XIII (360) in the mail from GameFly last night and started playing.  The first thing that struck me was the fact that it was a 3 disc set.  3 discs for a 360 game, it got me wondering what kind of adventure I would be getting myself into.  The game began with a great action sequence and the depiction of a world in danger.  Lightning reminds me a lot of Cloud from FFVII.  She's a former soldier (as opposed to SOLDIER) she has a cool sword (though hers is more like Squall's from FFVIII since it's apparently a gunblade) and her first scene is on a train.  Sazh, however, is not at all like the big bad black Barret from FFVII, that role probably goes more to Snow, who also seems like a mixture of Tidus from FFX for whatever reason.  Sazh does add comic relief as Barret often did, maybe there is some racist element that Square is hiding from us, some kind of blaxploitation perhaps? Just kidding! Square don't strike me down for that one.  Hope and Vanille are pretty cute kids too, Vanille having a happy exterior to hide her fear, and Hope having difficulty telling Snow that his mother was the woman who died.

All the main characters I've met so far are quite relatable and familiar.  This isn't a game that will spawn an army of Cloud cosplayers and hardly any other fans, but I can see people being interested in all the main characters.

This is just my impression from the first couple hours of playing, but I think this game will be great.
I'm going to keep updated on this game and try and keep the spoilers to a minimum, but I won't make any promises.

Love you guys!

Dragon Age

Any of you guys play the new Dragon Age?
I've only played the 1st one, not even the expansion.
I never got into it that much, but the newer one looks more exciting since it seems more actiony.
Not sure why I couldn't stick with DA:O, but I'm giving it another try before I play DA2.
I want to be immersed in the universe already (again) before I start the new game.
I heard that the game left some hardcore fans with a bad taste in their mouths, but I'm more of a casual player so that's not that big of a deal.
If you've played it, what did you like and/or dislike about the game?
What's different?
I know they removed the origin stories completely, and that some character stuff is disabled.
How is the plot?
Please let me know before I buy it what I should expect.
I want to play it, so I might just rent it from GameFly if it's not that good.
Thanks!

Dragon Ball Z

Hey guys.
Any of you guys DBZ fans?
I am, and I used to be shy about that.
It's not the most intricate anime, nor is it the most creative, but it really has great passion.
Plus, the epicness of the whole thing is awesome.  I really like the characters as well, they are both relateable and heroic.  The humor is also pretty good.
If you like any battle anime, you should probably like DBZ, it's a staple.

Plus!
DBZ has GREAT games.  The Legacy of Goku series was quite good in my opinion, the 2nd one being my favorite (Cell was my favorite saga, though Janemba is my favorite villain)
Budokai and Tenkaichi are great games as well, I've spent hours playing those with friends.
They have that casual nature that the SSB series has, but there is still an amount of skill that goes into it.

Any of you guys have input?