If people want to add another anime watchalong podcast to their schedules, some of the Friends At The Table folks recently started one for Hunter x Hunter (one of John's top 2 animes!). It's been a delight so far, and Austin joined them for the first episode.
Every watch of Bebop slightly changes my opinion of how well the Vicious stuff is integrated into the rest of the show. I don’t know if the show spends enough time on this part of the story for him to be a truly effective antagonist for Spike. I remember feeling a little underwhelmed by the finale because of this the first time I saw it, although I haven’t felt that way on repeat viewings. I understand where Jeff is coming from as well: as good as the episodes are, there is a clear difference in tone and the times where the show shifts gears between light and heavy can be a bit jarring, especially on first watch. Hell of an action scene though!
I loved the Digimon show as a kid, but I could never get behind the theme song. Even as a 10-year-old it made me cringe. I recently discovered the original Japanese theme song, and I'm a little upset that we were robbed of this banger in the West! The vocal melody on the chorus soars!
@simkas: I was referring to the plot/choices aspect of the game. I admittedly haven't played it myself, but Alpha Protocol has always had a pretty high reputation when it comes to its narrative and the way it develops through the choices of the player. I don't remember any of those glowing blog posts talking about the gameplay mechanics though, and now I can see why! I can't blame the guys for losing focus when they had to re-learn what looked like some very unintuitive controls every month-and-a-half. Even Matt Rorie, who single-handedly made the game on a Commodore 128, had a rough time!
Regarding the Tesco news: it’s not unusual for UK supermarkets to have a games/DVD/CD section, but they’ve definitely become smaller and less common in recent years. People are buying fewer physical games in general though, so it’s not surprising to see supermarket chains phase them out when they can use that shelf space for other products with less stock value (PS/Xbox gift cards, for instance).
It's a fun concept, but thinking of other games that would work is tough. It should be one that everyone can pick up and play without having a miserable time. Crusader Kings seems really complex and would require all participants to really commit to it. Maybe try something that is more familiar to the team.
Some Bethesda RPG or New Vegas might be a good fit if they were not so long. The core gameplay is fairly simple, there's a lot of choices you can make that can have a pretty big impact on how the game plays out and there's a lot in them that makes it easy to keep track of what you should be doing.
See, I would've said the same thing about Alpha Protocol (and I think that's why it was picked for this feature) but no one really seemed to engage with it in that way. Most people didn't read the debriefs that detail how their choices impacted the mission, and there were plenty of in-game conversations that were ignored and talked over. It probably didn't help that the actual gun gameplay was so frustrating to play. Every player seemed relieved when it was time to hand the game off to the next person. I like the idea of Play It Forward (especially as a spiritual successor to Xquisite Corps), but I think it's a format where its success rests entirely on the game selected, and I can't think of a game that would be a good fit.
@csl316: I had this exact same thought. Instead of having to keep up with the latest films and shows, people could just talk about the ones they've been watching lately. For example: this would be the perfect venue for Grubb to talk about his recent experience with 24, maybe have Dan on too to compare with his memory of watching the show when it first came out.
@zeeman155: Ahh, Kids on the Slope. I remember first reading about that in a Kirk Hamilton article on Kotaku of all things (he did a deep dive on all of the jazz compositions the show referenced and how they connected with the story), and ended up watching the entire series over the course of a weekend. Good stuff!
I usually gravitate towards watching anime subbed for the exact reason Tam mentioned. The way that dialogue lines are stretched/compressed to fit the mouth movements prevents my brain from getting fully immersed in the story, regardless of how good the performance might be. [There are exceptions. I had to watch Evangelion dubbed simply because there was way too much background chatter and in-world text for my eyes to keep up with the subs. And, after seeing some clips on YouTube, I watched Trigun dubbed because I enjoyed the nostalgic 90s-ness of the performances (Milly + Meryl 4 Life).] Conversely, one of my friends is the exact opposite. Having to read subtitles breaks his immersion in the story.
I guess my point is that the answer to the sub/dubs debate is always whatever helps you to better enjoy the show in question. My experience with Bebop spans three decades at this point (not a brag), but I've never seen the dubbed version. The comments here have convinced me to give it a shot! And if it's not for me? I can switch back!
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