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Well I just landed myself a PS5 thanks to an email invite, thank fucking god. On a fricken adrenaline high right now and so freaking pumped because it means I finally get to play Cyberpunk. Gah!!!!!!! If you'll excuse me I'm going to go calm down now and let this adrenaline high subside.

I got a promotion with my job yesterday. I'll now be making more than I ever have doing this. $60k a year to do something I barely got paid $35k for at my previous company. The best news is that I'll have Saturdays off, and get off by 6-7pm on most days. I don't have to go to bed like some retiree anymore. So hopefully by the end of this year. Battlefield 6 will be out... it will be good... and maybe we can get the band back together @Sledgstone and @Strider Hiryu. Even though Strider is PC master race. I'm sure it'll have cross play. My gaming life has really suffered these past 3 years.

A friend was able to score me a PS5 while I was at work today. I'm pretty pumped!

The Hobbit trilogy in 4k are completely different cuts of the movie. I had no idea. I was skimming through youtube tv the other day, put on Battle of the Five Armies in the background while I got some stuff done. Then when I sat down I figured I'd finish the movie. I put on the 4k version instead and wtf. Not only is the movie visually stunning.. I had no idea my tv could look this good. I could see every strand of hair on everyone's head and everything was so crisp I could almost tell when scenes used a green screen to film. But what really blew me away was all the extra scenes and the gore. Its like this is the R rated cut. WTF. Bodies getting crushed, heads and limbs getting cut off and blood.. blood everywhere. WTF. And theres one extra scene where Thorin jumps on a goat and is like "I'm going to the top of Raven hill to kill that Azog bastard" and Dain says "How do you plan on getting past that army?" 6 more of Thorin's dwarves show up in the war chariot. Thorin: "We'll manage." and then theres like a 7 minutes scene of them tearing ass and mass murdering orcs on their way to Raven Hill. WTF. In the original movie, Thorin says he'll go to Raven Hill to kill Azog, the scene changes and we see Thorin and the others on some mountain goats ascending the hill. The amount of blood and gore in this new scene is brutal. I was shocked. But it was f*cking awesome. Now I need to watch the rest of the movies in their 4k versions to see what else is new. I read the LoTR 4k versions are also getting new scenes.

I went to Ohio to visit my family for Thanksgiving. Yes, there is covid, but we were careful. We did restaurant style rules for eating, masks on when getting plates of food, my brother's familys at their own tables all 6 foot+ away from the other tables while eating. We kept our masks on near my dad because of his immune system being compromised by the cancer treatments. Aside from that we kept the windows open to keep fresh air circulating in. We took our masks off when we'd be 6 feet away from him and each other. Its good that my mom's house is so big, the kitchen/greatroom is literally big enough to have parties of 50 people. Our handful of people was able to keep distances pretty easily. Its been 4 days since Thanksgiving and nobody is coming down with any covid symptoms so I'm guessing we did good. It was a fun time. Alot of good memories. I hardly ever visit Ohio during winter months because of winter snow storms in NY. We lucked out and its been in the 50s and only raining off and on. I caught a ride back and forth with my cousin who now lives in NY also. He had a covid test done the day before we left which was negative and I quarantined in my house for 2 weeks leading up to the trip. I'll be quarantining again for another 2 weeks just in case, but that doesn't bother me much.

Fruits Basket ep 16.... the onions.... so many cut onions.... 😭

Street Fighter V was free last month. I loaded it up for the first time, played 4 matches and now my forearms are on fire... yeah I'm too old for this.

Turns out I had some sitemap issues, SEO issues and some issues with the https changeover that google absolutely did not like. It looks like google wasn't crawling the site or at least not crawling and indexing the site like it should have been for who knows how long. I think thats all fixed now and I think google is indexing correctly again. Will this increase our users online? I have no idea, lol. But at least the site should be a bit more visible with google now.. at least until google gives me another email about errors again. As of now from over the last 5 months our best search term that gives us results is: "one punch man english dub" The lowest search terms that somehow loads one of our pages: "utz cheddar cheese balls"

I'm stepping up my manscaping. lol. I bought a "MANGROOMER Ultimate Pro Back Shaver" off amazon. I've only used it once and I already highly recommend it. My back is like a wookie. And this thing shredded through all that hair and didn't pull a single one. No pain and no red marks or irritation on my back. Link for reference: https://www.amazon.com/MANGROOMER-Ultimate-Shaver-Absorber-Extreme/dp/B00FULYKG4 Its got a rechargeable battery. I was really impressed with it. I'd post before and after pics of my back, but I don't want to traumatize people with my back hair bathroom mirror pics.

They done went and did it like I was predicting, Finally. I've been wanting to play this since I beat Automata and now we'll get to play a remaster. Was kinda hoping they'd remaster both games but I'm quite happy with one of them (as the story beats are only slightly different between Gestalt and Replicant). Now if only they'd give us a release date (better not be in September, that's Cyberpunk time x.x). Not entirely sure what this will be about but we're also getting a smartphone game. Still haven't announced if it's getting a release over here or not but still cool to see we're getting more Nier titles to continue the fantastic lore of this universe.

I checked error logs but I couldn't find anything. So I changed a couple settings for the gallery and did a couple test uploads. One image loaded fine, the other upload was 3 images at once. Everything worked ok. One of the issues might have been a file size limitation. Anything around 4mb might have been timing out. I increased the upload size for all usergroups. If anyone wants to test some image uploads, go for it. 10 mb is now the largest image the forum will take at the moment. All of my test images were no bigger than 1.5 mb. We still might get an image upload timing out for large images but that might be a hard server setting I'd have to look for.

So after counting the cash and gift cards I got for my birthday in Oct and for Christmas I finally just broke down and ordered a Switch today all because I want the new Smash Brothers (damn you Nintendo, why do you do this to me. You know I have an obsession with SSB). So yeah, I now get to start the journey of being a Switch owner (I just wish it didn't cost so much freaking money x.x).

With the summer simuldub season coming to a close, it played out like I predicted more or less. I'll wait a bit longer before I post my review. Pretty lackluster overall. But for me, the Fall Lineup is pretty stacked. Fairy Tail, SAO Season 3, and Black Clover continues which has become a lot more promising after this last arc I just watched... by far its strongest and most compelling. I watched the first episode of Double Decker! Doug & Kirill which was entertaining, and SSSS.GRIDMAN seems to be a Pacific Rim clone. Overall a return to more action adventure series, and lighter on the fan service heavy series.

Finally got our house today. All the legal paperwork is done and keys in hand.

So I finished watching the first season of My Hero Academia tonight and you were right DX I absolutely love the show. I think most of that has to do with my absolute adoration for All Might but I could be wrong (but I'm sure I'm not, you can't hate the man he's just fucking perfect). Gotta say for a shounen series it certainly has a lot going for it. Great humor, awesome character development and characters , a good story (I only say good for now as it's only S1 that I've finished, I hear it gets a lot better), and a pretty kick ass soundtrack. Not going to say I don't have any problems with the show (it suffers from some of the things I hate about shounen series) but those are greatly overshadowed by everything I said before. I'm honestly looking forward to starting S2 tomorrow (thank god I'm on vacation) and hopefully starting S3 before I go back to work (if I don't get lost in the myriad of other things I have to do this week).

After four days of playing I finally beat Detroit: Become Human or should I say finished my first play through and boy was it a pleasure. It's been a very long time since I've played a game with such an amazing story behind it and it's been even longer since I've felt such emotion while playing. This is my game of the year and nothing will come close to over taking it. A little early to be saying this? Probably but the chances another game as rich in story, character development, and emotional attachment coming out this year is slim to none. Games like these are what influenced my decision to get my degree (even if I'm not using it or working in the industry) and it's games like this that I've always wanted to create. True, the story has problems (and an extremely slow start after the first mission (the demo mission if you haven't played it)) and borrows heavily from real life events (civil rights movement is the big parallel with Markus coming off as the android MLK (depending on what choices you make)) and covers some pretty heavy subjects (domestic abuse, drug use, what does it mean to really be alive, etc) but they are few and far between and do little to detract from the narrative being told (in fact I think it gives the story more character). This game also does an extremely good job of making you feel the consequences of the choices you make and drives those points home later on down the line (every choice you make effects how the story ends, even the most mundane). All three main characters are interesting in their own ways and it was a joy seeing them all evolve throughout the course of the story and while I admit some of them were bland (Connor coming to mind, his character arch is the most interesting but his character is rather bland until about half way through the game) that hardly detracts from the story. If I had to choose I'd say Kara's story was my favorite for pure emotional reasons and Connor's being the most enjoyable (mostly due to the Detective he works with). Don't get me wrong Markus's story is good and the beginning of it really makes you feel for him but overall it doesn't outshine the other two. Plus the actor's they got to play these characters did an extremely amazing job bringing these characters to life so much so that I became emotionally attached to each one of them (this goes for secondary characters as well, I had to make some real hard choices at the end of the game and it was heartbreaking to do so). While I'm not one to gush about graphics I must say this game is beyond beautiful and the motion capture and animation are top notch (not to mention the starting screen is probably the most unique one to date). It's obvious this is a game and everything is CG but sometimes you forget given how well they nailed the likeness of the actors/actresses they used (almost all the main characters and certain side characters share their likeness with the actor/actress that portrayed them). I also have to say the soundtrack is rather amazing (now to rip it off my PS4 for my listening pleasure). All in all this game was an emotional ride and probably the best $70 I've spent on a game in years. I can't recommend it enough but I warn you this game is not for everyone. There is very little action (and what little there is completely consists of quick time events) and it's completely character driven, think of it as a CYOA movie that takes some input from the audience. Plus if you've never played a Quantic Dream game (Indigo Prophecy, Heavy Rain, Beyond: Two Souls) then you probably won't really enjoy it. However if this sounds like something you'd like I highly recommend it. As I said it's been a really long time since I've enjoyed a game this much and I can't wait to play it again this weekend to try out the paths I didn't take (and to get all the trophies, this will probably be the only game I 100%) and see the other endings (I got what could be considered the best ending).

I'm going to preface this by saying I'm normally not a fan of Super Robot mech shows (more of a Real Robot guy myself (Gundam/Macross)) and never really have been (there are exceptions but they are few) so that will tell you just how much I adored this show. It took me 11 years to finally sit down and watch it (and it's spent many years on my Netflix to watch list (I watched in on CR though) but I finished Gurren Lagann tonight and I have to say I absolutely fucking adored it. I don't understand why it took me so long to finally watch it but god am I glad I finally did. I haven't been this pumped after watching a show since I finished Kill la Kill (funny considering Trigger is also responsible making that gem). I'll admit it was a little rough in the beginning and if it wasn't for Kamina I would of dropped it but man am I glad I stuck through it, it only kept getting better. I'll admit, my taste for shows like this has dwindled over the years and I'm not really into the over the top, ridiculous shit anymore but god this just scratched an itch I didn't even know I had. Sure, I have my issues with the show (some pretty poor character development in some of the secondary characters, story is a little hard to follow after a certain point, some of the mech based science bugs me, and the whole Spiral Energy thing is ridiculous) but god damn do they seem insignificant when put up against an awesome soundtrack, awesome visuals (a little jenky considering how old it is), and a downright stellar main cast. If it wasn't for my absolute love for Zeta Gundam this might have taken the place as my all time favorite mech anime (you all know me well enough to know how high of praise this is). I can't wait to watch the movies this weekend (yea they're recaps but apparently the second movie makes the final fight even more epic then it already was) and I'm sad to think there is no more of this wonderful show to watch (manly tears were shed at this realization).

Finally got around to seeing Thor: Ragnarok (just finished in fact). Gotta say it was a really good movie, really enjoyed where they went with it and thought it was a downright blast. Good amount of comedy (I thought it was a nice direction considering what we'll be getting in a little over a month), nice action sequences, and seeing Thor get the snot kicked out of him by Hulk was pretty damn funny. Was also nice to see Thor actually use his damn powers for once (the bridge fight was pretty fucking epic). If I didn't love the first Guardians as much as I do I'd say this would probably be my favorite Marvel movie (considering how much I hated the first two Thor movies that's pretty high praise from me).

fuckin orange chins need killin

Finally got caught up on my backlog of Marvel movies over the last two weeks (well the backlog of ones I wanted to watch, the only one's I haven't seen are Thor 2, Homecoming (which I will watch eventually), Ant Man (no real interest in seeing it) and I've only seen half of the first Captain America). Will say things make a lot more sense now in the big picture after getting them watched, thoughts below: Winter Soldier: As much as I hat Cap I really enjoyed this movie and when my friend said shit hit the fan he wasn't kidding. I finally understand why Shield wasn't around in Avengers 2 (I really had no idea what was going on since I never watched the TV show and I really had no interest in watching Winter Soldier until recently) so a lot of my questions about certain things were finally answered. Really like how it played out more like a spy/action flick then a superhero flick, definitely one of my favorites in the the Marvel verse behind GoG 1 & 2 and Civil War. Civil War: Good god I really enjoyed this movie though I do feel like the whole movie focused more on Cap and Stark's underlying past issues (and personal issues) then it did on the real issues at hand (it really felt more like a Cap obsessing over Bucky and Stark reliving his daddy issues more then a flick about a superhuman civil war). Have to say I'm completely pumped to see the Black Panther flick, after seeing him in Civil War I'm sold on him (great actor choice and the character alone is really interesting). I have a ton of questions and theories now about how Infinity War is going to play out (can anyone say Nomad). Doctor Strange: I honestly didn't know about this one and based on the reviews I had seen about it I wasn't even sure if I'd like it. Glad to say I'm wrong. Though I really don't like Strange (his attitude rubs me the wrong way) I really enjoyed the movie (fucking trippy as hell). Considering I knew nothing of this character I thought it was a really good origin story for the character (yes I know the actual origin story but for the MCU this is actually a great introduction). I have some issues with the movie (like a lot of people) but I'm interested to see what his role is in the MCU going forward (especially considering the Infinity War movies are going to reset the MCU (or at least kill off quite a few heroes)). Guardians 2: Watched this last night and I absolutely loved it, tied for favorite Marvel movie with Guardians 1. Brought back all of the charm and humor from the first one and backed it up with a pretty serious story. Was great to see how the interactions between all the characters have evolved from the first one and yes Baby Groot was fucking adorable (the beginning of the movie was freaking cute with him dancing, yes I said cute (get over it)). Overall the movie was a fun ride and the ending, while sad, was a great way to send off such a great character (even if he was an ass). So yea, gotta say the Marvel movies are really impressing me considering my general distaste for superheroes (I'm sorry my heroes as a kid were the Ninja Turtles, Transformers, and G.I. Joe. Superheroes never realy interested me, men in tight spandex beating up other men in similar costumes just seemed wrong). As I said above I'm really looking forward to the Black Panther movie and after finally watching Civil War I'm really looking forward to seeing how things play out in the Infinity War movies.

Whether you were a big fan or not today is a tragic loss for the music world. Chester Bennington, lead singer and front man for Linkin Park, was found dead today at 41. I was a huge LP fan when I was younger (though I sort of lost touch with them over the years, their music past Meteora was so so) so this hits pretty hard for me. Their music, his music, helped me through a lot. RIP Chester, though you're gone your music and message will always remain.

I'm adopting a cat from the shelter. We went there last saturday and picked her out. A little kitten 4 months old. We're waiting to hear back from the place about when to pick her up. They give her full vaccinations, spay and a month of flea treatment. They have to spay her before they can release her to us, so we just gotta wait a few more days to find out when we can get her. They got hit with multiple large hoarding cases recently of saved animals and theres alot of volunteers there now. I hope this shelter doesn't screw this up. We have little cat toys and a new litter pan all ready for her.

So the new computer finally arrived and boy is it beautiful (and bigger then I thought, thing is huge). I'm now not looking forward to installing everything I need on it to get it up to snuff like my laptop is (so much to do). Sadly I won't be playing FFXIV tonight because it's going to take 3+ hours to download and install all the updates (not to mention Heavensward which I opted to dl instead of digging my disk out of the closet). I'll take pictures of it tomorrow and post them, to tired to do it right now as I spent the last two hours digging it out of the box and setting it up.

Finished Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron Blooded Orphans Season 2 last night. Gotta say it wasn't as good as the first season and it was kind of a let down story wise but the battles were freaking amazing (I am in love with Barbatos, that fucking machine is amazing). I think the title of "Kill them all" has finally been taken from Tomino, good god Nagai was kill happy (I honestly didn't think anyone was going to survive to see the end (yea, kind of a spoiler but not really as I didn't say who dies)). All in all a solid 7/10, definitely worth a watch if you looking for an action oriented show (not the best Gundam to come out but it definitely ranks up there as a damn good addition to the franchise as a whole). Also started watching Grimgar tonight since DX had mentioned what he thought of it it awhile ago (and it's up on Crunchy so I don't have to watch those fansubs I got a hold of). Only 4 episodes in and I have to say that was one hell of a gut punch, not because of his death but because of the way the others took it. Fucking hit me right in the feels. I do have to say that I was right, it feels like a cross between Log Horizon (being sucked into another world) and SAO (death being permanent) without the whole being a game aspect (since it seems it's never actually confirmed/denied). Overall I'm enjoying it so far, looking forward to what the next 8 episodes have to offer.

Two years after I bought it I finally started watching Tekkaman Blade. 16 episodes in and by god am I loving every minute of it (even if it is a bit campy). Great soundtrack, ok characters (hey not all anime has great characters), and a plot that's actually pretty good (if not recycled from other similar shows from the time). Also makes me miss the old days when anime was hand animated and we didn't have all this CG shit mixed in. Sure the art wasn't always great but damn the shows were still good. Also makes me miss when anime actually had good plot and stories, not this same recycled bullshit we get every year.

I've been getting ready for spring for the last couple months and its taken up a crazy amount of my free time. We expanded our garden to be really huge last september in preparation for growing fruit and veggies. Then we decided to expand it another 6 more feet in one direction which we finally got finished last weekend. It was alot of work because our garden has an almost 6 foot tall deer fence all around it. We hammered in u-posts into the ground and attached the deer net and buried the bottom of the net so nothing will burrow under it. I should do measurements at some point to figure out its total volume. Its huge. lol. We have 3 apple trees, 3 cherry trees, and 1 nectarine tree in there. We still have to move 3 of those trees into their permanent locations (they are only 1 or 2 year old trees so its still possible to dig them up) and we have to plant a new apricot tree in there. I prepped the two rows for veggies last month but theres alot of weed whacking to do still and plants to move. We have 4 grape vines, 4 blueberry bushes and multiple raspberry plants to move. I started a bunch of veggies from seed and those tomatoes are still in an unused bath tub in my house with a light over them getting bigger every day. I'm looking forward to getting everything planted and done so all this gardening can give me a break.

Did my taxes today. Got my biggest return I ever had. I found that interesting since everyone was trying to say all the stimulus checks were going to make it smaller. I also worked OT a lot this past year during the pandemic... to the tune of $11,000 extra to my base pay.

I got the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G. Now that 5G is a thing, I felt it was time to get a true 5G phone. Plus the newest firmware update kind make the S10+ a little wacky. The weirdest thing is the standardization of all messaging apps. I kinda liked the facebook bubble chat heads... but now you have to activate it and it doesn't work like it use too. I turned it back off and its just like the standard SMS app with the previews and pop ups. Unrelated but if you use Snapchat, it doesn't really update very well. I've had it since 2014, but only recently started using it because I got a lot of work friends on it. Little did I know it had its own sound package, but it always used my standard notification when people snapped me or typed a message. When some new features came out that wouldn't appear, I deleted it and reinstalled it. It has its own notification, including one for when your BFs snap you. When I transfered all my stuff to my new phone it reverted to using the standard phone notification so I had to delete it again and reinstall. so odd. Anyways. The phone is big... and heavy. I like this... the ultra thin and lightweight phone thing needed to go. Shit still broke when it hit the ground. I like some heft in the hand. The screen is wild crisp. Its amazing how this tech keeps getting better. As a result the battery life is about the same. I think we peaked on that. While its bigger, so is the screen and all the features. The camera is a monster. I think its 100+ MP on the back and 40mp on the front. Its really detailed. One of the complaints is the camera lenses make the phone uneven in the back so it will rock on the table.. I got a casemate for mine. They've always been good to me with there ultra sleek designs that don't add too much more bulk to phones. Thankfully my case evens out the backside so it sits normal. The extra millimeter this adds to the overall thickness is again welcomed IMO. I also like how the samsung transfer app basically duped my old phone into my new one. home screen, app layout, alarms, wifi connections, etc. The only thing that didn't come over where my biometric log ins to all my sites. Also my wireless charge stand works which is a plus since I use it as a bedside clock. I contemplated the iPhone 12 Pro Max because most my friends have iPhone and their iMessage app now has reactions like FB messenger does. So when they use it it sends the whole text back with the "laughs at.... (novel of a text)". but Honestly I have so much invested into the Samsung ecosystem... plus I'm spoiled with my 5x5 app grid layout that Apple refuses to allow. 4 across is lame. Samsung makes better phones, and sells components to Apple anyways. I'll be riding this train until Apple can bring out something that really blows me away.

As someone that studied Nazi history extensively. The Man in the High Castle is a fascinating show on Prime Video. I was expecting it to be fully about what would happen if America and Britain lost the war, but its more about the multiverse... so its like alternate history and quantum leap combined? I definitely recommend despite its slow start for non-history majors.

I marathoned Breaking Bad over the last 2 weeks. I really enjoyed it. But it had one of my least favorite cliches.... and that's when there are two characters, and they're never in sync with each other. One is always on the up while the other fucks it up. Walter and Jesse just couldn't keep it together at the same time the whole series. Saul Goodman was such a good character I marathoned what Netflix had of Better Call Saul after that. Kinda slow at times, and not what I was expecting.. but still a good watch as well.

I've lost a lot of interest in Anime recently with the COVID stuff. With the dubs at a crawl, I haven't consumed anywhere near as much stuff or kept up with it. the Fire Force dub is only on ep 3... and I finally got current with Fruits Basket Season 2 yesterday. (My god the feels are about to explode it seems). I also lost interest in mobile games... just one day I just stopped playing AL and Arknights. They started becoming a chore that I felt I had to play, and in the end it just wasn't enjoyable anymore I guess. I've lost interest in a lot of stuff recently, and regained interest in other areas. I guess its just a part of getting old. I ordered TWD Compendium 4, So I'll be reading that tomorrow to get ahead of the TV show again. Other than that I just really sit around, drink coffee and watch science videos on YT. I guess that's what I'm content with now these days.

I've never been so happy to get a haircut in my life. Barber shops were allowed to open up today. I guess knowing there would be an overflow of people, there are no walk ins, only same day appointments. I was able to call and get one in. When I got there they had to disconnect the phone because it would not stop ringing and they just couldn't cut hair and keep taking new appointments nonstop at the same time.

Since I'm on my weekend atm from the new job (after 6 days of hell, fuck this essential business shit people be crazy) I decided to watch the new Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045 that was put up on Netflix last Thursday. Note that this is only half of what we're supposed to get so my opinions are only reflective of that and they may change come the release of the final 12 episodes. With that in mind lets begin. As most of you know I'm a huge fan of the GitS franchise ever since I saw the first movie over 15 years ago and have since seen and read everything released since then with the exception of side stories never released in the US (and own all of that as well) so my opinions on this are coming from a long-time obsessive fan so please keep that in mind. Also I will refrain from divulging any spoilers as you'll probably watch this anyway when you get a chance (please note its in Japanese only with English subtitles due to the "rona"). Quite honestly I'm not entirely sure how I felt about this as a whole. On one end it's not bad I might go as far as saying it's pretty good for a cyberpunk show but this is not GitS and this is not SAC for me. Hell I never thought I'd say it but Arise is a lot better then this and I have way to many gripes about that show to even begin. At least Arise felt like a GitS show and story even if it was blandly done with some pretty bad writing (the Arise movie was grade A GitS though, I definitely suggest watching that). My major gripe is they explain nothing of what happened in the 11 year time span between Solid State Society and this, nothing. They go over world developments and why things are the way they are but they in no way explain major plot elements behind why the Major and her crew are in the US (2045 starts out in the US, not a real big spoiler), they vaguely explain the main premise driving the plot forward from that point (a point that does not seem very GitS like to me), why certain characters are no longer seen or heard from (until later in the 12 eps), and just all around weirdness that is this post Solid State Society world. It's aggravating because the way things were left at the end of SSS you would of thought we'd be getting another procedural GitS season driven forward by strong character driven episodes and interesting plot lines, instead we're left with boring long winded arcs that get nowhere (and maybe 2 enjoyable episodes not part of the overall plot) and in the end we're left with a major cliff hanger at the end. It's aggravating honestly and it seems more like this season was made to pander more to western audiences with short attention spans instead of the original core fanbase (sorry, venting a little. I felt very betrayed by this). Like I said though if this was non-GitS related I'd say it was a good show if not a little pandering. Music wise (yes I'm a huge fan of the SAC soundtrack, there's a reason I own all 4 soundtracks) I was utterly disappointed. Yoko Kanno is nowhere to be found here and it's extremely noticeable but it's to be expected as she's mostly retired from the industry. This left a sour taste in my mouth since, as I noted above, I'm a huge fan of the SAC soundtrack and it was one of the major reasons I enjoyed the first two seasons so much. Don't even get me started on the OP, not my cup of tea and certainly not something I'd associate with GitS (though I do like the ED). Animation wise I can't stand the full CGI or the character redesigns. This felt way to much like I was watching cutscenes from a game 10 years ago. Not to say the CG isn't crisp or anything it's very well done and the fight scenes are a joy to watch. Sadly this isn't Pixar level CGI and it shows. Maybe I'm bitter because they went full CGI instead of the traditional/CG blend they did with SAC and 2nd Gig but I found this to be way more off putting than I thought it would be. Plus the Major's redesign makes her look like a 14 year old teenager and that's just not my jam (where's my hot, sophisticated badass woman?). Thankfully the characters are the same and that was a joy to behold. Watching them interact with each other was extremely enjoyable and I'm happy to see they weren't changed one bit (this goes for the Tachikoma's as well so if you found them annoying they're still going to be annoying (I, personally, love the adorable little trouble makers)). The new characters are just as enjoyable and I just love Purin, she's beyond adorable with her little crush on Batou. All in all like I said above I'm not entirely sure how I feel about the show. Part of me wants to destroy all the masters and make everyone forget this and the other part of me just thinks it's a below average GitS that just so happens to be somewhat enjoyable. Granted we're only 12 episodes in and my opinion might change once we get the last 12 episodes (did they ever announce when that'd be?) but those are my current thoughts on the show. If I had to give it a rating out of 10 it'd mostly likely be a 6 (which pains me to do considering how generous I was with Arise). Do I suggest watching it? Honestly that's for you to decide. I gave my honest thoughts so take them how you will though but if you are a major fan of the GitS franchise don't get your hopes up to much (then again maybe this is to your liking).

Big ups to FUNI to making sure the dub process for Fruits Basket Season 2 happened. I lost track since I haven't been logging in daily since the dubs all stopped from last season, but I checked in on a whim and saw the ep was uploaded a day or two ago and behold it was in English! 💓

Looks like hundreds of users are browsing AC in waves.. the ip#s are all almost the same, coming out of Singapore. It started like 3 days ago. Either somebody posted something very popular in Singapore, or theres some weird Singapore search engine that just wont be content until it searches through every single page on the site. Search engine bots running through the site:

I never believed in truly wireless earbuds. But I bought some galaxy buds at Best Buy today. The first 4 hours of my shift each morning are before my store opens, and It's generally just with one other person that is working on the opposite side of the store. I have to listen for a door bell after a while to let people in other dept in so I can't have both earphones in at once, and I didn't want a dangling ear bud flopping all over the place while I tried to work. I'll mostly use them for podcast listening rather than music so ultra sound quality like a $300 pair of Bose or Jabra's were out of the question. Skullcandy and Ankor had some cheap $70 ones, but I went with galaxy buds since i have a galaxy phone. They were $120, they sound really nice and fit snug in the ear suprisingly. They came with different size tips just in case. Plus the carrying case is super small. They get around 6 hours of battery life each, and the case will recharge them about 2 times before needing to be recharged itself. So if I ever work a full overnight shift they'll last me all night one bud at a time. I'll have to find more podcasts to listen to as I've burned through a lot of the old eps of the ones I currently follow.

I finally got the time to do some stuff again. I hope it lasts. I finished Stranger Things season 3 which was great and I got multiple hours in GW2. I almost have my 2 large festival achievements done for the big chests. After that I'm going for my skyscale and warclaw mounts.

I have to say I've played many MMORPG's over the years from good to bad but I don't think I've ever played one that has consistently proceeded to exceed my expectations like FFXIV has and Shadowbringers has more than done so. I think this expansion ranks up there as probably one of my all time favorites RPG's in general and all time favorite FF game ever (yes beating out FFIX) that's how wonderful it is. Yea I know, FFXIV fanboy praising his addiction but SE and the XIV team have really outdone themselves with this expansion. The story is phenomenal from start to finish with a very emotional plot, some of the best dungeon's I've ever had the pleasure of grinding through (with the exception of one), phenomenal boss fights (that final fight is amazing, I can't wait to see the Extreme mode of it), great character writing (even better than before, I'm more attached to these NPC's then I ever was before), and an amazing soundtrack (I refuse to listen to music while playing in 90% of the zones because I love it so much). Granted this is just the base Shadowbringers, there's still two years of patches to go through and my opinions might change later on (I mean we still don't have raid access and the Nier 24-man doesn't launch until Oct) but I don't think I've ever felt this complete and satisfied with a game expansion/dlc. Yoshida and his team really outdid themselves this time and I look forward to the next two years of content and the next expansion to come. On another note I've learned that I can't do hardcore gaming hours anymore. After 3 days of 12-16 hour gaming sessions (Friday - Sunday) I'm really feeling my age (sad to say when I'm only 33). I've never been this physically and mentally exhausted in my life (and my job is both on a daily basis). Thank fucking god I'm on vacation this week to recover. Don't think I'll be doing this for the next expansion but is was totally worth it for the payoff we got in the end. Also thinking I should post updated pictures of my character since she's gone through some pretty drastic changes since the last time.

Funimation put up Your Name. I remember all the hype behind this film and how it it became the highest grossing anime at the box office. After watching it, it was kinda a letdown. I mean it wasn't bad, but Spirited Away is immensely superior to this movie. Its worth watching, but I wouldn't grade it above a solid straight to Netflix feature.

I remember when I use to be a huge fighting game fan. I always like to read about the old series I use to play. Apparently 2B is way too strong in Soul Calibur 6. She launched yesterday and people are crying about her already... I'm like no shit, shes OP as hell in the game shes from. I called it when I saw the trailer. I honestly wish she'd be a new Smash Bros character.

Although its also on the PS4, I purchased Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana for the Switch recently because it's just been collecting dust. It was probably the better option anyways because the graphics look like something out of the N64/PS2 era with modern draw rates. Not a knock against it, as its quite charming... but the game looks like it belongs on the Switch rather than PS4. Everything about this game is so 1998. I've never played any of the Ys games before, but this one caught my eye for the old school hack and slash. It's very Dark Cloud-ish minus the world building. Sprinkle some old Zelda in there as well. The combat is relatively simple with 1 button main attack, and 4 special attacks that consist of holding R1 and pressing A B Y X. These use a SP meter that replenishes on kills. There are also dodge and block counters that give you a special speed combo ability. You have a party of 3, and characters that join where you can swap them out and swap between the three in combat. Each character has a assigned damage type (Slash, Precise, Bash). Having all 3 types helps weaken the right enemies susceptible to these plus you get a rare drop bonus... rather than the 1.1x bonus for having two of the same. Anyways, the story is campy but interesting, the dialogue is 90's cringeworthy, and its a lazy sprinkle of actual voice acting and text reading. The world is large but a bunch of sectioned off instances that quickly load without a loading screen as you cross them. There are fast travel points but not in every sector, so it requires some old school memorizing where to go at times. As you get special gear, you'll find places that were inaccessible previously open up. I'm 20 hours in and I don't feel like I'm even half way through. So at $60, I feel like I'm getting my money's worth for a decent nostalgia kick. I bet this will be a free PS Plus game next year so when it comes up I highly recommend it without even finish it. I'll report back when I beat it with a proper review.

The first two eps of AoT season 3 are better than season 2 in its entirety.

The dub of first ep of My Hero Academia Season 3 finally came out so I caught up on the first four. Holy crap, they aren't wasting any time this season. Shit is already going down! Finished Garo Vanishing Line. It was really good, I want a second season of this era, and they left it open for one. I'm pretty pumped about the movie that takes place in the first era though. Overlord Season 2 was kind of a let down for me. The action was still good but it felt like the season had no real beginning or end... it was like the middle of a season, and there was no apparent turning point or climax. The lizard people happened, and then this whole thing with six arms... but nothing was resolved. Hopefully season 3 is more structured.

The older I get, the more I dislike the general public. I was never Mr. Popular in school because I kept to myself and felt that the upper echelon of the social order was so trivial. I can befriend just about anyone of any type of values/background. But overall my circle of friends is pretty small, and always has been. I say all that to say this... holy shit why are people so fucking stupid on the internet? I'm pretty new to this whole reddit/facebook groups thing. I remember running around anime forums as a 14-15 year old shooting off at the mouth like I was hot shit... but these are grown ass adults that don't have a fucking clue what they are talking about, nor do they want to learn. I see all these morons on the GW2 facebook group asking dumbshit questions you can easily look up yourself on wiki or youtube... The GW2 community has the best community of YT guide makers of any game... quite literally there are the most pointless guides for even the biggest imbeciles. Taking 5 steps in a straight line from a waypoint to get to a POI? You better believe there is a YT video on how to do it! Just type in the name of the POI and at least 5-6 20 sec-1min videos will pop up. You could have tabbed out of GW2, or pulled out your phone and looked that bullshit up and got it done w/o wasting your time posting a question in a facebook group and waiting for someone to respond. I mean what the actual fuck? Then they get butthurt when someone posts the link to the wiki, and people actually coddle this fool like we shouldn't tell him to try harder to help himself? I almost left the group because of that because it was the second time in two days I saw it. Kumbaya shit pisses me off, and as a society its lead to the everything is offensive/racist/bigoted/cruel. Sometimes people have to feel like people think they're stupid to better themselves. Its called learning the hard way, and I've done a lot of it myself. Then you have assholes telling you about the class you main, and they have no fucking clue how the class works.... because they don't even play it. They main another class. Its obvious by what they're spewing out, by leaving out various aspects of the class while giving out vague descriptions... then a lot of times saying something that's completely false. But this is just a side note really, what set me off on this rant today is another facebook group. I'm a EDC nut. I own multiple guns, pocket knives, and flashlights. I recently got into a group about a particular brand of knife I enjoy. Overall its a great group that gives me good ideas about future purchases I might make. I recently ordered a knife that is an upgraded version exclusive from a certain knife retailer. It has a high tier quality blade steel, making the knife double the cost of the standard version. Even then at $80, this steel is normally only found on pocket knives that are $220-400. Its one hell of a deal. So this new guy that joined the group asks in a comment reply why would anyone pay double the price for this knife when he got it for way less. I explained to him what the deal was, because that's what the group is for... sharing knowledge and opinions. He never responded so I figured he understood and moved on.... then later down the comments I see him ask the question again... Another member tells him about the steel, and I follow up explaining that its an exclusive version of the knife only sold by that particular retailer, and I even go into why that steel is special and its characteristics. Once again no acknowledgement. He later makes his own post, posting the basic version of this knife that he owns, and someone asks him what version it is, and he states he just found out that there are more than one version of his knife and asks AGAIN why is there a one doubled in price.... this all took place in the span of 17 hours. I mean did you not fucking read mine and other peoples explanation? You read it enough to know there was more than one version! Holy shit.... Why are you so fucking ignorant? Is your mental retention that bad? How did you even manage make it back to the facebook group two days in a row? I'm not really raging, even though it sounds like it. It just bothers me that people act this helpless. The internet has made people even more lazy despite the fact that there is a wealth of knowledge to be had. I've learned a shit ton using it, whether it be about science, history, or my very own hobbies. I mean how do these people even pay their internet bill? Did they post on their ISP's forum to ask how to do it? Google is a powerful tool to find quick answers to everything. It requires way less clicks. Use groups and reddit for opinion discussion... not for basic questions that you need to find on your own. You just look like someone that could drown in the shower.

When you play your best games as Mercy ever and no one votes for your card even though you clutch revived the team to victory, and got POTG twice as Mercy. Healers live a underappreciated life, but no one has any problems complaining about not having one. I've almost sunken into fulltime healer on Overwatch because now when I'm not healer, I rage when the one we have sucks. I started playing Ana and Mercy a lot more just to be proficient with them. I'm a trolling beast with Lucio now, to where I can pretty much kill tanks and hit scan heroes doing wall hanging. (Thanks DPStanky for that inspiration) Joke is on everyone else on Double XP weekend though, Healers always get a gold medal for healing... and sadly if I'm Lucio I can pull off 4-5 gold medals if my team is that bad.

I found my first great fairy fountain in BoTW, its probably one of the most beautiful places in all of gaming. It sent chills up my spine when I heard the music. This game doesn't feature heavily thematic background music, a lot of it are very subtle takes on the classic tunes, but the fairy jingle was as traditional as always.

Been screwing around in the Ghost Recon beta these last few days. Gotta say the game is fun but you can definitely tell it was made to be played with friends. Don't get me wrong the A.I. squad mates are better then what you would get in other games (almost as good as the A.I. squad mates from Rainbow Six Vegas 2 (which this game has some similar mechanics to)) but a lot of the missions seem to be built with the idea of going in with 3 other players due to enemy patrol routes and placements. Beyond that gun play is pretty solid (a little wonky at times but this is a beta), combat is quick and sometimes relentless (I made a minor mistake approaching a base in the new area for the beta and damn near paid for it with my life (fucking enemies called in 2 choppers, still trying to figure out how I survived it)), and the story is pretty good for a Tom Clancy game (not generally into Tom Clancy stuff but this game and the Rainbow Six games have always had relatively good stories to go along with good game play). Honestly if it wasn't coming out a week after Horizon and two weeks before Andromeda I'd probably buy it but no, Ubisoft had to pick the worst time to release it. If you get a chance this weekend try it out, the beta runs until Monday and it's definitely worth a quick play through (even if you don't get through the entire first area you'll get a good feel for the game play and what the story is about in the first few missions).

Nothing like knocking out all 9 Overwatch weekly wins in an hour. MMR was on my side for once.

I'm a few eps into "And you thought there is never a girl online?" Is like Haganai but a gamer's version. The loot box part made me chuckle when they all got let down by getting crap, along with other arguments using MMO jargon. The new influx of shows coming into Funi have been entertaining, although I've watched a few duds. Endride is probably one of their worst dubs I've seen in a long time, but I don't think the sub could fix how bad the characters were anyways. Shimoneta was pretty funny, as a lewd potty joke anime, but the ending was eh. Riddle Story of Devil was decent as well.

Started playing Journey today. Have no idea whats really going on (I understand for the most part but without any talking or narrations it's all pretty much how you take what you're shown in the cutscenes) but the art style is nice, the puzzle mechanics are pretty interesting, the ability to meet random people playing it is cool (even if you can't speak to each other), and the soundtrack is freaking amazing (probably the best part of the game so far for me). It's a rather relaxing game, can't wait to find time to sit down and actually finish it (I think I'm a third of the way through the game).