I was in Plat 5, didn't play, and decayed. My last push back was going really well too, and then I had a DC twice in a row that started a streak of bad games. I got back up to G1 94 LP over like 6 games of straight wins, then got unlucky. D: Oh well.
I'm very extremely busy but I try to check in from time to time. SAO is big dumb fun and I still enjoy it. I'm watching so much stuff this season. I love Brilliant Park & Inou Battle this season. Parasyte is pretty great too. Working on catching up to Psycho Pass.
Sorry, haven't posted in here for awhile. Have quite a bit to address.
Quote from Elvish Crack Piper »
Oooh.
Ooooooh.
You, sir, are in for a treat. HxH is a masterpiece. Contemplate on this while watching "does Gon live in a seinen or shonen universe"
Anything beyond that is spoiiiiiiilers.
While I like HxH a lot, I feel fans have a tendency to oversell it. It is very good, but it is not for everyone, and I think Togashi has a few problems. His pacing is slow, and that itself is exacerbated by hiatus's. He has trouble relevantly connecting arcs and making it feel like they create an overarching story, they more feel like individual adventures with varying casts, which isn't good for something that sells itself as an epic, world building manga, and he sometimes faults in writing when rushing. Greed Island was awful in comparison to the rest of the manga. There is also the very legitimate fear that he will die without finishing it. It's a stressful manga to be invested in.
Various NGNL comments
I really don't understand the hate. It's an easy fun anime in which you see how the protagonist magics his way out of interesting games and Madhouse does pretty stuff. The shiritori game was a great spectacle, and it's very funny watching overpowered MCs destroying everything in their way. Look at Mahouka(Magic High School). That MC is basically a regenerating tactical nuke used against normal people, and that series is the most hilarious thing I've seen in years. I was cheering "Sasuga Onii-sama" every episode.
So Glasslip was objectively awful.
I don't know how you continually do less things as the series progresses, but I could feel my life being drained away as I watched the last 3 episodes.
Various Terror in Resonance comments
I liked this show a lot until about midway through the 10th episode. Great buildup with a lackluster payoff and a few weak characters kill the series for me. Decent watch, but no where near living up to the expectations I had for it.
I haven't found anything beside sequels that are interesting this season. World Trigger was particularly awful.
Two anime that I've been enjoying that I can recommend are Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso and Kiseijuu. Kimi is a typical high school affair, but it's pretty cute and the characters so far have decent draw, and Kiseijuu is shaping up to be a great creepy anime as long as the MC doesn't get too shounen-y.
Good showing Teia. ^^ Sorry I've been inactive lately, school starting has certainly kept me busy, and life comes up. I'm scurrying to catch up with everything for the end of the season.
Currently watching:
Jinsei
Akame ga Kill
Aldnoah Zero(Finished)
Barakamon
Captain Earth(Behind)
Ilya 2wei(Finished)
Free! Eternal Summer(Behind)
Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun
Glasslip
Hanayamata
Mahou Shoujo Taisen
Mahouka
Momo Kyun Sword(Behind)
Psycho Pass
Re Hamatora
Rokujouma no Shinryakusha
Space Dandy 2(Behind)
SAO II
Tokyo Ghoul
Zankyou no Terror
Jeeze, all in all that's 20 anime assuming I can do basic math. One jam-packed season. I even dropped a couple shows. Looking forward to fall.
It won a Tokyo Anime Award in 2002, it was one of five winners along with Ojamojo Doremi Sharp, One Piece, Hikaru no Go, and Fruits Basket. I'm not a humongous fan regardless, but lots of people liked it somewhere.
...popular ADC picks? At the LCS level, she's the #2 contested ADC behind Lucian. In regular play, she's the most popular champion in the game, yet still posts a > 50% win rate despite the fact that popular champs are universally lower win rate because of that popularity.
Caitlyn is the definition of a popular ADC pick. And she has been for more than 2 years.
And no, she doesn't have a Lee Sin power curve. She has more of a Trist power curve. Steroids mean almost nothing to an ADC's late game unless they're Kog'Maw level. Safety is EVERYTHING. Trist has a better late game (higher damage and even safer to play in teamfights), Cait has a better early game, they both suck mid-game unless fed.
I don't know where you get the idea that she's highly contested in the LCS, in fact Lucian wasn't even the most contested ADC pick this weekend. That was definitely Kog and Trist, two late game powerhouses. I don't have much of an opinion on Cait because I'm not terribly fond of bot lane, but don't just make claims that are blatantly false.
I just tried out Mao'Kai for the first time since the patch. It worked out late game, but was still good late game. Lots of power in Ancient Golem.
Time to start reviews on some of the seasonals I watched. Will be editing in as I go because horrible accidents. The first few will be anime I watched as a small competition between a friend and I in which we each pick three anime as our candidates for anime of the season. Give your opinions as well please, more input is welcome. It's difficult to account for taste in a 1-1 discussion occasionally.
No Game No Life-
I've been impressed with Madhouse time and time again. The anime they make turns out beautifully, and they have a good eye for quality as well in my opinion. No Game No Life is about Blank, an online entity who tops the leaderboards of every game in existence. In reality their names are Sora and Shiro, two NEET siblings who have live, breathe, and eat games. After being challenged by a mysterious stranger to Chess, they are transported to Disboard, a land where games are law. They have been invited by the God Tet to play in his ideal world.
Now that we've gotten through the minor summary, I'll give my thoughts. The concept is very captivating to people who sit at home playing games all day, but the concept isn't where the series gains it's strengths. Disboard is beautiful to look at, the characters stand out from the background and have real identities tied in to how they are presented, and the scale of the world is very present in many games and scenes. The dialogue is well done, and it does a good job lightening the mood often, so that the cool or serious moments stand out far more. The goofy side of NGNL does a lot to allow it's impressive wrap up scenes and turn arounds to play out. The story itself isn't difficult to understand, and the games themselves are very impressive. Reality Shiritori did a great job of impressing the epic consequences games can have on the viewers before the show was brought back down to earth. No Game No Life however promises a lot, and I don't think 12 episodes really did any favors to the series. And with no mention of a 2nd season on the horizon, those things go unanswered for now. It also can get a bit silly for being silly's sake at times, and one of the characters acting as a running gag may be a disservice. This is my pick for anime of the season, but it didn't go without a hitch.
4.5/5
The Irregular at Magic High School
Tatsuya Shiba is a normal high school student. Or so he would have others believe. When he and his sister qualify for the prestigious First Magic High School, he merely wants to live a normal, magical life. However it appears many things will make this difficult on Tatsuya, terrorists, plots of powerful clans, and the student council all conspire to interrupt his peaceful daily life.
Another Madhouse anime, and man does this thing look gorgeous. I mean really gorgeous. The characters are a little less inspired in appearance than our previous entry, but the effects on the magic are impressive, and First High does a good job of being impressive while still being a high school. The concept is a simple one, boy goes to high school, boy tries to protect his secrets. The main character is interesting, in that he is not a character. He is a plot device with powers stapled to him. I suppose he's a bit more than that, but the phrase "Gary Stu" gets thrown around quite a bit. Still, it's not a bad thing. The show itself entertains well. The plots are interesting, our main character makes a decent Batman impression when he's not busy beating people up easily, and the show is entertaining. The sound track in this one goes a long way to keeping you engaged. It's fairly long winded, although from what I can tell less so than the novels, so it may be a fault of the author. It's not really much new in terms of anime, but it's got polish, and that makes it worth watching.
4.0/5
One Week Friends
Yuki Hase wants to get closer to a girl in his class. Kaori Fujimiya is always alone, and rarely smiles. After approaching Kaori, she tells Hase that she loses memories of her friends every week. After seeing on Monday that she really has forgotten him, Hase resolves to ask her to be his friend every week, as long as it takes.
The concept is really sappy, I'll admit, but the execution really hits it home. Brains Base does a great job with the scenery, and the fading edges really make the whole thing seem a bit dreamy, like one of Kaori's fuzzy memories. But the memories of a high schooler really are gorgeous. The color palette is soft, and does a good job relaxing the viewers. Everything is done lightly, expertly, with not one effort on the part of the animators wasted. And does it show. The soundtrack is also great at setting the mood, and really hit the occasional sad moments home. The opening and ending are fantastic, and the dialogue really builds characters that you get attached to. Everything in this anime is extremely cutesy, but it can affect anyone. The every day friend things Hase and Fujimiya undertake really warm your heart, simple as they may be. While NGNL was the most exciting anime of the season, this was the closest to perfect in my eyes. Brains Base has produced another masterpiece, and I recommend it to anyone with an enthusiastic
5/5
I suppose that's all for now. Should continue to update tomorrow.
Which, again, you can find out in ways that don't require a 60 hour investment
Not putting my opinion in on the topic, but Inuyasha was anime of the year...2002 I believe. It has some merit as a period piece on the outlook of anime then, if nothing else.
Almost finished up with my picks for the season. Thinking about giving some reviews after I'm done. Really not looking forward to next season after how great this season was.
If this isn't appropriate I suppose that's fine, but I thought we should make a thread for all the revelations coming out of E3 this week. I'm excited by both the new reveals for the Division and Scalebound. I'm also very excited for GTA coming to next-gen, as I missed it as my 360 was stolen unfortunately. I also really hope the new Crackdown delivers, as I loved the ridiculous fun the original game provided.
Talk about things you're excited for, things you're looking to get news on at E3, and discuss the prospects of the current gen going forward.
Except % hybrid pen would be so ridiculously expensive under current % pen pricing that no one would buy it. It's just not worth it.
I'm sorry - are you agreeing with me or arguing with me or...?
The original suggestion was make a good hybrid pen item that Akali would want to use. I was explaining why that's not a thing which would, imo, be good for the game. The fact that a meaningful hybrid pen item at a decent cost would be hard to build in the first place supports that, I think?
I must have lost the question. I was merely talking about the merits and demerits of a % hybrid pen item. I don't think such an item is particularly necessary, but if they could somehow have it cost within a few hundred of gunblade and have less pen on let's say the physical side, building out of pickaxe+void staff, then it is possible. It's not entirely necessary and I don't see which situations it would be beneficial for game health, so I agree with you there. You could build one against heavy tank teams with % pen working out to 35%/15% or so and I think it'd be a fine item, but you are correct in saying that it would be hard to balance, it would also probably need an active, making it more complex, or some other unique property, and there isn't a ton of need for it. It is an interesting thought exercise however.
@Tahn: You can probably get by with an AD/MR/Armor page, an all tank stats page, an AP/Mregen/CDR or tank stats page, and an AS/defenses page. Maybe MS quints on a few of the pages depending on preference. Those tend to be some of the bigger ones. I have fairly generic rune pages.
Sort of, but understand what I'm saying. If a hybrid pen item was added that Akali actually wanted, that would be a functional buff for her (otherwise she wouldn't care about the item, and if Akali is not caring about this hypothetical item, it's probably not worth bothering to create), same for Jax and Kayle. And if they're not comfortable buffing those champs, they only have two options: nerf the item until it ISN'T a buff for them, or nerf the champions directly.
If they nerf the item until it isn't a buff for those champs, then they've literally added an item whose best users don't really care about it. Why add that item?
(Incidentally I don't think it's true that they won't nerf champions to preserve items - actually, they tend to hit *both* at the same time, e.g. mid Lulu and Lichbane at the same time, or Jayce and Tear of the Goddess, or Blue Ezreal and Iceborn Gauntlet, or a hundred other examples)
Honestly I can't think of a way to make the item good enough to want it over things like Trinity Force, Gunblade, Nashor's Tooth, etc., but if Riot found a way to make the item, I am confident that it would be available as an alternative to say Gunblade, and not as a must buy, and thus would not necessitate a nerf. If they make it situationally powerful then they don't need to nerf anything.
Options are power; you take away a weakness, say, which means you have one fewer weakness for your opponents to exploit.
However, pure damage mult stats like % pen are not situationally powerful; they are blanket powerful. If % pen was actually an anti-tank stat, then MAYBE it could fit that? But % pen is every bit as strong against squishy targets against tanks; as a hybrid dpser, you want to blow someone up, and % pen helps you blow someone up better.
If they did it, it would be because they found a way to fix it, but I'm pretty confident you won't see that happen.
Except % hybrid pen would be so ridiculously expensive under current % pen pricing that no one would buy it. It's just not worth it.
Sort of, but understand what I'm saying. If a hybrid pen item was added that Akali actually wanted, that would be a functional buff for her (otherwise she wouldn't care about the item, and if Akali is not caring about this hypothetical item, it's probably not worth bothering to create), same for Jax and Kayle. And if they're not comfortable buffing those champs, they only have two options: nerf the item until it ISN'T a buff for them, or nerf the champions directly.
If they nerf the item until it isn't a buff for those champs, then they've literally added an item whose best users don't really care about it. Why add that item?
(Incidentally I don't think it's true that they won't nerf champions to preserve items - actually, they tend to hit *both* at the same time, e.g. mid Lulu and Lichbane at the same time, or Jayce and Tear of the Goddess, or Blue Ezreal and Iceborn Gauntlet, or a hundred other examples)
Honestly I can't think of a way to make the item good enough to want it over things like Trinity Force, Gunblade, Nashor's Tooth, etc., but if Riot found a way to make the item, I am confident that it would be available as an alternative to say Gunblade, and not as a must buy, and thus would not necessitate a nerf. If they make it situationally powerful then they don't need to nerf anything.
I disagree with balancing champions around items, and I think Riot does as well. Aside from Yasuo, pretty much all other balance changes have shifted to power down the items, not the champions. They recently reset that precedent heavily with the Lich Bane changes. It was nerfed heavily thanks to the power of mid Lulu, but it was also a very powerful item in general.
While I like HxH a lot, I feel fans have a tendency to oversell it. It is very good, but it is not for everyone, and I think Togashi has a few problems. His pacing is slow, and that itself is exacerbated by hiatus's. He has trouble relevantly connecting arcs and making it feel like they create an overarching story, they more feel like individual adventures with varying casts, which isn't good for something that sells itself as an epic, world building manga, and he sometimes faults in writing when rushing. Greed Island was awful in comparison to the rest of the manga. There is also the very legitimate fear that he will die without finishing it. It's a stressful manga to be invested in.
I really don't understand the hate. It's an easy fun anime in which you see how the protagonist magics his way out of interesting games and Madhouse does pretty stuff. The shiritori game was a great spectacle, and it's very funny watching overpowered MCs destroying everything in their way. Look at Mahouka(Magic High School). That MC is basically a regenerating tactical nuke used against normal people, and that series is the most hilarious thing I've seen in years. I was cheering "Sasuga Onii-sama" every episode.
I don't know how you continually do less things as the series progresses, but I could feel my life being drained away as I watched the last 3 episodes.
I liked this show a lot until about midway through the 10th episode. Great buildup with a lackluster payoff and a few weak characters kill the series for me. Decent watch, but no where near living up to the expectations I had for it.
Two anime that I've been enjoying that I can recommend are Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso and Kiseijuu. Kimi is a typical high school affair, but it's pretty cute and the characters so far have decent draw, and Kiseijuu is shaping up to be a great creepy anime as long as the MC doesn't get too shounen-y.
Currently watching:
Jinsei
Akame ga Kill
Aldnoah Zero(Finished)
Barakamon
Captain Earth(Behind)
Ilya 2wei(Finished)
Free! Eternal Summer(Behind)
Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun
Glasslip
Hanayamata
Mahou Shoujo Taisen
Mahouka
Momo Kyun Sword(Behind)
Psycho Pass
Re Hamatora
Rokujouma no Shinryakusha
Space Dandy 2(Behind)
SAO II
Tokyo Ghoul
Zankyou no Terror
Jeeze, all in all that's 20 anime assuming I can do basic math. One jam-packed season. I even dropped a couple shows. Looking forward to fall.
It won a Tokyo Anime Award in 2002, it was one of five winners along with Ojamojo Doremi Sharp, One Piece, Hikaru no Go, and Fruits Basket. I'm not a humongous fan regardless, but lots of people liked it somewhere.
I don't know where you get the idea that she's highly contested in the LCS, in fact Lucian wasn't even the most contested ADC pick this weekend. That was definitely Kog and Trist, two late game powerhouses. I don't have much of an opinion on Cait because I'm not terribly fond of bot lane, but don't just make claims that are blatantly false.
I just tried out Mao'Kai for the first time since the patch. It worked out late game, but was still good late game. Lots of power in Ancient Golem.
No Game No Life-
Now that we've gotten through the minor summary, I'll give my thoughts. The concept is very captivating to people who sit at home playing games all day, but the concept isn't where the series gains it's strengths. Disboard is beautiful to look at, the characters stand out from the background and have real identities tied in to how they are presented, and the scale of the world is very present in many games and scenes. The dialogue is well done, and it does a good job lightening the mood often, so that the cool or serious moments stand out far more. The goofy side of NGNL does a lot to allow it's impressive wrap up scenes and turn arounds to play out. The story itself isn't difficult to understand, and the games themselves are very impressive. Reality Shiritori did a great job of impressing the epic consequences games can have on the viewers before the show was brought back down to earth. No Game No Life however promises a lot, and I don't think 12 episodes really did any favors to the series. And with no mention of a 2nd season on the horizon, those things go unanswered for now. It also can get a bit silly for being silly's sake at times, and one of the characters acting as a running gag may be a disservice. This is my pick for anime of the season, but it didn't go without a hitch.
4.5/5
The Irregular at Magic High School
Another Madhouse anime, and man does this thing look gorgeous. I mean really gorgeous. The characters are a little less inspired in appearance than our previous entry, but the effects on the magic are impressive, and First High does a good job of being impressive while still being a high school. The concept is a simple one, boy goes to high school, boy tries to protect his secrets. The main character is interesting, in that he is not a character. He is a plot device with powers stapled to him. I suppose he's a bit more than that, but the phrase "Gary Stu" gets thrown around quite a bit. Still, it's not a bad thing. The show itself entertains well. The plots are interesting, our main character makes a decent Batman impression when he's not busy beating people up easily, and the show is entertaining. The sound track in this one goes a long way to keeping you engaged. It's fairly long winded, although from what I can tell less so than the novels, so it may be a fault of the author. It's not really much new in terms of anime, but it's got polish, and that makes it worth watching.
4.0/5
One Week Friends
The concept is really sappy, I'll admit, but the execution really hits it home. Brains Base does a great job with the scenery, and the fading edges really make the whole thing seem a bit dreamy, like one of Kaori's fuzzy memories. But the memories of a high schooler really are gorgeous. The color palette is soft, and does a good job relaxing the viewers. Everything is done lightly, expertly, with not one effort on the part of the animators wasted. And does it show. The soundtrack is also great at setting the mood, and really hit the occasional sad moments home. The opening and ending are fantastic, and the dialogue really builds characters that you get attached to. Everything in this anime is extremely cutesy, but it can affect anyone. The every day friend things Hase and Fujimiya undertake really warm your heart, simple as they may be. While NGNL was the most exciting anime of the season, this was the closest to perfect in my eyes. Brains Base has produced another masterpiece, and I recommend it to anyone with an enthusiastic
5/5
I suppose that's all for now. Should continue to update tomorrow.
Not putting my opinion in on the topic, but Inuyasha was anime of the year...2002 I believe. It has some merit as a period piece on the outlook of anime then, if nothing else.
Talk about things you're excited for, things you're looking to get news on at E3, and discuss the prospects of the current gen going forward.
I must have lost the question. I was merely talking about the merits and demerits of a % hybrid pen item. I don't think such an item is particularly necessary, but if they could somehow have it cost within a few hundred of gunblade and have less pen on let's say the physical side, building out of pickaxe+void staff, then it is possible. It's not entirely necessary and I don't see which situations it would be beneficial for game health, so I agree with you there. You could build one against heavy tank teams with % pen working out to 35%/15% or so and I think it'd be a fine item, but you are correct in saying that it would be hard to balance, it would also probably need an active, making it more complex, or some other unique property, and there isn't a ton of need for it. It is an interesting thought exercise however.
@Tahn: You can probably get by with an AD/MR/Armor page, an all tank stats page, an AP/Mregen/CDR or tank stats page, and an AS/defenses page. Maybe MS quints on a few of the pages depending on preference. Those tend to be some of the bigger ones. I have fairly generic rune pages.
Except % hybrid pen would be so ridiculously expensive under current % pen pricing that no one would buy it. It's just not worth it.
Honestly I can't think of a way to make the item good enough to want it over things like Trinity Force, Gunblade, Nashor's Tooth, etc., but if Riot found a way to make the item, I am confident that it would be available as an alternative to say Gunblade, and not as a must buy, and thus would not necessitate a nerf. If they make it situationally powerful then they don't need to nerf anything.