the doujins; they're everywhere!

Hey hey hey, Type-Moonatics! Guess what I discovered in my free time? Type-Moon fancomics! Or doujin if you insist.

Yeah, much like with Touhou, Tsukihime and Fate have spawned numerous fancomics with English scanlations. I've read a few doujins here and there; some of them are good, some of them are not. (Note: should do an entry for Touhou comics soon.)

(Note: It's generally not a good idea to read any doujins if you don't want to be spoiled, unless if you've already beaten the games.)

Let's start with the Tsuki doujins, shall we?

Sis-Long-Legs: The girls try to win over Shiki (that happens a lot in doujins) but Sion thinks she and her long legs have an advantage. Very silly, but occasionally hilarious.

Memory of Dreams: This whole series . . . is a blessing. This series . . . is anything but an eyesore. It is beautiful. A must read for anyone who's played Tsuki in its entirety.

Now for the Fate doujins. One of them is actually a fanfic I'll link, but it counts.

Tamate Notes: A series of shorts that are weird, hilarious, or both. When it's funny, it's really funny.

Dear Tohsaka: A fanfic set after the UBW true end said from Sakura's point of view. One chapter long, but extremely captivating. I guarantee one of two things will happen: you will cry, or you will want to hug Sakura. I felt the latter after reading this.

Childcare is War: This was recommended to me by Tvtropes. In an alternate universe, Rin and Sakura summon Archer. Only thing is, they're seven and six, and Archer has to raise them! Trying . . . really hard . . . not to . . . gush over . . . the cuteness . . .

Let's see how my "associates" fare.














"Rumor has it that the kawaiiko rating on xm's blog is off the charts again."

"Can you prove it, Vile01?"

"Why of course, I brought a scouter. Now, let's see what this 'Childcare is War' doujin is like. . . . . . . . GUH! MY GAWD!!!!"

"What's wrong!?"

"The Kawaiiko rating . . ."

"What of it!?"

"IT'S OVER NINE THOUSAAAAAAAAAND!!!!!"

"WHAT! NINE THOUSAND!?!?!"

"NINE-FUCKING-THOUSAAAAAAAAAAAND!!!!!"

"There's no way that could be possible, let me see for my-SO MOE, I'M GONNA DEE-YIHG-EYE!!!!!"

"Hey guys; what's up?"

"Blue Yoshi, the kawaiiko . . . run while you still can."

"Huh? Kawaiiko? Is xm reading the Piffle World arc of Tsubasa again?"

*silence*

"What could be so bad? It could only be another . . .

HNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNG

A CERTAIN ONOMATOPOEIA!"

Proof positive that cuteness can make anyone melt.

FSN: Finally, I can write about it!

FSN is the third visual novel I've ever played, and also the third Type-Moon game I've ever played. I can only compare it to Tsukihime, which I will.

Things FSN does better than Tsukihime:

-Better graphics. Definitely. Character and background art is sumptuous, special effects look better, and everything just moves more smoothly.

-Better music. "Emiya" is a kickass fight theme, as is "All the Evils of the World." The vocal songs are good, too. (If only I knew Japanese.)

-Better humor. Let me be honest; Tsukihime's attempts at humor were, for the most part, very weak. This was somewhat remedied with Kagetsu Tohya, but nothing made me laugh out loud. There were a few scenes in FSN that made me laugh my ass off. And the "Tiger Dojo" segments are a lot better and funnier than the "Ciel-sempai" segments.

-Better fight scenes. I actually like how Tsukihime's action sequences were low-key; it fit in better with the psychological horror that game was going for, but the fight scenes in FSN are definitely more epic. I crave to see some of the scenes in animation. (Too bad I have no interest in the anime.)

-Zouken = most diabolical Type-Moon villain yet. Seriously, this guy's more twisted than Count Frollo was in the Disney version of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and that's not a small feat by any means.

Things Tsukihime Did better than FSN:

-Better characters. I love the characters in FSN, but nobody is as memorable as Arcueid or Akiha. And, I do like Shirou (especially in the UBW route) but I found Shiki to be a more likable protagonist.

-More concise plot. None of the routes in Tsukihime are as long as the routes in FSN, but they were plotted more effectively. How many times in FSN does Shirou make food for the girls and shoot the breeze? Those scenes were filler. Tsukihime, in comparison, has less filler and more good stuff.

-Your Mileage May Vary, but FSN is not as dark as Tsukihime. Again, YMMV; a darker plot doesn't necessarily mean a better plot, (and believe me, I hate the "Twue Aht Is Angsty" trope as much as most other people) but when Tsukihime was being serious, it really got your attention. FSN isn't without its depressing moments, (Sakura Matou, anyone?) but it never gripped me by the balls the same way Tsukihime did.

And now for some bulleted thoughts on FSN.

• Why is Archer such a popular character? He's an asshole! Maybe not to the same degree as most of the villains, but he's not a very pleasant person, either. Besides, if anyone is truly "GAR" in this game, it would be Shirou, Tohsaka, and Saber, in no particular order. Still, I liked how Archer made fun of Tohsaka. (Also, "GAR" is a stupid meme, and I'm never printing it again.)
• The Fate route is my least favorite. Why? Because Shirou believes in what my psychology textbook calls, "Benevolent Sexism." You know what I mean, "Girls should be girly! They're much too delicate to be partaking in battle!" Yeah, this, coming from a guy who could get his ass handed to him by Saber in a millisecond. Other than that, I actually liked Shirou; not as much as Shiki, but he never got on my nerves outside of his anti-feminist views.
• I didn't use the voice patch on my install (probably because it's all in Japanese, and I wouldn't be able to understand it), and as such, I do have certain voices for some of the characters. In my mind, Archer sounds like Patrick Seitz, Souichirou sounds like Kirk Thorton, and Kotomine sounds like, are you ready for this? I picture Kotomine sounding like Vincent Price. Trust me, it fits perfectly. (Oddly enough, Patrick Seitz voiced Souichirou in the anime and Kirk Thorton voiced Kiritsugu) (RIP Vincent Price, but I know Maurice LaMarche can do a near-exact impersonation of him . . .) And I keep picturing Caster sounding like Kate Mulgrew for some reason . . .
• Go back to my list of cute anime girls. Looks like I do have a German girl on there now. However, Ilya has got to be the most evil cute girl ever. You don't wanna fight her because she's utterly kawaii, and yet, she will hurt you in really nasty ways if you don't resist. My gawd; I've become morally conflicted while playing a computer game!
• My favorite route was UBW, mainly because Shirou really came onto his own there. Also, it's the basis of my favorite relationship in the game. (girly voice) Shirou-kun and Tohsaka-chan are sooooooo cute together! (normal voice) I like seeing a romance done right in a game.
• Heaven's Feel was my second-favorite route, losing to UBW only by a hair. This route had the highest stakes, and was certainly the most dramatic, but Shirou wasn't quite as awesome, I thought. On the plus side, HF did a great job deconstructing the character of Sakura.
• I discovered the Realta Nua patch . . . several weeks after I started playing the game. Most of the RN-exclusive images are locked on my game because of this, but I did see the true ending. The song that played at the last scene was beautiful.
• Shirou does say "People died when they're killed" and so does Tohsaka! Then again, translation hacks are technically fansubs, and the context of the line is something like, "People die when you mortally wound them; that's the way nature intended it." Of course, fantards love to drop context out of memes.

I'm now replaying the game, (And by replaying, I mean, "set the game on auto-read, leave the room, and only click on the correct choices") so that I can unlock the RN images and music. Although the action sequences with the RN patch are more . . . visual now. It's hard to describe, but there's more visual effects now. Also, stick around, I have other things to say about Type-Moon.

IT'S OVEEEEEEEEEEEEEER!

The Semester of Hell is finally over. Now let us never speak of it again.

I've got several posts I've been composing over the months, but never got around to finishing. They're about Tsukihime, Fate, Touhou, and other mindless distractions. Let's get on to more mindless distractions, shall we?

P.S. Sgt. Frog owns my soul. Funimation must really want me to become an otaku, huh?

LATE EDIT: Actually, this is a lie. I didn't get my degree until early 2011. During the so-called Semester of Hell, I learned, nearly at the last minute, that I needed more classes to finish before I could get my English degree. Needless to say, I was frustrated. So much so, I didn't want to tell anyone online, so I just acted like I finished already. Well, I did finish college, it's just I kept it out of my online life until now.

Although thankfully, my last two semesters were much less difficult than this one. It was basically a downhill slide to victory by this point.

Touhou Will Ruin Your Life

Oh god, help me! I've become addicted to a song about vampire sisters molesting their maid being unbelievably moe! I can't understand 99 percent of the lyrics without subtitles, and yet I can't help myself! It's soooooooooo . . . deliciously . . . delightful!

And so, one year later, and I'm still listening to Remilia and Flandre's themes mixed together. Some progress I've been making.

And so, I must ask, why am I such a huge Touhou fan? I've never given any of the actual Touhou games a 10/10. (My favorite canon TH games, Imperishable Night and Immaterial and Missing Power, both get a 9/10. Their soundtracks get a 10/10, though) Do I love interpreting the characters that much in my fanfics? Are the musics that awesome? Am I that much of a whore for cute girls? I dunno, but I know I love the piano scores in this Walfas tutorial vid. Were those by TAMusic? I can't think of any other group that does piano solos that well. And . . .

What the hell!? Why did I just link a tutorial for Walfas' create program just for the music!? How come I never show this kind of attention for most other things I love!? I mean, I love the older Megaman games, but you never see me going, "OMG! This vid/fanart/music remix is just kawaii!" I only seem to do that for Touhou! WAAAAAAAH! Touhou has ruined my life! (the tvtropes page for Touhou even says so now) . . . . or, has it? Were it not for Touhou, I would have never heard this. *sniff* It's so beautiful!

And also, I know it's a few months late, but this is cute. Then again, Touhou is one of the cutest franchises ever, so that's to be expected. (I would've linked it sooner, but, haven't had that much free time, remember?) And now for Komeiji cuteness!

Oh, also, IOSYS does it again, with Shikieiki of all people. That is my second-favorite remix of her theme. Way to slam memes, peoples!

By the way, are any of you familiar with a Touhou doujin (I'm aware of the irony, just roll with it) game called Concealed the Conclusion? I haven't played it, but I've heard some of the music. I like this remix of a song from one of the albums: Blue Sea of 53 Minutes. That's also a beautiful picture of Reimu; very close to my own mental image of her.

One last thing before I stop pimping Touhou like a god damned fanboy writing this article. Medicine Melancholy is a rather underrated character. She's only appeared in one of the less beloved games, and I only know of two good remixes for her theme, one of which I'll link in just a moment. However, in my Touhou Fanfic About Nothing series, one of the chapters ends of a cliffhanger involving Medicine. She is one of the few genuinely villainous characters in the series, and for her to have a Just As Planned moment at the end, well, I pictured an IOSYS song that sounds suspiciously like the first ending credits song for Code Geass to be appropriate for the "To Be Continued?" message and ending credits. Observe.

(Medicine Melancholy finds what looks like the remains of Ruukoto, the robot maid from Phantasmagoria of Dim Dream. Medicine, her curiosity increasing, flies up to the body. She touches the forearm, noticing that the skin is cold and metallic.)

{Medicine} Huh!? She doesn't have the texture of an organism! She's a construct like me!

(An evil grin forms on Medicine's lips, her thoughts racing.)

{Medicine} If I can bring her back to life, I just might stand a chance!

(Fade to black, with the phrase, "To Be Continued?" displayed in white. Cue this ripoff of "Yuukyou Seishunka (勇侠青春謳)" by Ali Project. Fade out to be continued message and shift to scrolling end credits. Keep playing the song until the credits are finished.)

And now Medicine is a fucking diabolical sociopath thanks to me. (By the way, I'm not done writing about Touhou. Once the semester ends, expect a rant or two.)

A blog entry you must read

Because the Semester of Hell refuses to let go of me, I don't have much time right now. However, I will say this: I found a nugget of gold on myanimelist.net.

Why Code Geass is Terrible, by Baman.

Be sure to read the comments, too, while you're at it.