So yeah...

Seriously, November 12th was the last time I was here? Honestly that makes sense...all things considered.

There is a very simple reason that I don't participate in any type of internet socialization. And by that I refer to things like myspace, facebook, twitter, whatever. For the very simple reason that I get involved with them just enough that it pisses people off when I stop doing it. I just don't have the mental energy to deal with it, I like posting on my own schedule and don't want to feel like I'm living up to somebody's expectations of my performance. It's MY space, not yours, don't expect me to cater to you.

That said I feel the need to gush about a few things.

First, I HATE when game companies make video games based on manga/anime and then don't bother to keep the character design true to the original. I was reading through my countless RSS feeds and came across a game on Kotaku's feed that was basically a Shounen compilation fighting game. They took several "main characters" (I have to put quotes around it because it seems they brought in 3 from Zettai Karen Children [which I love BTW]) and stuck them all together in a brawler/1v1 fighting game in some kind of "Oh hey look at us we're awesome" kind of thing. AND THEN MADE THE CHARACTERS LOOK LIKE ASS.

Now, like any self-respecting manga fan, I have several studios'/mangaka's whose work I admire extremely and seek out in all forms. To put this in perspective I need to probably give my "top 5" favorite studio/mangaka list to put this in perspective. So, in mostly favorite order, I present mine.

1. Akamatsu Ken (Love Hina, Negima!)
2. Clamp (xxxHolic, Tsubasa, Cardcaptor Sakura, Clover, Chobits, Angelic Layer, Tokyo Babylon, Magic Knight Rayearth, Miyukichan in Wonderland, X/1999, Clamp School Detectives, and probably more I've either forgotten or haven't read yet, I mean come on here people, they've collectively sold in excess of 90 million books here)
3. Oh! Great (or Oguru Ito) (Air Gear, Tenjho Tenge)
4. Takahashi Rumiko (Ranma 1/2, Maison Ikkoku, Urusei Yatsura, Inuyasha)
5. #5 is kind of up in the air here, because I don't really have any other mangaka I persue as much as the people listed above. You could safely put the likes of Takaya Natsuki, Fumizuki Kou, Togashi Yoshihiro, Tite Kubo, Arakawa Hiromu and Okubo Atsushi and be pretty safe. As you can see at a certain point my tastes go a bit ecclectic

I suppose I could make another list consisting entirely of character design and if that were the case Oh! Great would safely come in at #1 because I LOVE his design, which is part of why this new game is pissing the fuck out of me. Ikki, the main character from Air Gear is included as a playable character, and he looks like ASS. Add to that Kauru, Aoi and Shiho of Zettai Karen Children looking horrible and you have me up in arms for a game that I will never play much less see this side of the world.

But that's hardly the point. I just need to rant here because one thing I cannot stand is unfaithful recreations. As I see it, it's essentialy an insult to the artist, many of whom are well known for their character design (on a side note I should probably put Tanaka Kunihiko in my list of favorite artists too, god bless the man who breathed life into Xenogears' characters). I honestly don't know how these things sell. I know why they're created and I'd imagine the mangaka get a cut of the profit (at least I would hope so, I would hate to think that the money was going to the publishers here instead o.O), but one has to wonder, why do people keep buying this crap. If you're going to throw in all these characters, at least put some effort into it -_-.