Categories
Debaser

Batman: The Telltale Series

I’ve played the majority of Telltale games, but in recent years have definitely started feeling Telltale fatigue. I think the last one I played was their Game of Thrones game, which I did quite like, but I played it well after it was released. I’d heard good things about their Batman game, and so finally got to check it out this week, and I’ve found myself enjoying it a lot more than I thought I would. I’ve played through the first 3 episodes (of 5), pretty much playing an episode a night, and I really can’t wait to finish the whole thing. The story is really interesting, and the game looks pretty damn good when played on a PS4 — I know there’s always a lot of criticism for their engine, with a lot of their games having serious issues on some platforms, but this one has been a smooth experience for me. I also like the Batman-y things they’ve done to spice up the gameplay, with the detective sequences, and it’s pretty interesting/shocking to see how they’ve taken liberties with what we’re used to seeing in the Batman universe (the way certain characters are usually portrayed). It’s made me want to play the Guardians of the Galaxy game too, although I think I’d rather wait for all episodes to be out before I play through it. My wish is still for Telltale to make a James Bond game though.

Categories
Debaser

Death Note (2017)

So Death Note, I know what the story is about, but I never read the manga or watched the anime, or watched the TV series and movies that were done in Japan. I was pretty curious about the new American adaptation that just came out on Netflix, and so I guess I got to watch it without having any of the original series as baggage. Well, I liked it. Sure, it’s far from perfect, and it gets cheesy at points, but it kept my interest the whole time, and I was captivated enough to want to see how it would all resolve. I’m sure fans of the original will say it’s horrible, but I’ll say that it did make me want to maybe read the original manga or watch the anime.

Categories
Debaser

Million Yen Women

This is a co-production between Netflix and TV Tokyo, and it just got added the other day, and we binged it over the weekend. I’m not usually a big fan of Japanese dramas, but I really enjoyed this — and you can cruise through it, as each of the 12 episodes are half an hour. It starts with an intriguing premise — 5 women suddenly move into a young author’s home, paying a monthly rent of 1 million yen (around $10,000). Things then get even weirder. I quite enjoyed the characters in the series, and it was a pretty fun watch. I’m also in love with the song by Kotoringo that plays during the end credits.

Categories
Debaser

The Mummy

I went into this with pretty low expectations — I knew it didn’t get great reviews and did so-so (especially in North America) at the box office, but I’m a sucker for Ancient Egypt-related stuff (hence my excitement for Assassin’s Creed Origins), and I hunger for more adventure movies. With all of that in mind, I actually had a decent time watching it. Sure, it’s not great, and Tom Cruise’s character is pretty lame, but there was enough for me to have fun with — and I especially had a good laugh at Russel Crowe’s accent as Mr. Hyde. Most people are pretty down on the whole idea behind the “Dark Universe” shared universe, but I’m now kinda looking forward to seeing more stuff in this world. I like the Prodigium, as a conceit to bring in all of these monsters together.

Categories
Travel

Montreal-Tokyo Direct

This is certainly welcomed news: Starting June 1, 2018, Air Canada will be offering direct flights between Montreal and Tokyo.

Categories
Events Games Music

Indie Megashow Tokyo

Alas, Tokyo Game Show is just around the corner, and it’s again going to be something I’m going to miss — along with the legendary pre-TGS 8-4 party and big Nakame drinkup at Otaru — but I’m still happy to see that there’s now a new cool event set for TGS week, organized by my buddies at Dangen Entertainment. Not only that, but the Indie Megashow Tokyo party/event will take place at my old PechaKucha stomping grounds of SuperDeluxe, so you know it’s going to have an awesome vibe (bolstered by live performances from Megaran and DJ Uppercut). You’ll find details here.

Categories
Photography

Purple Skies

I unfortunately don’t know who took these shots — I spotted them via this tweet — but I’m in love with the purple atmosphere.

Categories
Games

Piczle Lines DX

Big congrats to my buddy James Kay and his Score Studios on the release of their super fun puzzle game Piczle Lines DX on the Switch — it’s on the eShop right now.

Categories
Books Events Fashion

Ametora, Japanese Edition

Big congrats to David on getting Ametora released in Japan — it’s available now. He shares a few details about the new Japanese edition in his latest Ametora Dispatches newsletter, and he’ll be doing a “talk event” at Ginza Tsutaya on September 1, with Popeye magazine editor-in-chief Takahiro Kinoshita.

Categories
Art Fashion

Hisashi Tenmyouya

This tweet reminded me how much I love the work of artist Hisashi Tenmyouya. I used to have this really great t-shirt featuring his work — part of the Roppongi Hills collection — and I unfortunately wore it so much it got to a point where I had to throw it out. I should try and get a new one..