STEINS;GATE Visual Novel vs Anime

After playing through Steins;Gate on PlayStation 3, I couldn't get enough so I started re-watching the anime with English dub. I just finished episode 12 and these are my thoughts so far. After spending ~35 hours listening to the Japanese cast, I learned to prefer them over the English cast. The English cast is still really good, especially Okabe and Daru, but I vastly prefer the Japanese voices of Mayuri and Kurisu. Hearing the Asuna's voice come out of the Part Time Warrior also takes me out of the experience.

I like the localisation into English that was done for the dub, over the anime subs, but I MUCH prefer the dialogue from the game. Okabe's "mad scientist" act is appropriately labeled as chuunibyou, though I never thought of it like that before the VN (visual novel). The anime used the term OTP. one true pairing, referring to Kurisu's bickering with Okabe, which I never heard of, but the subs for the anime called her tsundere, which I did understand. The anime, and even more so the dub, I think, doesn't give you such a clear picture that the group is really otaku. I never thought of Mayuri as otaku, but she is obsessed with cosplay. Whenever you see her sewing in the lab, she is making costumes for cosplay. Okabe has chuunibyou, 8th grade syndrome. Kurisu reads @channel, aka 2chan, in secret and is embarassed by it. Daru is clearly a nerd in both adaptations.

The biggest thing that bugged me, and pushed me to write this post, was Kurisu crying over Okabe yelling at her over his name in the anime. In the VN, she acts strong all the time and is always calm. She is seen by us and Okabe to be serious and objective, except for 2 serious moments, which are made more impactful because it appears out of character (really she puts on a front and hides her emotions). But the anime she cries twice (out of fear?) which makes her look weak (and Okabe looks terribly mean).

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Platinum Watch #58: Steins;Gate (PS3)

PSN Level 28 - 84%

Since I played Virtues Last Reward for PS Vita a couple of years ago, I have been immensely jealous of the slew of visual novels on consoles in Japan. When one comes to the US on a PlayStation console, I buy it. I was doubly excited when Steins;Gate was announced, having seen the anime and attempting to play the PC fan translated version (didn't enjoy playing on the PC).

The anime was one of my favorites. I "marathoned" the English dub when it came out. Though, before playing through the game, I remembered very little of it. Playing through the game was like experiencing it for the first time again. And it was amazing.

I remember liking the English dub, and since beating the game, I started re-watching it. The voices are great, and the localization is excellent. But I also love the Japanese cast, especially the female leads.

Mixed in throughout the game is a bunch of science terms, and many otaku/2chan memes, many of them parodies of real life media. Luckily, the game provides an excellent index, adding the entry when the word is used. Be sure to read all of them because they can and will be used again in the future dialog. The game seems to cater more toward the otaku fans than I remember the anime doing, or I am just understanding more of the references now.

I think all of the endings were heart wrenching. Getting 80% of the endings(there are about six or seven) is easy. The other 1 or 2 need to follow a specific text thread starting in earlier chapters. Responding to texts is an interesting way to engage the player. but they require you to choose between about 1-3 seemingly random words to respond to. And once you choose the word and write out the new text, I can't see any way to back out to pick a different word and am forced to just send it. I would prefer to preview all responses before picking one because this random replying means you can miss small details about other characters, or the bigger deal, a whole story thread required to get the better endings. I strongly encourage anyone to play through all the endings, using a guide when necessary, to see the true ending. This ending, the same from the anime, is so much more impactful after seeing how much the MC (main character) went through to get there.



After finishing, I am struggling to find more English translated media from this franchise, hoping more will come to america soon.

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Platinum Watch #57: Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning

PSN Level 28 - 38%

A couple years ago, I platinumed Ni No Kuni. I ended up loving all 85 hours I spent with that game. It was the first RPG I completed in probably a decade, since Pokemon Crystal. I tried picking up other RPGs (both Japanese i.e. Final Fantasy VII and western i.e. Fallout 3) during that decade, but they never appealed to me. But I picked them back up after Ni No Kuni, and slowly I am liking them more and more.

My first trophy in the game Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning was on 8/1/2012. I played about 5 hours and put it down. I remember liking the combat, but RPGs were still a bit overwhelming for me back then. Nearly three years later, I picked it up where I left off, put another 60 hours in, and got the platinum trophy. And there are still many side quests that I did not complete. After about 50 hours of any game, I am usually satisfied; any time spent over that is usually monotonous and boring for me. Though I enjoyed it thoroughly, this game was not different.

The combat was really fun. It played like a good action game which I am always fond of but added in all the RPG elements I am starting to enjoy. It really is to bad the developer went bankrupt and never got to make the MMO this game was supposed to introduce. The pacing of the experience growth was perfect, never needing to grind, and (playing on hard) was fun and never frustrating.

In every RPG with inventory management, I always end up constantly being full or encumbered. I stopped playing Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and Fallout 3 solely for that reason. I have to pick everything up to keep or sell, and always keep redundant weapons. This game started off the same, so I hunted down inventory expansions until I maxed it, and leveled up a skill that let me part of the cost of an item or weapon when destroying it that way I didn't need to visit the shop to sell my junk so often. A neat feature this game has, (I've seen it in Borderlands too), is send an item as junk and sell or destroy all junk at the same time. Unlike in Borderlands, there is not an option to set an item as a favorite, which would have made item management even easier. The player shared stash is in one of 4ish player houses, but it would have been more convenient to have a stash in more places, even if I had to buy the house. By the end of the game, I didn't know what to spend my $2,000,000 on. Another positive was the unlimited saves the game lets you make, and it always keeps a recent auto-save, one after the tutorial, and one after the final boss.

Some negatives are the environments and dungeons often use the same layout re-skinned (or maybe even exactly the same) and could get confusing. Also, better quest management would be good. After so many side quests build up, 50+, there is no recommenced level, though they are in the order received or updated. Also, having the map up while selecting the quest so you can pick something close would also be preferable to switching between the 2 menus.

But all in all, it was a fun game, and a pretty easy platinum trophy if you have 65 hours.

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COMPLETE: Lisa Statue Work-in-Progress (WIP)

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Published: 4/21/2015

In my post about my dislike of Crayola air dry clay, I have photos of a statue work in process.

Inspiration was from the concert Tee from LiSA at Anime Boston.

Coming home from a trip to Boston, I felt really inspired by LiSA to pursue creative outlets. I think its fair to say I am obsessed with anime statues, but how could I get a LiSA statue?? I'll make one! Never having done this, I'd say I did a fair job sculpting. Unfortunately, the clay I bought is crap, so I am going to attempt to mold and cast it to have a resin statue to paint. Wish me luck!

Updated: 4/25/2015

It is clear that I don't really know what I am doing. What an utter mess. After successfully creating a dump mold of her arm (had to cut the arms off for the molding process, made 1 mold to be used for both arms and fused to the body after casting). Waiting for it to dry now, I am a bit worried about the top layer not being mixed well enough to dry, in about 6 hours I might have a runny mess on my hands.

So, every way i have seen for creating a 2 part mold involves using clay as a base and pour silicone for the top part of the mold. One guy in YouTube comments mentioned suspending the model on cured silicone blocks and then pour the rest in up to the half way point. (Side note, it is really hard not to get silicone on top of the model using this method, hope it peels off later.) I know why it is not recommended, air bubble rise to the surface under the model and your cast will have bumps. Not only and I lazy, but I am not sure I would'n't mess up the model (made out of shitty clay). 

The worst part is that 2.8lbs of silicone, Smooth-On Oomoo 30 (30 min work time; 6 hour cure time), was just enough for half the mold. So I am going to need another week and $30 to ship out another trial kit. To be continued... 

Updated: 5/8/2015

So the second half of the mold worked out pretty well, I was better prepared for the silicone, everything mixed well, and the whole second batch of silicone was the perfect amount. Once cured, it was a bit hard to separate the 2 sides of silicone, I used the super sealer and ease release the kit came with. Next time I would try vaseline for an easier release. The mold was pretty rough, I did not clean up the lines at all, and all the detail of the clay was there, for better or worse.

I would recommend measuring in some way how much resin you need. I estimated, but made too little. I then lifted the mold up but it began spilling out of the mold from the bottom (next time tighter rubber bands). So I quickly mixed up a new batch before the old started to harden, and it worked out, but I made way too much and wasted material. Better too much than too little though.

After de-molding, a bit on the face and hair didn't quite cure. It was still soft and a bit of the hair fell off. Maybe the 2 resin parts needed to be mixed better. Even the next day it was soft, but several days later it was hard like the other parts. Since the original clay model was so rough, along with air bubbles from not being able to roll the resin in the mold, it took quite a bit of sanding, bondo, and putty to clean up the piece (thank goodness for my dremel and accessories). The arms, molded separately needed to be pinned and attached. Next step, priming and painting...

Updated: 6/14/2015

Finally finished, after a long process. Priming, pinning and painting went pretty smooth. Most of the painting was done by brush, which I dislike, but overall it came out pretty good. I am happy with the base colors too once I decided what looks good. 

To make the Lisa lettering, I bought Super Sculpey (learned my lesson about buying good clay), but it seemed to be old as it was rock hard. After some 20 minutes with canola oil and a hammer, I had workable clay. Baking in the oven took longer then expected, though I feel even if I took it out sooner it would have hardened when cool. I took the colors from the logo behind LiSA at Anime Boston.

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DIY Monitor Backlight

After I installed LEDs in my my latest GK, I had a bunch of left over parts, so I measured out 4 strips, soldered them together, and wired it to a switch mounted to the front of the monitor. After an hour or 2, it was secured to my monitor via the built-in adhesive backing. Simple but fun, and I got to practice my soldering.

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Kuroyukihime Death by Embracing Garage Kit Completed

Project Page: e2046
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This was a fun build, especially coming off off the previous Asuna kit. I had to put off working on my LiSA statue because I wanted to get this done by the end of the month, and it turned out to be my quickest build. At first it looked daunting because the kit consisted of about 60 pieces, but the simple color scheme made it easy and enjoyable. Painting mistakes were very forgiving being it was mostly robot parts and they are heavily shaded to look like light. I think it turned out really well, very similar to the official version.

This was my first time with a kit with clear pieces. Having no transparent paint, I mixed food coloring to Future to make the orange pieces on the bottom. It worked fairly well, comes out a bit too light and took about 3 coats. The purple pieces where a fiasco to themselves. Turns out it is really hard to mix the correct, bright purple paint I needed. I had to purchase a fluorescent violet color by Createx, not transparent because it was unavailable on Amazon, Createx are usually thinned ok, but this one is thick! I have a feeling it is old because of the layer of dust that came on it. But after thinning and mixing I got the right balance and the pieces kind of look transparent. However, once finished, getting the clear base on and glued was quite the nightmare.

All my previous attempts at shading skin were done the same way. I sealed with Future, than applied the pastel shading. The problem was the pastel never stuck well enough, and the shading was barely visible. This time I decided to use a different technique: to paint a dark color where I wanted shading first, then apply the skin color over it. I found that I had much more control over the final color using this method. As a last minute thought, I wanted to add color to the face (i.e. blush on the cheeks) so I did the pastel shading BEFORE applying a Future coat and it worked way better, though any pastel you applied was pretty much there permanently, so be very careful.

The shading of the orange on the black, to make it look like light was coming from the base, was easy to do. I hope it accomplishes that effect, but to add oomph, I added LEDs inside the base, powered by batteries or DC input. This was my first time working with electronics and soldering, so I went the easy route and used an LED strip. The only downside was not being able to get orange in the small size led 3528, so red will have to do. I also found out I have no idea what I am doing when it comes to soldering. I watch maybe 2 videos on YouTube, and those guys made it look easy. I got it done, but the solder joints are an ugly mess. Maybe it just takes practice.

The sealer I have been using was Future floor polish, and to get a matte finish, another coat of Future mixed with Tamiya flat base. But as I found out during my previous Asuna kit, getting the right mix of the two can be a difficult task; to much flat base and it has a milky effect, not enough and it is still glossy. I decided to try Galeria Matte Varnish recommended on several blogs and forums. I coated a few pieces as a test, and it did nothing. After a few minutes of research, I realized it need to be shaken before use. A thin coat will be rid of most gloss, a thicker coat rids nearly all, with minimal to no effect on the color. Until I glued the pieces the next day, and they developed a white firlm only near where super glue was used. With a careful touch, it seem most can be buffed off, though not in small crevases that are out of reach.

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Platinum Watch: #56 MotorStorm RC (PS3)

So I downloaded MotorStorm RC for the PS3 today. I remember really liking it on Vita, even platinum it on the handheld. It was $2.00, basically 80% off, so why not play it again. Turns out, through no means of syncing saves or anything, all the trophies popped. In short, I accidentally bought my 56th Platinum trophy (unlike when I did it for DC Universe online for PS4, that was completely intentional).

P.S. I had to re-download my Vita MotorStorm game/save to fix a sync issue to get that last DLC silver trophy

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