Read this one only in the daylight

[WARNING: this entry may contain possible spoilers for the novel and the film Let the Right One In.]

title: Låt den rätte komma in
author: John Ajvide Lindqvist. His debut novel.

But first, before the review, have a listen to the song that's extensively quoted throughout the book: "Let the Right One Slip In" by Morrissey. [Yes, THAT Morrissey.]



There is a bit of vampire lore that does not quite get remembered as often as the whole bloodsucking/infection/undead thing: vampires need to be invited to enter a place.

If you've read the Artemis Fowl books you know that this concept has also applied to fairies. Only fitting, in a way....

Anyway. Over the weekend I treated myself to a new book: a copy of Let the Right One In. My edition has the cover that also says "The inspiration behind Let Me In" - which is the 2010 American remake of the 2008 Swedish film.

I read the novel in three big gulps over the weekend and let me tell you, this is one of the best vampire novels out there. It really is. The whole atmosphere is cold and forbidding, the characters are all too human and weak [yes, that includes Eli], and the whole idea is of this strange and twisted love that forms between a boy and an androgynous bloodsucker.

[If you prefer to have your characters STAY the gender they're introduced as, you're SOL with Eli, as the pronouns referring to the character actually change from paragraph to paragraph.]

Oskar, the main character, comes off as someone really believable, and it's on him that the narrative of the book is centered, even though there are several POV characters and their stories intertwine throughout the pages. If you cannot stomach/believe/accept the terrible experiences he goes through, you'll have a hard time understanding the relationship he eventually forms with Eli, the character that the title refers to.


A famous still from the 2008 movie shows a bloody Eli. I think I now know which part of the book this comes from.

Have I mentioned that this novel is scary? And only partly because of Eli, believe it or not. One of the important things to note in this novel is that some of the human characters are portrayed as being even more monstrous than the obviously undead ones - and it's really one of the major sources of the horror. You've met them, or I hope you haven't: the bully, the pedophile, the druggie, the shut-in, the isolated, the serial killer groupie. Each character is beautifully and frighteningly described.

[Guess which one of those is the actual PROTAGONIST. Yes, even Oskar has major flaws.]

In short: READ THIS WITH THE LIGHTS ON.

"I want to know what it's like to live // I want to know what it's like to love"

Song lyrics in the title are taken from the ending theme of the Tsubasa Tokyo Revelations OVA, さいごの果実 [Saigo no Kajitsu / Last Fruit]. This song is also my current ear worm.

If you haven't seen Tsubasa Tokyo Revelations yet, there may be spoilers here.


DVD cover.

I had a rather bad Saturday afternoon last weekend. Seriously, how is it possible to sleep when the ground-floor neighbors set up a karaoke machine right under my window - and were happily, drunkenly murdering a bunch of crap songs? Imagine cacophony up to eleven - or don't.

Since I'd come home with my partner expecting to sleep off the effects of the Friday night shift - but got THAT annoyance instead, there was nothing for it but to find another way to block the idiots out.

And that is how I came to watch the Tsubasa Tokyo Revelations OAV.

Having already read the whole series beforehand, I knew that this was the turning point of the whole story - the point where each character begins to divulge his/her/its secrets.

Sakura, Syaoran, Fai, and Kurogane arrive via Mokona-portal from a failed sortie in the land of Rekort. Princess Sakura has fallen unconscious, and Syaoran is injured. They are quickly introduced to the reason why the world they're now in is named "Acid Tokyo" - the rain is murderously acidic.

The Tsubasa characters are soon picked up by Kamui and his group, all from X/1999. The odd thing is that Kamui is in charge of who are actually the Dragons of Earth from the previous series. Additionally, the rival group is composed of the Dragons of Heaven - but they, in turn, are led by Fuuma.

Kamui and his group are watching over a safe cache of water underneath their headquarters. While the OVA reveals what Kamui is actually guarding, the rest of the series will eventually reveal the extreme importance of this reservoir - in fact, it provides that component of the main series's title, Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles.

The third episode of the OVA begins the major mind screw of the series: why are there two Syaorans? Which one is real and which one is the clone? [Hint: it's in the eyes.] And not just that - we eventually get two Sakuras as well, as recapped in the next image.



In the overall context of TRC, I think Production I.G did a great job of animating this tale and telling the increasingly complicated story. The idea is that everything gets very strange from here - and they manage to weave that theme throughout the OVA episodes very well.

I felt quite a lot better after I'd finished watching the OVA - not the least because it had begun to rain hard outside [thankfully not as acidic as the one in the show], definitively silencing the karaoke wailers.

In short: if you're a CLAMP fan, you're definitely missing out if you haven't seen the three episodes of Tsubasa Tokyo Revelations yet. It really lives up to its title and contributes heavily to the set-up for the series finale.

What do you mean we only get three 90-minute eps?!

...Or, yeah, I guess that's all we have for now since Moffat and Gatiss are, I don't know, getting ready for the next series of Doctor Who or something.

So, Sherlock! Thanks to some friends I was able to watch this mini-series over the course of one weekend.

Sherlock: [You've seen a] bit of trouble too, I bet.
John: Of course, yes. Enough for a lifetime, far too much.
Sherlock: Want to see some more?
John: Oh God, yes.



If you're a fan of Sherlock Holmes and the tales written by Conan Doyle [and all the others], you might want to check out this re-imagining of the classic cases, set in the 21st century. Dr. John Watson is a veteran of the war in Afghanistan, who moves into a flat with the world's one and only "consulting detective", Sherlock Holmes - and the rest, as they say, is literary history.

There is a ton of details, in-jokes, references, and shout-outs in this all-too-brief show - thankfully we'll be seeing more episodes. Sometime in the future. We just don't quite know when yet.

And we will really be needing the next series of episodes because COME ON CLIFFHANGER ENDING what the heck?!

I'm really pleased with this whole idea of Sherlock Holmes enhancing his essential brilliance with modern technology. At some point I actually asked out loud, "How many mobile phones does he have?"

Benedict Cumberbatch nearly tried out to become the Eleventh Doctor, but he had a bit of a chat with David Tennant and decided not to do so - instead he's now Holmes himself. On the other hand, Matt Smith actually was turned down for the role of John Watson here, and Moffat promptly turned around and cast him as the Eleventh. Brilliant.

And how lovely to see Martin Freeman! The opening scene of the first episode is both something to make people wince and something to make people smile: he's PTSD-ing - in his pyjamas and a robe. Hello, Arthur Dent.

I really laughed out loud at the whole idea of Holmes wearing nicotine patches. He's still an addict, but he has to be much more discreet about it now there are *rules* to follow on the telly.

Anyway, this is incoherent but the message is: go, watch, and have fun. And afterwards come sit with us poor souls waiting on the continuation. Hopefully THAT comes soon.

Inception: Rapid Review, No Spoilers

Having rushed off to see Inception today with my partner, here are my notes and impressions:

- I want to stay at that hotel, hamster wheel corridor included.

- The way I'm thinking right now, my totem would either be a fountain pen or a crochet hook. [And I teased my partner that his would be a miniature figure of a panda.]

- Eames / the Forger [Tom Hardy] is my absolute favorite character in the movie.

- Nobody messes with Arthur / the Point Man [Joseph Gordon-Levitt].

- And Ariadne / the Architect [Ellen Page]? Rocks. End of discussion.

- As for actors: GODDAMN but Cillian Murphy can ACT. Whew. Bloody amazing that man.

After the movie? Best advice would be to engage friends in friendly but intense debate over the story, its themes, and its internal logic. Preferably over either alcohol or, if there are teetotalers, lots and lots of sweets [my partner and I did most of our critiques over dinner, which included a slice of Black Forest cake].

And, as I said over and over again on my Facebook and my Twitter: whatever the hell Christopher Nolan was on while writing and rewriting this damn movie - I WANT SOME AND I WANT IT NOW.

Go, watch, be amazed. I am an absolute newbie in the genre of mindfuck cinema, but I will be so presumptuous as to say that this movie is now on my list.

"The rest...is silence"

Well, yeah, I DID say I was a big reader - that doesn't have much to do with being a big theater-goer.

So yes, I have read almost all of Shakespeare's plays, but I have never actually gotten around to seeing many of them performed on stage. I think the only major one I've seen was Richard III - and that only because it was "local" (UP was putting it on) and "sentimental" (my partner was playing a couple of one-liner roles) to me.

During a recent night when I didn't come in to work because of an inability to talk properly without bursting into huge, wet, joint-racking coughs, I managed to catch the TV version of the BBC production of Hamlet from 2008 or so. You know, the one with David Tennant in it, and Patrick Stewart?


This photo is likely to be from the stage version instead of from the TV production, as the "Alas, poor Yorick" speech was given outdoors in the latter. (Of course it would be; in the Denmark of the story, the cemetery is outdoors.)

Impressions:
- Well, of course, the juxtaposition of Shakespeare's English with modern dress is jarring and effective.
- The clear use of cameras as metaphor and as a device to facilitate soliloquy - very modern and metafictional. (And, on an unintentionally creepy note, reminiscent of the Weeping Angels!)
- Patrick Stewart is far more evil when he's playing his villains subdued. Whew. You can feel the menace radiating off him in waves.
- There was a very clever person in costuming, I think - during the "Get thee to a nunnery" scenes between Hamlet and Ophelia, Tennant is wearing a shirt printed with a muscular chest and abs - directly over his own chest and abs, of course. Cheeky!
- How can anyone fence in jeans? I mean, at least Laertes wore a proper fencing uniform at the climax....
- Horatio plays it very, very cool at the climax - but you can still feel how bereft he is, being the only main character to survive the ending.
- Poor, poor Ophelia. I'm sure I'll feel more ripped-up if I should see a traditional staging of this story. What little screentime she gets - and especially in her madness scenes - she really shines in.

I probably owe it to myself to see the Ian McKellen film of Richard III although I am definitely a fan of Gloucester. I HATE the portrayal of the poor man as a villain; blame the book The Daughter of Time for that mindset......

Iron Man movie-verse takes ANOTHER level in badassery

No spoilers here. Just stills and captions, and that title, which I shall leave to you to agree or disagree with.

Forget Girls Gone Wild. No, really. The entirety of the Iron Man mythos - but especially so in the movies - can pretty much be summarized as Science Projects Gone Wild.

Don Cheadle in an action movie? Well, he kind of manages to pull it off here.

And Sam Rockwell plays Justin Hammer as a great big idiot jejemon!

At the climax of the movie, these two armored guys unleash a hell of a lot of firepower.

I really, REALLY could not stop myself from thinking, "War Machine = Gundam frigging Heavyarms." Without the running out of bullets bit.

Go, watch, and stay till after the credits!

CASABLANCA Head-to-Head: 1942 Movie vs. 2009-10 Musical

A poster for Casablanca, featuring who else but Bogart and Bergman.


A chirashi, or flyer, for the Takarazuka Kagekidan / Cosmos Troupe musical adaptation of Casablanca, starring Oozora Yuuhi and Nono Sumika.

I guess it's a funny confession for me to make that I had never in my life seen what's acclaimed as one of the greatest movies of all time (no Kanye West jokes, please!) before 2009: that was when I finally bought a copy of the Casablanca movie. I watched it and I fell in love with most of the cast: from Captain Louis Renault to the central love triangle of Rick Blaine-Ilsa Lund-Victor Laszlo to, especially, the wonderful crew of Rick's Café Américain: Sam, Carl, Sascha, Emil, and Abdul.

As old as the movie was and as prevalent as its influence has been, I still responded to its scenes and its tropes: the shock of Ilsa's return to Rick's life, "Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine", the duel between "Die Wacht am Rhein" and "La Marseillaise", the final confrontations, and of course the one-two ending punch of "If that plane leaves the ground and you're not with him, you'll regret it. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of your life" and "Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship".

And who can forget the songs? "It Had To Be You" and "As Time Goes By" of course are the standouts, but let's not forget "Knock on Wood" and the duel of the songs I mentioned in the previous paragraph.

Casablanca is an acclaimed film, known and loved for many years, and so anyone who tries to adapt it will be given a lot of attention. No one wants to mess with the by-now-immortal movie.

So of course it was a bit of a shock when it was announced that the Takarazuka Kagekidan was creating a musical of the movie.

Julia Child's Life in France

Yeah, I know, this post lacks a photo of me reading this book while getting ready to sleep, but you should know that this is what I read when I'm trying to ease out of the working day:


My Life in France by Julia Child with Alex Prud'homme.

If you saw the recent film Julie and Julia then you will remember that the movie was based on Julie Powell's memoir and Julia Child's books Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volumes 1 and 2, some portions of The French Chef Cookbook, and this memoir of her life-long love affair with la belle France.

My Life in France *talks* extensively about food and the process of making the monumental Mastering cookbooks, but it is definitely NOT a cookbook itself. Julia here tells the story of how she and her husband Paul Child lived in various places in the US and in Europe, including details of their long French sojourns. They lived in Paris and in Marseilles, and also were posted to places like Germany and Norway, so they definitely had a lot of cosmopolitan European experiences.

The Ultimate MMORPG! Plus: "There's a zombie on your lawn"

The boyfriend and I have just come from seeing AVATAR.

What. A. Rush. No spoilers here, but let me just say: If real life were an MMORPG, I don't suppose there was any way that it could be anything like the story in the movie said it would be?

Also, the fact that it was stated outright in the film that the humans left Earth with no more green - I had to think it: my mind jumped straight to crossover possibilities between Terminator and Avatar.

***

There's been a bit of a zee-word undertone to my weekend. The boyfriend downloaded Plants vs Zombies and has been busily earning money for upgrades in the in-game item shop. Lord, it all looked so fun - I couldn't help myself; I went to play too.



And now I have the following song on LSS.



Today, while out Christmas shopping, I picked up a book for myself: World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War, by Max Brooks. I can't wait to start reading it over the holidays.

The following story about the book never fails to amaze me:

While researching for novel, Max Brooks interviewed representatives from various police departments, emergency responders, and Homeland Security regarding the best way to defend against a zombie attack. According to Brooks, almost all the people he talked to had put at least some amount of thought into the subject.

That also apparently includes several professors in various fields, one US armed forces veteran, and at least one rabbi and one priest if the actual acknowledgments section in the book is anything to go by. These are, like, real people who would not normally have to fear a zombie pandemic but have nonetheless made plans for it.

All I can say to that is, "Amen!"

Time to make my own plans for the Zombie Apocalypse.

There's no such thing as having too many pens

Writing arsenal, minus my moleskine-type notebook.

You're likely to think me a dork, and an old-fashioned one at that. "There she goes writing in her blog and all, but it's a post full of PENS! And they're not even those multi-purpose types that take dictation/have a laser pointer/contain flash storage!"

So this photo and this post constitute an ode to my pen collection. You've already met the three pens on top; so I'll talk about the pack of ten (yes, there are ten pens) on the bottom.

Ever since the whole idea of gel pens in an amazing rainbow of colors was introduced to the Philippines around ten years ago (OMG THAT LONG?), they've become near-ubiquitous. And why shouldn't they be? The good brands don't clog and don't leak, write very well even on rough types of paper, and look cool. People color-code notes with them and even create calligraphy and artwork using their bright, vivid inks.

I bought this set shortly after my birthday this year. Since my first introduction to gel pens consisted of sitting in on a focus group discussion about whether the Dong-A brand would even sell well in the country (guess what: it did), I've had a marked preference for these Korean pens. Funnily enough, I use them at work, color-coding my to-do list. Since I mainly use them on 3x5 index cards and on short bond paper I can't complain about the quality of the ink, since the ones at the office are made of relatively good-quality paper stuffs.

I know that it DOES look odd that I'm still thinking about pens but, well, I guess that's what being a kid of the '80s and '90s does to me: I'll lust after techy stuff all right, but acquisitions of pens and papers and notebooks will really make me swoon, since that was what I had when I was in school.

Just about the only thing this collection of pens can't do is fix my wonky handwriting.

Life After the Party Part 4/4

A long overview/review in four parts; part four.


Top image: Granado Espada login screen; bottom image: Atlantica Online login screen.

SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES
One amusing set of similarities between GE and AO lies in their settings. GE is located in an alternate-universe version of our own reality: the Old World features countries named Oporto, Vespanola, Correa, and Katai, while the New World boasts of locations named the Bahamar Swamplands.

(Oporto = Portugal; Vespanola = Spain, Correa = South Korea, Katai = China; the Bahamar Swamplands are an allusion to the Commonwealth of the Bahamas and its tropical setting.)

On the other side of the coin, AO is set in a fantasy version of the Northern Hemisphere: towns include locations such as Manila, Saint Petersburg, and Chicago, while dungeons are set in wonders of the world and locations of interest such as the Taj Mahal, the Valley of the Kings, and the fabled pirate-infested coves of the Caribbean Sea.

Since both games have heavy graphics and AI loads they both require better computers and Internet connections. Additionally, GE's soundtrack works best piped through good speakers, in order to showcase the quality of the music. Other game bloggers have recommended going better than the recommended computer specifications given for both titles to maximize performance, making for a better playing experience.

Comments on both GE and AO from Filipino players attribute a kind of "learning curve" to the two titles. For one thing, the entire idea of the one-player-multiple-characters concept is like nothing else encountered in other locally-released MMO titles; the exceptions being those who had previously been exposed to Final Fantasy, its successors, and/or Tactics-type titles.

Titles of this sort call on players to have certain skills in strategy, long-term thinking, tactics and decision-making. It's best to make plans right at the outset: what makes a good family/formation at the newbie stages? What changes are required in order to survive in the endgame? On creating an account in either GE or AO, one must already be thinking about everything from starting equipment to working within the in-game economy to making plans for which extra characters to recruit and the order of recruitment, and all the way until the level cap is reached. And then what does one do when one reaches that cap?

Were that it were possible for more people to try new experiences even in online gaming. And for now, barring the continued progression of the genre as a whole and new advances in gameplay, GE and AO stand on the cutting edge, offering whole new levels of gaming experiences to casual and dedicated gamers alike. Both games come highly recommended and serve as groundbreaking titles.

***

These blog posts are dedicated to several friends and fellow gamers, and particularly to Mistress Hrin. Inspired by the musings of the MMOtaku.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

Life After the Party Part 3/4

A long overview/review in four parts; part three.


Images in order from top to bottom. Top, a high-level female axe warrior in armor; second, the same character wearing a Jiangshi Outfit; third, mounts allow characters to travel more quickly and can be traded on the in-game market; fourth, encounter with an enemy mob; fifth, the first turn of combat; sixth, resting on the map and showing the UI.

PATH TO ATLANTIS: ATLANTICA ONLINE
In creating AO, nDOORS followed a different path. A player took control of a main character, and saw only that character while moving through the world maps. However, that main character could recruit mercenaries to assist him/her in combat situations. Progression through the game will eventually require one player to control a full team of nine characters: one main character plus eight mercenaries.

A notable addition to AO's complexity is its reliance on instance-reliant, turn-based strategic/tactical gameplay. Enemy groups are transported into an instance to battle; battle proceeds as per the classic rules of turn-based combat, where the enemy groups move in turn and alternate until one side is defeated.

Both enemy groups can use items or abilities to summon up to two more allied groups; this means that some battles are large-scale productions of 27 vs 27 (3 players and 24 mercenaries versus 27 enemy monsters in Player vs Environment, or another group of 3 players and 24 mercenaries in Player vs Player).

As with GE, many of the mercenaries in AO can be recruited as the storyline progresses, with their recruitment quests helping to advance the plot.

Both GE and AO have earned awards at home and abroad for their innovative take on online gaming and for their rich gameplay experiences. New titles employing the one-player-multiple-characters strategy have been announced to follow in their footsteps, including the recently-revealed Fantasy Zhu Xian from Perfect World Co. Ltd.

Now let's zoom in on what makes these sorts of MMORPGs click.

Part 2
Part 4

Life After the Party Part 2/4

A long overview/review in four parts; part two.


Images in order from top to bottom. Top, a novice Granado Espada family of Scout, Musketeer, and Fighter outside a town; second, a mid-level team of Scout, Fighter, and Wizard in a dungeon; third, a squad (group of families) in combat against enemy mobs; bottom, another squad fighting a raid boss.

ENTER A NEW WORLD: GRANADO ESPADA
Designed by Kim Hakkyu, Granado Espada (known in North America as Sword of the New World) invited players to explore an alternate-universe reality, with a backstory mirroring the real Age of Exploration (15th to 19th centuries) and countries with similar names to actual nations. Players were invited to set sail from an Old World toward a New, forming "pioneer families" and conquering new lands.

The genius of the concept lay in the emphasis on the pioneer family. To bring that experience to life, the game was designed so that a single player could control up to three characters at once. Unique gameplay features made it possible for a player to either micromanage each of the three characters, or take control of one primary character while the other two followed AI commands.

In addition to making it possible for a single player to control a three-man basic adventuring party, GE also took a cue from the Final Fantasy titles, and allowed the recruiting of additional characters encountered throughout the storyline. Thus, the range of characters available for use expanded from the game's five stock classes to a wide range of other characters, each with his or her own specializations.

With GE already pioneering the MMORPG field in terms of one-player-multiple-characters gameplay, it was only a matter of time before other companies followed its lead. In 2007, another Korean gaming developer, nDOORS Corporation, took up the challenge, putting together the concept of its flagship title, the fantasy MMORPG Atlantica Online.

Part 1
Part 3

Life After the Party Part 1/4

A long overview/review in four parts; part one.


Top image: a "periodic table" of Final Fantasy characters; bottom image: World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King login screen.

INTRODUCTION
In general, most video games are easy to understand in terms of the relationship between the player and the character: one player controls one character. The player either completely micromanages the character, or calls on the game's AI to help automate certain types of behavior.

But talk about Role-Playing Games, and the idea of the party becomes a necessity. Travel alone, and face instant death; join an adventuring group, and gain an increased chance of surviving. The early RPG video games made use of certain boosts and AI-controlled allied characters or summons in order to aid the player and the character, but fell short of allowing the player control of an actual party.

And then along came a little something called Final Fantasy. For many video game enthusiasts, the idea of being one player controlling a party of characters was influential and revolutionary, increasing the fun factor, replay value, and mental flexibility of games and players alike. The Japanese have since gone on to enshrine the concept among their plethora of video game tropes, and the West has followed suit (see: Bioware).

The same progression may now be underway in that group of video games known as Massively Multiplayer Online Games - and in particular, the large segment of those titles that are RPGs.

Pioneering MMO worlds such as those of Ultima Online and Everquest operated within the one-player-one-character paradigm, and also allowed players to join together in groups: parties, guilds, alliances, nations. Following in their footsteps: World of Warcraft. and many, many others. Some MMORPGs even take the progression of group size to its logical limit, allowing entire servers to unite against global threats.

In 2006, the progression took a step futher, with the introduction of a Korean title that was eventually ported throughout the globe: IMC Games Co., Ltd.'s fantasy MMORPG Granado Espada.

Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

Memories of Neverwinter Nights

Companion piece to A Brief History of PJ the MMO Player (mostly MMORPGs).

So, hands up if you know that Neverwinter Nights was an MMORPG first and a best-selling PC RPG second.

Developed by Stormfront Studios and published by Strategic Simulations, Inc. on AOL under license from TSR, the *original* Neverwinter Nights was the very first graphical MMORPG, running from 1991-1997 on AOL. This MMORPG version was the predecessor of many other successful titles, such as Ultima Online, Everquest, and World of Warcraft.

In 2002 BioWare and Infogrames (now Atari) obtained permission from Wizards of the Coast to create an RPG based on the Forgotten Realms setting of Dungeons and Dragons. The result was the PC RPG Neverwinter Nights.

The PC RPG version of NWN was a massive hit and its legacy has come down to us in various forms: an eponymous sequel that came out in 2006, as well as other hit BioWare titles such as Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.


Top half of the composite image shows a promotional wallpaper for the original boxed set of Neverwinter Nights; bottom half is another player's screenshot of his character and inventory, from Gamespot.

I began to play NWN sometime in either 2004 or 2005, and was hooked hard on the original campaign and its intricacies of character creation, alignments, sidequests, and dialogue.

For the record, I preferred to play a female neutral good half-elf fighter. After trying on a few of the henchmen (female human bard Sharwyn, useful for her buff songs; and male halfling rogue Tomi Undergallows, great for avoiding all manner of traps and opening chests), I settled with a fellow melee specialist, the male half-orc fighter-barbarian Daelan Red Tiger - partly because he was a great keep-the-pesky-sneak-attackers-off-my-back kind of guy, but mostly because the item he gives at the end of all his sidequests buffs against Fear.

And you don't want to be vulnerable to Fear effects in the endgame.

The first playthrough of the game, however, did not end as anyone would expect. As I was slogging through Act IV, the PC I was playing on suffered a massive crash, deleting all my game data!

OMGWTFBBQPWNED.

Once I got my shot at a do-over I vowed to play through straight to the end. Lessons learned from the first playthrough:
- Know the correct order in which to complete quests.
- Find the correct henchman and stick with him/her throughout the entire game - and make sure to equip the final upgraded form of the item that henchman gives.
- Go everywhere, talk to everyone, and open every damn door/chest/box/barrel/whatever.

I got some serious help from the game on the second playthrough since there were several drops of godly weapons and armor. By the time I finally got to the point where the previous game had crashed, I was more than ready for the final set of boss fights.

I wonder if I should play again. Maybe this time I'll take up the spellcasting classes - and I'll make doubly sure to get Daelan as my henchman again.

(I DID try NWN 2 but never got past the first act. Ironically, the graphics engine gave me migraines. I gave it up as a lost cause.)

Bliss in the City: My First Spa Visit

(Full disclosure: The owner of La Nueva Casa is a friend of mine; we were classmates in high school. We wound up reconnecting via social networking, and that was where I heard that she was going to be managing a spa.)

Yes, you read that subject heading correctly. Although I had been the recipient of therapeutic/relaxing massages, and while I like nothing better than to zone out blissfully while a skilled person paints my nails, I'd never been inside any sort of spa-like thing before.

It was a fortuitous thing, then, to hear of La Nueva Casa, a day spa and cafe located rather near my home, and that a high school friend of mine was managing it.

Now, the first thing you need to know about this new haven in the city is its rather odd location. It's situated right along a busy roadway - Regalado Avenue in Fairview, Quezon City. The cafe section overlooks the rush of vehicular traffic, and the spa section is secluded behind that, muting the noise considerably.

For its soft opening, the spa is initially offering one of its signature treatments, Hilot Maharlika. (This translates loosely to "Noble's Massage".) It's touted as a relaxing combination of several massage techniques, such as chakra manipulation, gliding strokes, and Thai stretching.



The left picture is a view of the spa's front desk; the right one shows robes and slippers stacked on one of the massage beds. (Photos from La Nueva Casa.)

So, being a total newbie to spa-ing, I asked for, and got, a walkthrough for the process:

- Sign in at the front desk. At La Nueva Casa, that includes a complimentary cup of salabat, a traditional soothing ginger infusion. Fill out the little health questionnaire they'll give you; if you have high blood pressure, make sure to let them know. After signing in, you'll receive a locker key, a towel, bath soap and shampoo, spa clothes (a robe and a pair of shorts), and slippers.
- Go into the changing area and get undressed (yes, strip everything off). Luggage and street clothes go into the assigned locker. Take a shower, dry off, and change into the spa clothes.
- Proceed into the massage room assigned to you. Your assigned masseuse will provide you with a choice of oils for the Hilot Maharlika; I picked the Relaxing blend. Take off the robe and lie face down on the bed, and let the masseuse do her work. Don't forget to let her know how much pressure she can apply during the massage. It's not supposed to hurt.

It had been a *long* time since I'd last had a massage and my body had amassed a truly impressive set of aches and pains, particularly around my neck and shoulders. I was really looking forward to seeing if these could be dealt with.

Hilot Maharlika means the masseuse alternates a series of pressing, gliding, and striking strokes over the skin and the muscles beneath, then finishes off with stretching exercises.

After a little initial discomfort, I began to relax under her ministrations, enough to actually start drifting partway into sleep. All I had to do was lie down or turn around as needed so the masseuse could do her work. The massage includes the legs, back, tummy, and head, so it's really a pleasurable full-body experience. After the hour-and-a-half of massage I felt weightless - and with all the aches gone, completely refreshed.

It is an insane-making sort of beautiful bliss to suddenly have all the pain that has become as another organ taken away from you.

If you get the Hilot Maharlika package, you can order a meal after the massage; ask the front desk for choices. I picked a snack of suman, which is a sort of rice cake. For their take on this popular Philippine food, La Casa Nueva offers it with a really nice chocolate dip, plus the traditional sugar on the side. The suman is served with coffee or tea.

While I had a most excellent relaxation experience I did have a few quibbles with the place:
1. The music was the same old bossa nova that everyone here in the city is playing when they think they want a calm ambience. I would recommend nature sounds, or classical (not movie soundtracks) piano.
2. The location is, as stated above, odd. The best way to reach La Casa Nueva is by car - but there's not much of a parking lot. Commuting there is likewise tricky.
3. The spa needs a bigger sign to tell people what it is. After the first time I visited La Casa Nueva, before the spa had opened, the driver of the cab I got into asked me if it was a bar. And the owner said they had also been mistaken for a beer garden. (They don't serve any alcohol at all.)

The Hilot Maharlika package costs PHP550, but you can get a privilege card when you sign in at the front desk, and so I paid PHP495 for my first spa experience.

All things considered, I had a great time and I will definitely go back to try their other packages when they become available. I hope they do well.

Review: Takarazuka Kagekidan vs Gyakuten Saiban

In a previous post I talked about the alliance between video gaming company Capcom and theater group Takarazuka Kagekidan that has resulted in a smash-hit new franchise of musicals. Namely, when Capcom tapped the Kagekidan to produce an authorized dramatization / musical version of its popular Gyakuten Saiban or Ace Attorney games, they got massive ticket sales and enough popularity to guarantee that there will be sequels to the first musical.

After finally obtaining my copy of the musical's DVD, I immediately went off to watch it - and I've already seen it at least twice, one of the repeat viewings being for the purpose of taking illustrative screenshots. So here's the review.

I realize that I'm a strange choice for reviewing this show because of the following factors:
- I have never played any of the original games. I don't even own a hand-held gaming console.
- I have been trying to learn what I can about Gyakuten Saiban from the Internet: Wikipedia, TVTropes, YouTube, etc.
- I am a massive fan of the styles of musical theater that the Takarazuka Kagekidan specializes in.
- I also happen to like the actress playing Phoenix Wright.

Anyway, on to the review. Links and other information about the musical play were taken from the Takarazuka Wikipedia's page on Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney.

逆転裁判 −蘇る真実− (Gyakuten Saiban −Yomigaeru Shinjitsu−)
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney ~Truth Resurrected~
A musical adaptation staged by Cosmos Troupe (Soragumi) of the Takarazuka Kagekidan
Based on the Capcom video games
Adapted for the stage by Suzuki Kei

Ranju Tomu as Phoenix Wright
Nanaho Hikaru as Miles Edgeworth
Miwa Asahi as Leona Clyde
Harukaze Misato as Dick Gumshoe
Houshou Dai as Larry Butz
Sumireno Rei as Maya Fey


The graphic is a composite of six screenshots taken from the DVD. First row: the "title screen"; a screenshot highlighting the appearance of Phoenix Wright figures in the title character's office. (The figures are, from left to right, Franziska von Karma, Miles Edgeworth, Phoenix Wright, Maya Fey, Mia Fey, and Godot.) Second row: "introducing" Phoenix and Miles. Third row: "introducing" Leona (a play-only character); the climax of the play, when Phoenix pins the crime on its actual perpetrator, complete with "Objection!" pose.

The very first object or item of note starts when the play does: the game music is used extensively throughout the musical, to the point that it actually becomes the underpinnings of the score. This is highlighted in the main theme of the musical, the song "Yomigaeru Shinjitsu" (also the subtitle of the play).

As Phoenix Wright, otokoyaku Ranju Tomu delivers a fine performance - comedic, musical, full of verve. She has an amazing variety of facial expressions and gestures and deploys them to bring her character to life. Both her singing and dancing help to push the play along, but it is really her acting that leads off the performance, and she does a fine job.

Opposing Phoenix in the courtroom is Miles Edgeworth, played by otokoyaku Nanaho Hikaru with a cool, icy demeanor. I think her expressions were likewise nicely suited to the role: she looks down her nose at her opponent for the most part, and she looks wonderful when the "turnabouts" happen, as they inevitably do.

Takarazuka prefers to put on plays with love stories, so for this adaptation, the original character of Leona Clyde, played by musumeyaku Miwa Asahi, takes the part of Phoenix's love interest. She begins the play as a suspect accused of murder. Leona is actually a rather complex character and her actress understands that, making for a fine contrast between the accused in the present day and the girl in love in the flashbacks.

In order to keep the play feeling like the game, multimedia touches such as the pop-ups of items presented as evidence, the in-game sound effects that play in appropriate situations in the musical, and even the effective use of the sets are deployed. A special mention goes to the props, in particular the figures in the screenshot above and the use of a coffee mug depicting the character Godot.

I know that while the games were targeted at a young male market (the usual consumers of video games), the Gyakuten Saiban games received such a surprising and welcome response from women in Japan and likewise around the world, turning THEM into avid gamers as well. It's no wonder that Capcom decided to capitalize on this unexpected windfall by putting together the games that became popular with women with the theater company in which all the performers are women and the audience is predominantly female.

I did want to wonder, though, how do the male gamers feel about Phoenix Wright: games, musical adaptation, and upcoming musical sequel alike. (The sequel is rumored to feature the antagonist Franziska von Karma.)

This show actually makes a great introduction to the Takarazuka Kagekidan: it's based on a very popular fandom, the actresses bring the characters to believable life, and the musical aspects are integrated very nicely into the plot as a whole. I rate it as highly recommended for people who've played the original games, fans of the Revue itself, and everyone else in between.