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Masuhiro REFUSES to be assassinated! It’s excellent foreign and domestic policy, really, so it’s understandable why he’s such an effective leader. Also, it helps that his brother-in-law is packin’ all the effective strategies within the many folds of his chins.

Hyrule Warriors is a dangerous game, it’s the time sinkiest of time sinks. I suppose I now understand why Warriors games get such a bad wrap for being ‘too repetitive’ or claimed to function on the strategy of ‘repeatedly press X to win’. That hasn’t really been my experience with it, since the combat is pretty well varied between characters, and you’re often unlocking new moves and power ups, although on the surface level I understand the criticisms. BUT THE DANGEROUS PART is that every character has, like, 100 levels to level up, and each new ability requires a plethora of collectible items of various rarity salvaged from battlefields. Since each mission takes, like, ten minutes to half an hour, and you can’t upgrade your myriad of characters (which must be done one at a time) until you finish a battle… well, I was going to go out on Saturday, but I thought “I’m really jonesing for some army murdering, so I’ll just do one mission in HW and then head out!” Five hours later and the day was shot, but, HEY Impa was a level 30 murder machine, so s’all good!

And how ’bout that Star Wars movie title? ‘The Force Awakens‘. Sure, okay, why not. If it’s good (it’d better be good!) I can see myself calling it “Awakens” in short form like I refer to Empire, Jedi, and New Hope. I’m more concerned about how well it’ll emotionally resonate with me as a story than I am about the title. But, still, if The Force Awakens pertains to events in the film, I hope it’s not going to drudge up more nonsense about vague prophecies written by someone about something that has no real meaning that everyone just believes for no good reason. The ‘balance of the force’ prophecy was Lucas at his dumbest, though, so I don’t honestly expect the new films to perpetuate it in any form.

And lastly, I saw Big Hero 6 and I think it’s my new favorite superhero movie! So cool, so rad, so wow. I do appreciate a well paced film that makes me both cry and laugh. I guess that’s just the definition of good storytelling! Although I’m highly entertained by awkward romance scenes, I really appreciated that BH6 didn’t feel any need to shoehorn in a romantic subplot. This also allowed all the female characters to just be characters and not ‘the romantic interest’. That’s nice, too, if one cares about such things. I also love silly fist bumps (I swear we’ll have Ken and Yori fist bump at some point in nn4b!!) of which there were several in BH6. Go see it, people! It’s probably better than Interstellar, which I have not yet seen but with which I have every intention!

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Oh Masuhiro, you’re out of the loop! Ina and Yori are totally not getting married anymore, sorry.

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT! So when it comes to this ‘next generation’ of consoles, for whatever reason I’m most interested in the WiiU. Maybe it’s because Nintendo in HD looks DELICIOUS, or maybe I’m just burnt out on drab, gritty, post apocalyptic zombie games, or I’m not really into shooters, or all three! Either way, the WiiU’s library is piling up with all these games I’m interested in; Wonderful 101, Mariokart 8, Bayonetta 2, Hyrule Warriors, Smash Bros WiiU, those Amiibos(I know, I’m a sucker)! But, oh, well, geez, $300 for the system, or $350 for a bundle, that’s a lot of money.

Well, I finally took the plunge, but instead of buying a brand new system or a user system, I ordered a refurbished WiiU from nintendo.com.  It showed up at my door about a week ago, along with an amazon.com ordered copy of Hyrule Warriors, and I have been playing the cuss out of that game since. As refurbished products go, I can’t recommend this enough! The WiiU runs great ( even despite being left on for hours when I have to pause in the middle of a Hyrule Warriors level), looks like a brand new console, and is $100 cheaper than a standard new WiiU. So to anyone who wants a WiiU but finds the $300 price tag a little too steep, and doesn’t feel comfortable trying to get a used console for cheap, be aware of those $200 refurbished models. GOOD DEAL, FRIENDS.

Also, Hyrule Warriors is super rad. Impa’s my jam.

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OH HO, back to these guys! Masuhiro’s back in his maroon armor, and Ina borrowed some clothes from Ayane’s wardrobe.

I’ve been playing too much Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag and I wish it was JUST a pirate game! Especially since its plot is mostly about a pirate guy who’s like “I don’t care about all this stupid assassins vs templar crap. Just want me some BOOTY!!!” Anyway, it put me in the mood to watch Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl (you know, the first film). It’s easily the best of the four films, and I think that’s all because Jack Sparrow is a clever guy that everyone thinks is an idiot. And since the we see Jack being clever, we’re in on the joke when he’s acting like an idiot!

But then in all the sequels, Jack is an idiot that everyone thinks is clever, and it ruins what made the first film so much fun. Not to mention the first film has hilarious dialog, but almost all the ‘comedic’ dialog in the sequels is throwbacks to the first film’s jokes. Lazy writing, friends!

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I dunno why I tinted that panel red, I just thought it looked cool. Makes it more OMINOUS. EDIT: It’s not red anymore, I didn’t like the red. Now no one will know what I’m referring to!

SO LET’S TALK ABOUT STAR WARS REBELS AGAIN! Now you all know I like Star Wars (and by ‘like’ I mean my knowledge of the Star Wars universe spans thousands of fictional years). As a fan of the franchise,  I’m happy to say that a solid continuity has never really been a major concern of mine. My number one priority has been a desire to experience storytelling that I can connect with emotionally. Do I like the characters? Does their dialog not make me cringe? Do they ACT LIKE PEOPLE? Thankfully, in Star Wars Rebels, they do!

I watched every episode of The CG Clone Wars cartoon (not to be confused with Genndy Tartakovsky’s phenomenally good 2D animated Clone Wars cartoon) and there’s something about it that always felt off. Basically, the show is a series of inevitable failures. We already know how the Prequels’ story ends in episode 3, and since the show rigidly stuck to established canon, we already knew the ultimate fate of all the major characters, making a vast majority of the story arcs superfluous and frustrating. Examples: One of the characters is about to figure out Palpatine’s a Sith Lord? No, they failed to do so. One of the characters is about to discover the clone troopers have a kill switch programmed into their brains? Nope, failed again. The Republic army figures out how to ambush Grievous and take him out? Oh, he got away, what a shock. About the only interesting part of the show was Ahsoka, and although I found her mostly an annoying enigma in the first couple of seasons (why didn’t Yoda get Shaak Ti, a female Togruta Jedi knight with no padawan, to train Ahsoka, also a female Togruta??) she developed into a well rounded character with an enormously satisfying final arc. The stakes and interest were high because we didn’t know what was going to happen to her! Her story was untold and ripe with possibilities. And you know what? That’s EVERY CHARACTER in Star Wars Rebels!

Nearly everything I love about the original trilogy is in Rebels. Maybe I should be annoyed that it so closely apes the style and feel of the OT, but that’s pretty much what I’ve been wanting for years now, so it actually fills me with unequivocal joy. The soundtrack is taken right from the OT, and I just smile like an idiot hearing all those great orchestral John Williams themes emoting to new original characters. The cinematography is constantly evoking similar imagery from the classic films, and the pacing is pitch perfect Star Wars. What I mean is that scenes have time to breath. When Ezra, the force sensitive street rat, starts to discover mysterious Jedi artifacts, the music fades out, and we linger on his expression as he internally contemplates what his discoveries mean. When the Force theme begins to slowly play, it feels momentous, the Force feels mystical and carries narrative weight. No Star Wars show or movie has made the Force feel this cool since Tartatovsky’s 2D Clone Wars cartoon.

I also have to mention that seeing the classic Star Wars ships back on the screen feels real good! I loves me some Star Destroyers and Tie Fighters, and Hera’s ship, The Ghost, is such a great Millennium Falcon surrogate, its Lego form is certainly destined for my shelf. Rebels also gives us back the kind of Jedi we can relate to in Kanan. He’s a man with relationships, and not a creepy celibate monk who recruits preschoolers into a monastic order before they’re old enough to make informed decisions. He’s clearly designed to be the Jedi version of Han Solo that we’ve always contemplated. Thankfully Rebels also steers clear of overt Prequel references, so you don’t have to worry about Midichlorians ruining your mystical energy fields or  ‘robots vs clones’ removing the consequence of battle. That’s right, stormtroopers are just people and in Star Wars Rebels, there is a lot of wanton murder by blaster, just how we like it! Kanan and Co. are not afraid to shoot first, GOOD.

So what I’m saying is that if you love classic Star Wars and found the prequel era a mess of poor story telling, WATCH STAR WARS REBELS. Depending on your ‘jaded fan’ level, it’ll be anywhere from pretty good to fantastic. And knowing that Greg Weisman, the mind behing Disney’s Gargoyles and DC’s Young Justice cartoon, is the show’s head writer, we can rest assured that Rebels’ characters will continue to grow in complexity and the stakes will continue to be raised! HOLY CRAP it feels good to be a Star Wars fan again!

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Genchu gave up the ghost pretty fast there! Then again, he may just be relieved to find kindred spirits in his current goal. I’m looking forward to the probable antics that will transpire with these three.

On an unrelated note, I’m contributing a ten page short story to an adult fantasy comic anthology called Armorous. It’s just me contributing to the project, no Joe involved. The project itself is NSFW but there’s nothing on the kickstarter page that’s more than PG13. If sexy comics don’t bother you, check it out! You can see some of my work on the kickstarter page. I also collaborated with Pascal on the cover, my drawing, her concept and colors. There’s also quite a few other really talented artists contributing stories. Also, If you pledge $150, I still have a commission illustration available as a pledge reward. That’s an illustration I’ll do of any subject of your choosing, full color! We’re more than 20% of the way to our goal, so I just wanted to plug it here if anyone’s interested!

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OH HO, so tell us what you REALLY think about the good captain, why don’t you guys?

Come this update, I’d expected I would have a lot to say about Korra, and Rebels, and Smash bros, but of those three, the only one I’ve spent any time with is Smash. And lemme tell you, there’s a poop ton of characters in that game! Choosing a main is more stressful than buying a new car, because that’s the character you’re going to learn, and grown, and murder with for countless hours into the future. Personally, I waver between Wii Fit Trainer and Rosalina, but…oh, Greninja, Shulk, and Palutena are also great! And then there’s the fighters I was previously proficient in, Pikachu, Peach, and Olimar. And then there’s those great alternate costumes. You can be Fierce Deity Link, for cryin’ out loud! And you better believe I used the mii custom character creation to stick Ken, Yori, and Cho in the game.

Joe has been playing, I don’t know, basically every spare moment he can. I think progress on NN4B Volume 2 has come to a screeching halt over the past four or five days! It’s okay, we’re still on schedule, I think, maybe. At this point Joe is most likely a force with which to be reckoned. I fear to challenge him, but I’ll put on a brave face and meet him at the final destination, balance board in hand…  it won’t be pretty.

In closing, Smash Bros 3DS, so much fun, and my experience with the online features has been pretty solid, too. I do admit, though, that playing on a 3DS leaves a bit to be desired in terms of tight controls. I’m super looking forward that WiiU version! I got on the hype train and even preordered some Amiibos. This game seems to have become quite the danger to my poor wallet. Anyway,  have some friend codes!

Alex: 0619-4547-2438
Joe: 2793-0704-2809

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I’m not very good at rrrrrrrrrrolling my ‘r’s, but Joe’s a pro at it. I wish I had a recording of him saying ‘Rrrrrrrrrrrrricardo!’ that I could post here, because it’s very impressively rolled, I assure you.

So OCTOBER, wow, I don’t even, I can’t even… Well, let me do a checklist here. Legend of Korra Book 4, Star Wars Rebels, Smash Bros 3DS, and Bayonetta 2. This is like the coolest October ever. Mileage may vary depending on your love of these things, of course! Hyrule Warriors just came out recently and I am still in desperate need of  a WiiU. I may rectify that in the coming week, though. Speaking of WiiUs, Joe and I want to start a Smash Bros night with any of you who are interested once the version of Smash Bros everyone’s REALLY waiting for comes out. We could probably be doing a Mariokart 8 game night right now if anyone’s interested! It’d just take a little coordination, admittedly, but we could broadcast on Twitch. I have no idea how to do that, though it can’t be that difficult. Just a thought, of course, just THROWING IT OUT THERE, friends!

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I hate this page, it is my enemy. Don’t anybody compliment it, it has been the bane of my existence for the past two days! I don’t think there’s anything more disheartening to a digital artist than to lose their work right near its completion to a corrupted file. We bought a PSD file recovery program and saved some of the background painting, which was a curse and blessing because I had to draw over the painting, which resulted in less good drawings. It’s not awful, the page is fine, I guess, but the headache of doing it again from almost scratch was not fun, I assure you, dear readers!

EDIT: After careful consideration, I have decided not to hate this page.

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Page 569 Delay

Bushido readers! I spent quite some time on the most recent comic page, and then the photoshop file corrupted, and I lost it all! So the page is going to be delayed, to my extreme frustration. Just wanted you all to know.

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Volume 2 Cover

I wanted to post my work-in-progress for the Volume 2 cover. I threw in all the major volume 2 characters, they get smaller as you go from primary to tertiary. It’s missing Suzuka and Masuhiro, though, but I feared it becoming too busy. Minor details to note, Ken’s in his Kabuki outfit, and Bunzo’s carrying a rock!

volume2coverB

 

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