Well... you know what time it is, it's actually pretty obvious, it's another update! I... kinda got sick so I'm basically playing a game of catch up with this update!
Sorry if it'll be a little less this month but... I do think that at least it will give you a break. For that, I won't be pinging everyone but I do think it's just a fun little update. (Warning! I do get a little ranty for this one!!!)
So far, I’ve released Psychescapes #3 around nine days ago. With that, it's probably my least popular so far and I want to be honest with y'all, I'm kinda saddened that this one specifically didn't gain traction... at all. I don't know if it's Discord acting bitchy or if you guys are not on Newgrounds but I'm shocked that #2 had better outreach.
I don't know, maybe it's just me not taking advantage of Newgrounds but I feel like it would've been popular since it was "toned down." This was probably the most fun I had on the project because I was wondering what I could do for each and every panel.
But there is one thing that I also say...
So… why no teasers? Psychescapes (as you might’ve noticed) has been getting less and less teasers as we become more direct. #1 had a lot of itself shown, 2 Had multiple sketches shown and a (reasonably) cropped teaser, 3 had one sketch shown and one cropped teaser… as we went deeper… I revealed less and less of my work. This time… with 4, there’s going to be nothing revealed, no date, no info about it, not even any production notes. Sure, call it an experiment… but I don’t want anything of this new issue “unveiled” but I can assure you that it’s “working.” As in i’m actually a decent way there, around this point I would say that a decent amount has been finished, and other than a hiccup regarding my pen... (Specifically it’s related to the spread and width of the pen, made it look weird.) I have decided to remain with the format that I am going for. Honestly, I’ve been thinking about shadow dropping this, which means that there would be no announcement beforehand.
By June 8th, my focus on Psychescapes will halt, is this a necessity? Yes! Psychescapes was made and planned out during my gap year… I can assure you that I’ll still be “working” on it but… for now I need to study though, which in my opinion is more important than a personal project that I’ve only conceived of as narrative experimentation… obviously one thing I personally have to say is there was already a halt in production due to an ill illness I contracted at the end of April. It was so bad that I couldn’t even really do anything except be in agony. One night it was so bad that I hallucinated a play, like an actual play, about a king which watches his kingdom collapse, because his face is frozen while his family tries figuring out what the hell to do before accepting a tragic fate. What a good %#$!ing hallucination! My friend said this was an interesting concept conjured from my mind so maybe like 50 years down the line I might make a play about it… whatever.
Oh yeah, while on that… I guess I should talk to you about the other thing. I guess my plans related to this project are in a weird place right now. I've found an alternate funding source but... spoilers I guess, the main reason why this series has not really changed out of the boundaries, such as animation or anything like that, is because it was planned to be independently published for hardcore indulgers. The thing is though... this would've been fine a few months ago, but now that Stripe has forced to take adult content off of Kickstarter.
You probably don't understand why this pisses me off, Psychescapes was supposed to be a pathway to the work I love and adore instead of being at a dead-end for the rest of my life. Why I'm specifically calling out Stripe is because we've gotten the same fate before. Not only did this screw me over in the long run, having to use less popular funding services, they probably won't stop there. This could be an action directly involved with Stripe's idiocy given the fact that they as a company have blocked payments regarding LGBTQ+ goods, and have actually done this for a solid year at this point, even though it doesn't affect you in this current iteration, they have the power to. Besides, Kickstarter is a heavily filtered platform which needs an approval process to verify works, which means that the problems they had before are already resolved, the only answer is because of their fear of fraud, but like I said, that shouldn't because Kickstarter is not a pornographic platform, it is a platform for creators and fans alike to help fund their projects.
What stripe did was overstep, I understand that chargebacks exist for various reasons, but this should be important given the fact that honestly, payment processors are a sense of totalitarianism, full control over what and how you get your products. I know this is unhinged but it's how I've felt this way for years with companies like these.
So... yeah, BUT if you DO want to support me still before that point when I start such, obviously you can share my work around... thank you.
So recently with the new Animal Farm movie releasing, (which I did NOT watch by the way) it made me think about my life at that point, and that sounds funny until you realize that it’s the complete desecration of it's source material. A couple reviewers which saw the film, on a review level, I’m not kidding… you’d think that this movie killed people.
Honestly, it did a crime way less serious than that… kill its own source material. Animal farm is a very interesting and complex story if we talk adaptations. Not only is the original 40s novel a great piece of literature for any age, specifically when learning theming and context, it was generally my peers introduction to dystopia. (I read dystopian fiction as my go-to genre when I was younger.) But every time I hear about this film, they always ruin the ending somehow despite the fact it's pretty laid out.
The first animated adaptation, despite having really good animation from a semi-obscure studio at the time absolutely botched it’s ending, given the fact that it was CIA propaganda in order to make it "hopeful."
The “live action” remake from 1999 sounds horrid, given the fact that it’s warning message is told as an aftermath of it's collapse, and gives the torch of the acting to... B-List celebrities? Besides, said ending pretends that everything after is sunshine and rainbows because "they can easily rebuild their community again!" which... no.
With this one being the third time around, you'd think it would be a clever commentary given the revival of actual passionate works this decade. I’ve never heard of a film which botches source material so badly… not only is the entire film filled with low-brow humor, arguably something I am fine with if it doesn’t get overplayed too much. But it's FILLED with this stuff because you know... it's pigs and totally not an analogy on the classes, what do you mean?! The film completely removes the “upcoming communist threat” angle of its source material, a promised Utopia hijacked by a selfish asshole into a greedy dystopia, and now it’s story is getting hijacked again to completely subvert the ending AND NOW to mischaracterize! I don’t know what’s so complicated about the story of Animal Farm, a ~120 page novel only to mess up the ending, is it because of corporate funding behind it because they don’t want people to feel sad? THATS THE POINT!
Yet... I feel like adaptations are a very complicated manner, you either go two paths... and to be honest, you shouldn't mix them. You either make an adaptation which faithfully brings the original subject matter, or you make your own original spin of such a work on a writing level. Books are hard to adapt, I know! Say... here's a trick to your problem though. When an adaptation stands out on its own without needing the source material to compare but keeping its “core”… that’s when you realize that you’ve made it a success in terms of adapting.
n a way, a lot of people will be critical of certain works. For example, video games to media adaptations are very hard to do, the thing about the medium is the fact that you have control, said control causes the player to go at their own pacing, doing a story about a medium which is under its own pacing is difficult. I don’t believe there’s too many films which offer a good experience of a video game, even though I really like the Sonic movie trilogy, they do not stand as adaptations in my opinion, they stand out as their own to find experience given how many drastic changes they’ve made and it’s very dependent on if you tolerate kids films. It’s honestly the same thing with a lot of work, the Peter Jackson adaptations are heavily criticized by fans because you can’t really adapt Lord of the Rings properly, after all nine hours of a movie can’t accurately describe over thousands of pages of work. Admittedly, some work is just not traditionally possible to be adapted without sacrifice.
You know what’s ironic though? Do you know what the best adaptation of Animal Farm is in my opinion? Animals… yes the album from Pink Floyd. It’s not a traditional adaptation at all, in fact it’s arguably a complete alteration of its concepts in order to fit a new narrative. It uses the core concepts of Animal Farm that's completely different to how it taught us. Sure, it still is focused on the irony and dangers of concepts like "Animalism" but it completely shifts its hierarchical tone. Maybe it's the fact they had less commercial influence, maybe it was because it was the tone of the 70s, but it's probably one of the most resonating in terms of making something just... work.
Honestly, it’s the same concern that I have for a lot of things which try to retell a story, if that original story exists, why retell if you want to change the core ideology of a story? Isn't that just... sacrificing what kept the original so true to itself, don't get me wrong, sometimes adapting a work makes it become more acknowledged, Stephen King's work I think wouldn't be noticed if we didn't see things like The Shining or Stand By Me as films. 2001: A Space Odyssey both released as a book and film in the same year under both leads, but both take different directions.
Maybe there’s something human about it… Mr. Burns, a Post-Electric Play is this understanding that overtime, main base of a story or a work… changes over the times. Sure it starts off small but the further we get away from it, our memory tends to merge elements to how we associate the work. Cape Feare now becomes this interesting idea of Sideshow Bob being combined with the idea of Mr. Burns, Itchy and Scratchy are somehow real, the ending actually feels like a finale of the show despite the fact that Cape Feare was made 30 YEARS AGO. This is from some guy which basically knows classic Simpsons like the scripture, and debatably I think that’s what’s important, work itself adapt to one’s liking and even though we’re not fond of it, work itself adapts to one’s very liking.
Think of it as the Mona Lisa, the Mona Lisa uses oil paint, how its varnish completely tinted its color to be more yellow, it really begs the question of how other works are “tinted”, we’ve basically been alluded to that the Mona Lisa has always looked like the varnish. I’ll mention this for the sake of the humanities, the very work of art is just putting something on a pedestal for humanity to see, it is obviously an extension of the form of expression. It can be as simple or as complicated as it can be. If I were to remake the Mona Lisa, as is, obviously all purpose if it’s original concept is deeply misconstrued, after all the Mona Lisa was supposed to be a commission off of a real person. Adapting is simply the human mind enamouring to visualize, to contextualize, and to modernize to our peers. To connect us closer to our current reality.
So what I'm saying is... yeah don't watch Animal Farm 2026 lmao, go make your own original stuff. After all, it's better to have slipped than slopped!
Here's an important note, I have not completed all of these pieces of media, so opinion is subject to change, but I did generally either beat them or got at least 2 hours or more into said game.
This is… particularly amusing. This was originally a show consisting of 2 seasons, now stringed together with old and new footage to form an entire full length “film.” I’m not one to spend a hundred bucks on a constantly drunk mouse… so I didn’t.
The first episode made me realize what the show was, an elaborate fully fledged shitpost. While critics might say that it’s a mess, I love its nature. It feels so cheap it’s hilarious, it’s basically pencil sketches written in a quick… almost conversational format, it’s weird but… okay. That’s only for the first two episodes though. By the third, it drops hints and continuity. That’s when the show hits for me.
I wouldn’t say this is a cohesive experience. It has a lot of elements which just don’t make any sense. There’s insane plot points which I just can’t explain. It’s honestly more comedic than unsettling or anything… occasionally likes to linger on pretty much unnecessary ideas, but that's the idea. It’s a thriller, not because of the fact that it thrills you, but the entire plot of the show is there anything and I mean literally anything can happen. It will definitely not change your life, but oh dear, you have to give credit for arguably one of the most experimental things adult swim has ever created, not only because they allowed it to air in the first place, but arguably as probably one of the first ever serializations in original as programming for the channel.
I’m kind of happy that it’s niche, I know, crazy, but if this show got popular, we probably watch it basically dig it's own grave at some point in terms of... whatever it is. definitely don’t think this is something for everyone neither is it a show that you’ll get really immersed into… BUT I do believe it’s one of those standout oddities if you’re a huge [adult swim] fan like me.
But wait, there's more! The final hour shocked me to my core, they actually use these characters for a phenomenal finale. Not only did they decide the shows budget improve tenfold, but it tries tying in the loose ends in such a clever and insane way. You wouldn’t expect it but somehow the intro ties into the end, and as I just mentioned, the budget just skyrockets... I guess what I'll say is yes, it's hard to get into and if it doesn't tick, it doesn't tick, but it is 100% worth the watch.
You have the power to be his friend!
Moon Child has a strange yet fascinating history, originally developed by Team Hoi, it started development on the Amiga as a spiritual successor to “Hoi." It eventually shifted development to Windows until release, in which it’s publisher fell, never getting it in the US but having mobile and mac ports, fading into nicheness until Games That Weren't covered the Amiga prototype. It would’ve been just a generic video until people found out about its music, which was peak Amiga MOD music, and has been a semi-popular semi-niche shitpost. The lead, Metin Seven, is still active on the internet today and actually still makes art to this day! He even does archival stuff! How cool is that?
So… the game? First of all, I don’t wanna be that one guy, but arguably, I think them releasing the source code with probably the best decision. For from 1997 it isn’t flawed, but it isn’t good to run exactly. How I tried running this game was originally the Windows PC Version, which would generally be a safe fit until you realize that the code itself has been depreciated… but there’s a modern iOS, Mac, and Web releases!This is where I get critical, even though I like Team Hoi’s work, to be honest I feel like a problem has been the fact that they haven’t developed the game in 20 years given the fact that when I tried the Mac version, it exclusively limited me to fullscreen, it also had a problem regarding rendering for M1, this is because the M1 MacBook Pro Max doesn’t have a cap for screen refresh rate, and then the iOS port despite the fact it said it had it didn’t have controller support, and I wasn’t gonna play a game with a joystick touchscreen control which barely worked, in the web report despite being very impressive as a game given the fact that it is a website running a game from 1997… unfortunately breaks down after some time and doesn’t allow you to full screen, my best solution to this was actually a port of the game known as Moon Child FE, it’s a modernized optimized version of the game for modern and devices specifically on Linux and Windows made by Mors, I think they’re really talented with what they do and to be honest I’m shocked that they made a port the week it got popular.
Actually playing the game now with solving that problem, it’s very standout. There’s four defined worlds with four levels each. Each world being a progression of it's "mechanical" conflict. The idea is that Moon Child (you the player) are an elf which gets sent to the planet in order to stop this mechanization, it’s very Sonic-like in structure both narratively and gameplay wise. In fact, in order to actually beat the game proper you have to collect around 77 of the 84 dark diamonds the game offers. Although not an absurd goal, I do wish they were a little more lenient given this game’s structure. There is a lot of flaws with the game which the player is gonna have to get over, for example, Moon Child takes fall damage in a 2-D platform, something which honestly makes the game more slower in nature. Obviously, I do not have a problem with this personally, but it can be a drawback for some.
I also think that difficulty spikes can be unpleasant, especially near the end when the game requires so much out of you. Not only does it have meticulous platforming, it just has a lot of problems regarding stage design given the fact that this was a game made in 1997. I will admit that it’s already a standout given the fact that it was a 2-D platformer in 1997. To be honest, if this game were released in the US. I feel like it would be more criticized, not only because it’s more so a technical showcase of what you can do on Windows, I guess that’s deserving of technically being a good product, but unfortunately, it doesn’t really build off of any 2-D platforms making it both a unique experience but also a very brutal one.
Eventually, though when you get to the end, you realize that to be honest, it wasn’t worth it, sure you get a lot of platforming and a lot of fun in return but arguably the most important element of this game is the fact that it is still fueled off of very old game ideology… as in high scores, even though there is a good ending to this game, it doesn’t try reinventing the wheel in terms of 2-D platforming, or at least to a point where you could call it the next generation. I felt like video games were easing up on ancient systems by this point yet Moon Child doesn’t really reinvent the wheel, for strong art direction, and strong music, it’s gameplay just subpar. It doesn’t mean that it’s exactly bad, I think if you have the chance and need a game to play, it’s not the worst you can do. I do highly appreciate these games which get highlighted like this, it’s just… sometimes the experiences are kind of awkward.
The stream was delayed for a couple days… but fortunately enough got back on track. I do think that this wasn't their strongest.
So let’s do a comparison to Act I, I felt like the problem about Act I was the fact that most of the stage stuff felt flat because they were trying to shove bits into itself. Meanwhile, the unscripted gameplay full as chaotic as the original and arguably how to cast of characters which I was more interested in comparison to the original.
Ironically enough, this stream had one consistent theme, and that was said by Xar, it had too much padding in its structure. Obviously, I expected this for the first act, there was a lot of scripted stuff, meanwhile, this one just had pacing issues because it had pacing issues. I did say that them going from here to Black Mesa East would probably be the best for a second stream and I highly do appreciate that, but it took them four hours to get to that point.
There’s also some really good bits which got elevated, I think my favorites were actually in Water Hazard, I loved the Christmas Village bit because they had to buy into the fact that it was Christmas despite the fact it wasn’t, something similar with Grigori’s use of literally levitating items. It’s this type of humor I appreciate, unfortunately, I just felt personally exhausted around that point so I decided to stop watching and continue the next day.
I do think it's still getting better, but it still hasn't reached it's peak... I am very excited for the next act. (And of course, I'll talk about the video version (& possibly Act 3's stream?) in June, given the fact it literally released yesterday.)
Demon Turf is an interesting experience… I don’t know how to personally talk about this game because it is… number one, game initially published under Playtonic, and a number two I just personally feel like it is rough around the edges. Demon Turf is both a very fun… yet very flawed. The deal about it is that it can be a fun game, this might sound weird, but it feels like if you mixed Mario 64 with those small challenge areas from Battle For Bikini Bottom. The game isn't entirely focused on collecting, it's focused on a mix of going through small stages and finding neat objects around.
A lot of 3D Platformers of new really have trouble finding what style they really want to go with, so I deeply appreciate this hybrid of 2-D/3-D. It doesn't look clean, but honestly I'd rather have a work stand out on it's own than just look primordial or try to look "realistic." I think it is very rough around the edges given it's one of the first games of this genre Fabraz made. Don't get me wrong, this game is fun as hell but it sometimes feels empty or weird in some areas. I generally don't like how bosses are, as well as enemies. The combat is simply too simple.
I'll be honest, this game probably shouldn't have costed $20, and then raised to $30 to be bundled with all of it's DLC. To be honest, the main way I even got this was because of a steam key. Not because I didn't want to support the developer, I just didn't want to support Playtonic. Playtonic often is the one which usually overprices their games and to be honest, can have a varied library.
I guess I'll really have to see if the later half will be worth what its asking.
When I think of an iconic game, usually a lot of people mentioned Battle For Bikini Bottom, a 3-D platformer game which actually used its third-party identity to its advantage, similar to something like The Simpsons: Hit & Run. Its remake was initially mixed upon release, with IGN saying it was mediocre and some fans not feeling fond of it years ago.
I’ve actually tried this out a couple times, initially on the Nintendo switch before playing briefly on the PS4, but ultimately I did want to complete this game, so I bought it on Steam and started playing. Honestly, this game still holds up despite releasing back in 2020. It really tries maintaining a new sort of energy which the original didn’t offer. At its core it still feels like the same game, it just looks different, which if you'd like,
Meanwhile, I think my only problem with the game is honestly how much content has been added. Now I know they didn't have to add anything, but I still feel like a multiplayer mode is the strangest yet most nothing game ever.
This month I kind of wanted to try something different… and I did! Hearing rumors of Star Fox related stuff, I thought I would introduce myself to the series via... Star Fox 64 3D! Why 3D? Well... N64 emulation obviously sucks and since there's no port on the OG 64 yet I had a fully functioning 3DS, it was my opportunity to play such a critically acclaimed game, funnily enough, this was a few days right before the direct, which plans to rerelease Star Fox 64 AGAIN, and I just couldn't stop laughing at the fact.
This might not be surprising, but I don’t like the original Star Fox, so when they "remade" it for the N64 to be a phenomenal experience, my curiousity piqued. It’s a really fun and unique experience which I was not expecting. It’s very short for a Nintendo 64 game, if Mario 64 takes a couple hours to beat on a first play… this only takes an hour. Arguably its main element is supposed to be replayability, you see I’m like previous games which usually don’t have a replay system because of how short Star Fox generally is… The game has a medal system so you beat the game, although it’s nothing too big, it is still a challenging goal to get for the medals. It’s surprisingly just easy to get into which is a good ideology for a game like this. A lot of shmups have a general problem at this time for being too difficult and being coin wasters. (For example, Ikaruga, despite how much I love that game, it’s clear that the idea that I had in mind with it was to spend as much of your money as possible.)
I do believe as a remake it does do everything that it needs to, it offers a new optimized mode for the casual player while offering the original experience as well. To be honest, my only problems with it is the fact that you have only one safe file, now I understand back in the N64 era… you couldn’t even save but honestly, if you offer a saving system, you should have multiple layers for linear game in case anyone wants to replay the game and not just wipe out their original save. I also think that some of it is a little jank to maneuver despite their best efforts, I mean, when an enemy is right behind you it’s easy to maneuver around them, but for stuff like fighting wolf (which I found out was optional very quickly) I didn’t understand how to really get around, I’m also just not a fan of mission 5, which is generally when the game tries doing new mechanic by introducing a tank, it just felt really weird for some reason. Despite its hardships, though, I do believe that this is a game that you should totally play if you’re trying to look for a more unique experience in the science fiction genre. This is really when Nintendo felt like they were starting to mature up, given the fact that they actually try grasping the topic of death in this game, although it’s just briefly mentioned.
So... yeah, even though a new version was announced, I still think checking out any version of 64 is a pretty good time waster, would heavily recommend getting your hands on it.
Wow! I’m surprised I haven’t played this game in the past decade or so! It's a very standout game, which is funny because I am not a platform-fighter person. Sure, I've played all SSBs and love Brawl's story, but nothing gets reinvented because it's so focused on competitive nowadays instead of allowing for others to join in.
Rivals of Aether is a completely different, new experience for me. I feel like it’s the MUGEN to the Platform Fighting Genre, some might say that’s a very weird comparison and you’d be right, but it really is truthful. It does everything you basically need out of a game like this, multiple tutorials with different skill levels. Why I saw RoA is the MUGEN of platform-fighters is because there’s a lot of customization that you can do via the Steam workshop, but we're not really talking about that... are we?
It reminds me of something like Smash 64 or Melee, something which has a limited cast but is very fun to mess around with. It's open for experimentation as each and every character is drastically different.
To be honest, I think the controls are very tight and responsive, which is something that feels necessary for a game like this. With that, it requires a very high skill window and that can sometimes really be annoying for story mode, for example, if you want to get gold, you have to defeat the enemy in 30 seconds and not have any penalty such as lose a life.
Oh and... I guess while we're on flaws, the only flaw I have with the game is how limiting the stages are, they're all flat terrain bases with a few semisolids placed differently from one another. There's basically no space for any clever stage elements like Smash Bros, and since there's no chaos factor such as items, it does make the game feel a little lacking.
There's a good selection of fighters and gameplay, but the gripe I have with it is that honestly... it's not worth what it costs. RoA 2, a game for the same price, has more fighters and stages. Maybe why it costs $30 is because of the endorsement custom content? Then you remember that can't be the case given it was released on console. $30 USD is simply just not worth it for a game which has basically been only supported by it's community with the occasional bug fixes, I genuinely think that $20 full price is better nowadays if we're just talking base content. The game goes up to $150, rounded up, if you want all the skins.
I do think that it's a fun and unique game which allows for hours and hours of playtime, and that's great! I just don't think most people will fork over $30 for a game that is half the price of Smash Ultimate, which has dozens of characters and stages off the bat, with a ton of skins offered as well.
Did you know they’re printing out MAD? I thought honestly, because of the digital age that MAD was gone, and technically it kind of is? I just found this someday and bought it.
Obviously losing all my hope in my own nation isn’t enough. I think it’s funnier to read something that was a breaking point for society… to be serious with you though, this was a gift that I got… so I guess I’m personally reviewing it. After all as you remember, I can consume any sort of media.
Given the fact this is a compilation, it’s complicated to judge the quality of these types of magazines given the fact that they all range in certain eras of artistry and commentary. Honestly my reaction that its okay, I think MAD is like the SNL in terms of comics. It's a comedic format with various levels of what I personally think is funny.
Given the fact that this wasn’t a best of but rather a thematic use of America’s 250th anniversary 3 months beforehand. It’s work is kind of interesting given the fact that it’s a compilation of old and new. I’ll be honest with you, I think MAD doesn’t have the proper energy. You have phenomenal artist still which honestly know what the heck they’re doing, it just doesn’t fit my type of style though, for example, theres a section that I did giggle at a little, which is the statistics from the first page, it’s an OK observation joke satirizing America, meanwhile some of the 2010s content feels... trashy. I’m not saying that the MAD writers and artists aren’t as witty as they used to be anymore, but clearly there’s a different energy from earlier eras in comparison to more modern. I blame pop culture's decline into self-indulgence and clout.
There’s one of those sections where it’s a two page panoramic view of New York City, and there’s so many fun little details that you can spot out well also giggling at its sense of dry humor, mad in the black-and-white era was funnier honestly more sharp on a commentary scale. I do think there's another strong one from 1981 which I actually have.
It's this chaos which I appreciate, it both celebrates yet criticizes the United States, and yes it is dated, 100%, but it has so much passion into its weirdness I can deeply appreciate. A cousin of mine got into MAD a few years ago, and all I gotta say is that the earlier you get, I feel like the more stylized and interesting the work becomes. Who knows, maybe the newer stuff will get condensed down, besides Spy Vs. Spy is still as good as usual.
So overall, I think if you pick up one of these magazines, expect the mix of good and bad obviously, despite the fact that it says best of… I was generally shocked, though, given the fact that it seems like the artist and leads of MAD still take on a progressive view, when media like this becomes corporate, which is debatable given the fact that it has been corporate when it was bought out by DC comics in the 70s. What I'm saying is I thought it would have a more conservative view given the entertainment industry is operating now. So I'm happy they haven't given up their beliefs of parodying society, even if not everything hits as hard.
I actually remember watching a little of this when a decent amount of the series was dumped onto YouTube. I also remember enjoying it... so I bit the bullet and tried watching various episodes of the series.
The formatting of the show is extremely different in comparison to anything else that I’ve seen beforehand, instead of usually taking the approach of regular adult animation, which is exaggerating, some sort of element to make it feel mature, it experiments by visualizing bits between Dr. Jonathan Katz and a patient which would usually be a “special guest” recounting certain aspects in their lives. Its visual style is dominated by Squigglevision, a very exaggerated, digital version of line boil.
I like how dry and cut the show is, it’s formatting can really just be balanced on whatever it wants to be as long as it’s routine. This is actually one of those perfect shows where you can work with it in the background and given the fact that it’s limited animation is supposed to be a visualizer for the interactions that these people have. Sure, not all of the show or even each episode is just entirely composed of a therapist listening to a person’s problems as a tries fleshing out its characters in smaller segments. Generally, the show is more so mindless than anything else… which is a good thing! There’s very rare exceptions when your animation should be limited because are you believe there’s a lot of stories which should be told to their best capacity without sacrificing anything with it… since it’s just quick, witty dialogue with random interactions laced in between, there’s no necessary use of it, and arguably causes a more postmodern stylization of animation.
It just seemed interesting to me. Not only did I watch multiple commentaries, with various creatives on the show, talking about their experiences, it was the first time where I realized a lot about the production of the show itself. I think one of the coolest factors about the show is the actor actors. It’s clear by the commentaries that time has passed, they got a lot of people for free and their genuine opinions about the show itself really shows a sense of honesty and maturity. You can tell that the actors were just passionate, and this makes some of the comedy funnier while sometimes it feels more heartfelt. (Sometimes it gets uncomfortable though I will admit.)
Even though I basically just skimmed what should be the entire series, it’s clear that it’s not a show meant to be binged, if you binge it, you get tired. You gotta remember that this was a show intended weekly, it’s like a therapist, you don’t talk to your therapist every day because that would be expensive and time-consuming, it’s something that you do either weekly, biweekly, monthly, or even quarterly. There can be too much of a good thing… and that permanently taints your experience with the media that you intake. It’s clear that Dr. Katz was a block of TV, not a entire narratively complicated series of episodic installments. That’s why I believe that it’s harder to show people that show and why none of its revivals have come back in a spectacular way.
That’s why I believe that it’s harder to show people that show and why none of its revivals have come back in a spectacular way. No I don’t want it to come back because generally what they had going initially is kind of gone in this modern format, not only because material for comedy ages, depending on whatever, I don’t think it’s a problem for this show given the fact that most of its subject matter is everyday life, which hasn’t really evolved beyond a couple extensions and items which we deem necessary… but it’s rather just the format being a 22 minute long show constantly running.
A little niche game, I did technically play this months ago before ultimately stopping, but officially going past the two hour mark… and completing it… I think it’s a more standout experience than a lot of people really consider. It was made by Popcap back in the 2000s and surprisingly the game is both fun and unique compared to a lot of games similar to it, you see, the idea of the game is simple on structure intentionally. You eat smaller fish before leveling up to eat bigger fish in a stage. Eventually, if you get the meter full, you beat the stage. 2 I think Troy is shaking it the story in a fun, unique way, which made me realize how much you could do with the genre. Instead of a linear format, there’s actually multiple fish that you play as, and they all have unique abilities! (They are just sucking fish in but still) I wouldn’t say that it is the most riveting game, but it mechanically has a lot more depth than you would think.
So for May 4th, I decided... after my initial introduction of LEGO Star Wars, to actually watch the movies. (Shocking!)
Anyways, with this, I’ve decided to take more controversial format, which is watching it in chronological order, although I personally wouldn’t recommend it because it honestly ruins the spoilers of the original trilogy as I’ve heard, the thing about it is that I pretty much know the original series because I was spoiled about it constantly. The second thing I have to say is, I’m not choosing the latest latest release or the original versions, I’m rather choosing the 2011 Blu-ray Set which I wouldn’t say has a lot to it beyond just the main content but arguably I do think it’s better for that.
Its… okay, it’s visually beautiful for 1999, hell I would say it’s CGI has aged well, probably except for some details in the pod racing and the lighting in space. the pacing is… weird, even though this is the extended version. Like the start is very quick, sometimes a little too quick instead of indulging in its scenes, but eventually, it does get good into itself. I really think most characters are strong and that people like to exaggerate how “bad” this is, I mean it’s goofy, and to be honest it did put me out of the experience but I would be lying if I said I wasn’t at least interested, because clearly there’s this effort that’s put in, the visuals are beautiful and unlike any film I have seen before in terms of setting choice and design, it’s just that narratively it has so much trouble owing up to the original trilogy, BUT does it really need to? Other than the pacing, I don’t really like Jar Jar or his plot really, not that he’s annoying or anything but what does he really add except to the droid battle scene? Like he feels both like an industry plant for being this sanitized alien which tries to be humorous because he acts like a klutz and speaks funny. I know Lucas was more inspired by classic pieces of media and religion, but it feels like we barely cracked the shell, It’s a good start, but I can see why people would be disappointed.
It's complicated alright? I didn't "care" but I did care about what this trilogy will unveil and its like... yeah.
Now here's where this gets funny, after watching this, my headphones broke right after I watched the film! That meant I couldn't watch any of the other films yet! Oops!
Oh man… The Oblongs? I’ll be honest with you. I don’t know anything about the show, for some reason, I actually knew about the book which was used as a basis for the show more… I didn’t know that it was syndicated up by adult swim similar to Mission Hill, but to less of an interest… maybe that’s because I’m not in the circle that it’s in Mission Hill. I’ve seen multiple fan works wanting for it to continue. In comparison, I haven’t really seen anything for this show except for fanart of Creepy Susie, which is technically like her own thing?
Discussed on this show. It has an extremely huge cast of recognizable voices, I could immediately tell Will Ferrell and Pamela Adlon… usually this wouldn’t be a positive, but it shows how much effort WB tried pushing for the show to land, they let TMBG song compose a theme song, anything with TMBG has to be good.
Honestly, the show was kind of weird for me… like I’ll say, this was a transitionary time when more action base shows were becoming the basis in comparison to the gross out that was ever so common in the 90s. There’s a sense of minimalism with a show that I kind of appreciate with thicker lines and simpler backgrounds… I love the narrative themes going on with the show generally but to be honest, I think my main gripe with it is actually just its humor, I know that sounds very strange and to be honest, I expected a very low bar, given the fact that the show itself was made in 2001 and on The WB.
The thing is there is good humor, there were jokes that I laughed at and enjoyed, but I guess the best question is representation… I feel like in animation, we often exaggerate in order to differentiate from reality. It’s basically a double edged sword because if you exaggerate characteristics, it has the possibility to make them more relatable from our true emotions… but in the opposite direction, it could make your viewers understand less and could actually bring negative connotation like discrimination or making fun of others. I don’t believe this is “bad” representation but I do believe that it is dated. Checking dated works is still important given the fact that it can still have important social commentary, I feel like this is one of those examples which works really well. I mean, it’s the structure which is more pivotal. I think the thing that I highly appreciate in comparison to the other sitcoms that I’ve seen is the fact that it’s more grounded despite it’s fictional aspects, it actually feels like everyone cares about each other at least to some degree, it isn’t brutally harsh or pointless like most modern animated sitcoms.
I guess it's just a show which is really dependent on the viewer, even though I didn't "enjoy" it sometimes, I did enjoy it on other occasions.
This one was actually submitted by CartoonyJulie via the submission sheet that I made last month! (And yes, she does manage this account that I sent from here!) (Also yes, this is visible proof that the form is real and that eventually your stuff will be consumed by me.)
Usually, I like searching into the stuff I watch, researching in the background. flimsy idea such as a president having “super abilities” we shortly made after the assassination of John F. Kennedy. I think that’s the funniest thing about it, though, the fact that they didn’t think this entire television through is really funny. It’s even funnier when you realize that the show has never been released properly on anything except recordings older than me... probably.
So two things, actually had to rewrite my thoughts to make them feel more concise and easier to read, second of all I don’t really like media like this. Simple hero stuff is lame, its sluggish and to be honest it doesn't give me any narrative depth in comparison to the modern stuff. Depatie said that it’s probably one of the worst shows that he’s ever made and usually it’s criticized as such, other than a decent intro… I kind of agree with him.
I’m fine with a show with an episodic plot, I only have gripes about it when it clearly feels like a show that it shouldn’t have been. The idea of this show is that the president is a superhero by secret trying to resolve tasks of the global variety, there’s a side-show called Spy Shadow which follows a similar format, but I was slightly more interested in. Eventually, you realize how flimsy the ideas of this show really are, I felt like the show really liked doing archetypes of traditional villains, which is an incredibly stupid idea.
The only villain which interested me was a machine in the final episode I skimmed through, I don’t know how to explain it, but I do think that it’s kind of fun to have a machine which needs uranium to live so in order to do that they charge their henchman to grab more uranium. To be honest, it could be a good idea given the fact that the machine doesn’t really consider any ethicality and only thinks linearly. Then again the problem about this is that it’s less impressive for a show from 1967 to do it in comparison to a short story from before the 60s. In fact, there is actually a lot of narrative flaws with this if they actually decided to research about US Presidency, first of all, where’s the Secret Service? Not only a defining aspect given the fact that their main duty is to protect the president at all costs, so my question is where the hell are they and why hasn’t this been addressed at all? In fact, the whole secrecy thing is kind of stupid because unless if he’s told people inside of his branch, which is most likely not, then the whole secrecy element is just stupid. I think a character which changes the molecular structure of their body is a cool idea, but the character can also do all these other things which just don’t make sense and 3/4ths of the ideas feel half baked.
Spy Shadow has a very similar feeling, because that whole aspect is in secrecy as well, except it makes a little more sense, in fact its concept just seems more developed throughout but instead of actually following with the spy plot, he he’s just another superhero...
It was actually so bad that I gave up by the second episode. It’s that small crevice where it’s not even so bad that it’s something humorous for me, it’s just boring because of the show taking its ideas seriously, I wouldn’t fail to admit that some of the animation made me laugh because it was so hilariously, bad, and the fact that Jerry, Super President’s assistant, is still Jerry. That’s the funniest shit to me because that’s like saying Robin is still called Dick and just wears his casual outfit. If you somehow find this, I guess it would be appreciated (given the fact that it’s technically partially lost media) but also just I don’t think anyone would enjoy this given the modernization of these types of works for larger audience, and is more narratively competent.
So it actually seems like I missed out on a defining moment of music. You see, there’s this film that my friends experienced during elementary school, where their teacher would play a copy of Animusic if they didn’t care about teaching that day, me being me… unfortunately I never got to experience Animusic. (This it’s probably because my old music teacher was actually psychotic, but let’s not get into that.)
I think Animusic is honestly more than that, though, I think the thing about it, which gets to me on why I don’t think this is learning material for music is the fact that most of the instrument shown are fictionalized versions of these hybrids played by machines, no, I think this takes a really complicated aspect of animation which impresses me. They made everything animated. Usually in animation for budget and time cuts, usually it's recommended to focus on the thing the audience should be focused on, but arguably, they think outside of the box in order to make everything animated. It's a hyperstylized masterpiece of CGI this way which makes you want to rewatch it over and over again, most songs start off simple before building up to its peak and ultimately ending, something which I think is a cool format.
Animusic 1 is very impressive for 2001 even if it's short. It tries messing around with various settings and camera angles to really make the viewer wonder. Sure, there's no narrative in either of these works but it's still one of the coolest things ever. It's clear how much passion and effort they put into it with how many genres they hop and the ultimate buildup to it's finale, which is probably my favorite.
Animusic 2 on the other hand is less impressive given the fact it was released in 2005 and still maintains the same style yet doesn't innocate beyond that, I know I'm not really one to judge but honestly you'd expect some improvement, I guess what's cool about Animusic 2 is that it allows for widescreen now.
Both of these are a must watch for anyone which likes music, it's genuinely a fun and easygoing experience. It's a shame that this franchise disappeared in the mid-to-late 2010s though.
And to conclude this months reviews… I found out about Ratatoing, yes the movie made by Vídeo Brinquedo back in 2007 in order to cash in on Ratatouille, which 100% is the better film. Other than a rat chef… there is literally nothing similar about this film though.
Well already the MOVIE claims its in EPISODES in its EPISODE SELECT on the DVD, and has no options for subtitles or alternate language tracks. In fact the DVD I got this from… had nothing beyond 2 menus. You could literally sell this shit as a VHS and have nothing lost from it.
This film… no kidding, it’s probably one of the most garbage films that I’ve seen, it is literally just tv static in my opinion. That is very rare to get as at least I feel something about pieces of work, good or bad. The problem about the film other than the cheap animation specifically made in Brazil is that the fact is… it’s a 44 minute film about rats in a kitchen. It basically has the balls to rip Ratatouille’s name, but not its genius plot or any significance of it. Do you remember those things of nostalgia or passion? Do you remember how the food critic was painted as the initial antagonist despite the fact that he’s not really a bad guy in comparison to the other stuff that we see in the film? Well what if we ditch all that… for film a rat in “a city” (clearly Rio de Janeiro) which just basically steals food from humans in order to fuel his own small restaurant business. In which these rival business rats for some reason (which might I add, we don’t see any of their restaurant.) sabotages their ingredients so that they’re not financially successful? Eventually, they end up as test animals???
I think the funniest thing about it is that it does actually have a decent amount of voice actors, mostly of 4kids association, but didn't want to be credited, which I either believe because this was non-union work, or because they believed it would be that bad to their careers.
I genuinely want to tell you this because honestly, there’s nothing going towards this film, NOTHING. Initially, I started laughing because everything just looked awful, obviously this was still in CGI’s rough era, you know, when the industry was mainly focused on realism and narratively couldn’t stand out. I feel like the cheaper you get with a style or even the more expensive, it ruins the possible depth that could’ve been added.
The writing feels one-dimensional, not only are the villains doing said “evilness” out of spite… which even I’ve seen TV shows do better, but even then, there’s no proper conflict, you don’t see the damage that has been caused. “The restaurant is unpopular!” Than why not show it by making it empty? We saw them running out of ingredients so you don’t have to verbally repeat that they ran out of every single dish that they’re known for, not only does it linger on the dialogue, it repeats a lot, precisely a lot.
To be honest, I don’t know who to put the blame on, is it the original team which made the film? Was it the new writers which decided to make the dialogue as uncanny as possible? Was it even because at a standpoint… the idea of making a bastardized version of a beloved film not only by discarding its original message and plot but also a waste of the potential budget for an actually good film? Brazil, like a lot of countries, is an in-depth culture and an amazing use of it. In fact, I think this feels more offensive because they eat trash obviously… but they’re seriously undermining culture. They could’ve done so many things which really could only be done in Rio de Janeiro and yet your response of your city is just… subpar.
I’m not kidding, when I was actually watching this movie, I was doing these little sketches based off of character stuff for my own work. (I do this weekly to keep stuff fresh in my mind) the thing about it is though usually these are more lighthearted and funny, but for some reason, the more I watched this film or listened to it in the background, the more depressed I became and arguably it reflected too well, eventually it ended up with this.
Imagine how rare it is to make something so fucking bad to actually make me draw stuff like this in a “funny” sketch board. That’s how bad this film is, give yourself some dignity and watch something more meaningful like Ratatouille.
With my thoughts concluded, Skidge after discussing it with him, wanted to share his thoughts about the film…
Skidge's Thoughts:
“Ratatoing has such a weird vibe for me. On one hand, it's genuinely a terrible film obviously meant to trick Grandma at the dollar store checkout counter, but on the other, it has that kind of shitty cgi charm. In some weird ways, I like Ratatoing for that. It's also strange hearing some actors from 4Kids shows in there as well... gives it an unsettling familiarity.”
“The only thing good about this movie is that the female rat is conventially attractive”
So yeah, it’s this uncanny work that literally has nothing going for it other than its awkwardness style to laugh at… what an interesting watch.
I think this month’s theme is critique, even though I would say that May was a good month, it was very much the month where I was open to “Critique." Every media I personally stated… I had a draw back with, and it’s not because I don’t like them because they’re all good and perfectly fine, it’s just… I guess I’ve been more critical because I’ve felt more like shit? There was some rare exceptions obviously but I guess May is where I’m most “hmm… this work is flawed!” mindset. I think this is just how I feel about me, I’m usually a little more “spiteful” probably from bad memories.
Next month it’s going to be a little more interesting given the fact that I’ve recently started watching The Lost Tapes, I’m currently awaiting a limited film release which has currently swept over the world, and for terms of gaming, I guess we'll just have to wait and see...
Segastuffd (or just Stuffd) (Newgrounds, Tumblr, Bluesky, Strawpage) is a friend of mine which is popular in a few communities that I know of for their work. They’re a huge fan of Mindwave, which is a game I have also made fan art of!
I would say their style is very 2000s-esque. Think of late 90s Cartoon Network (Dexter's Lab, PPG, ) mixed with pop art.
Although I would say that their work process currently is all over the place, given the fact that they’re juggling multiple things like me. Even if they exhaust me sometimes with some of their bits that they had, they're just a very fun person to chat to and just a very nice and welcoming friend!
P.S. They actually have a few original creations currently running up, first is their unnamed Splatoon comic, which has been revived for people to enjoy once again!
Second is their very own Discord server, Studio Stardust. It's “a myriad of exciting workshops to help learn new strategies in art forms such as writing, design, and much, MUCH more! This community is a safe space to share your dreams and ideas to a supportive crowd.” (From the server’s welcome page) and has many many aspects such as community led events, a supportive crowd, et cetera. If you'd like to join, here's the main invite to the server! (Just a note though, there's an application for new members to check if everything's safe!) (And don’t worry I contacted Stuffd beforehand to see if this was fine!)
LazyPunk (Newgrounds) is an artist I’ve recently been getting into and think they are "niche" enough to guarantee a spotlight on. Personally speaking, I really like their style, it uses thick defining outlines but with these unique colors and small intricate details, it makes these art pieces appealing. Like think 2000s cartoon aesthetic but darker? In a way their visuals are like that as well.
It’s very well made, and even though I personally don’t have too much to add since I’ve never met them, they seem nice, them having a defined style and unique way to show such always piques my interest.
Thanks for coming to my update yet again, sorry that it was kinda lame. Remember, I was battling a REALLY bad illness so like... at least gives me an excuse on why I haven't been showing so much.
Besides, I've been trying to help my friends and family most of the time, May has just always been the month where I'm busiest and most burnt out. I guess if you're seeking words of encouragement... a month is only a small sliver of your overall life, but so much can be done within it. It's human to feel like stuff's been going so slow, that just means that life is taking a break. Besides, next month means it'll be summertime! Stuff is probably gonna brighten up soon! (Even if I'm not a fan of summer anyways)
Just remember... always be yourself, no matter what highs or lows happen, and remember that you are always loved and appreciated even if it doesn't feel like it!
Your pal, John.
