Anime

I watched and completed Neon Genesis Evangelion and Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion. (I’m writing up this just after finishing The End of Evangelion, so just immediate thoughts now and possibly a more fleshed out analysis later).

Blorp

Stalin showed Berserk (2016) which rounded off the Berserk animated shows. Personally it was fine with a decent artstyle but mixed animation. I am curious to see how the story continues in the Manga.

Following that was Madoka Magica. A magical girl series that does not want to be a magical girl series. It was confusing but good though I would need to re-watch to understand whats properly going on. Good soundtrack as well.

Completed Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number this week.Its very intensive, frustrating and rewarding all at the same time. But: why can enemies kill you off screen when you can’t see and respond to them!!! Good sound design and music, the sudden stop of the level music once its complete and a change of track is a good feature. I guess it grounds you into realising what you have done to complete the level; sure its a video game and the violence is fictional but its almost as if what you’ve done is impacting the story progression.

I don’t quite understand the story but its seemed interesting and has some depth that’s probably worth delving into when I go through again on Hard mode.

I also went back to the Splatoon series this weekend. Was Splatoon 1’s 11th anniversary so I hopped into the Pretendo servers for a bit. Seems to be a reasonable amount still playing and possibly new players judging from the player levels. Though it could be long-term players trying a new save instead of porting their old one over, though others have (including me). I had my Splatoon 3 muscle memory after over a year after not playing, was nice to see that my skill level didn’t drop. Though the issue of being on a losing streak when playing with a less aggressive gear-set is still there. Will be good to just hop in Splatoon 3 every now and then for some intensive matches and it was also nice to re-remember all the lore that honestly got me fascinated with the series. Though looking back into it raises some questions into how the English localisation severely differs and portrays some of the world differently, some of it worryingly.

Some practice face sketches plus trying out an old style I did ages ago. Made some Anatomy Sketches ages ago that involved only using straight lines for the body, ended up liking the style back then and made a full A4 coloured pencil piece.

Probably need to practice more, liked the brush pen I used. Afterwards its trying colour.

Reading through the manga I definitely see your concerns. There is a very reactionary tone that I didn’t see as much in the film or in Stand Alone Complex, though not to ignore the reactionary issues in those medias.

That sketch looks good. I think the way the graphite sits on the bumps and grooves of the textured paper gives the look.

I don’t know about using textured paper for pencil sketches or pieces. I’ve generally used smooth paper so could be personal preference.

I thought that might be that why the series was shorter, but when I finished the show it didn’t really feel like there could be more to it other than possible arcs developing the other characters. I think the show was fine as it was pacing wise, I don’t think there could be another 13 episodes without it ending up as filler. The show feels that its come to the ending arc once Otonoshi figured out who he was and delaying that would have conflicted with exploring other characters.

I do agree the show didn’t age that well. Some of the comedy and comments stick out badly now but the general premise of the show is still worth seeing now.

I did not know that Jun Maeda made Charlotte as well, I added that show to my watchlist ages ago but haven’t seen it.

July 7th?!

Better carry on reading through the manga then.

Thanks!!

They are definitely pressure sensitive and learning to use a brush tip instead of a normal tip is a bit difficult. I’m much more used to pencils.

Tested out the brushed pens I got by doing this piece from a scene from Evangelion. They feel weird to use honestly. I going to have to try them out more, likely on smaller sketches.

A very silly drawing based on ‘This is me in paradise’ by Akira Toriyama.

Finally actually drew something for this mega.

Been playing the PS2 Berserk Game, full title: Berserk Millennium Falcon Arc: Chapter of the Holy Demon War. There is an English fan translation for the game as it was only released in Japan, apparently done by an Italian Team.

I am playing via an emulator with a Xbox One Controller. As you Do.

Anyway its pretty fun with good voice acting and cut-scenes though the game is a bit clunky with its fighting mechanics. But this might be due to me not playing fighting games before and spamming the act button too much.

Manga

I got distracted from Dorohedoro and haven’t progressed from the 3rd book. Hopefully this month I can get through more.

I started reading the Ghost in the Shell Manga and its very silly but good. When there are serious scenes its honestly has more of an impact, probably because I can focus on the page and analyse whats happening. I may try to read a chapter alongside a book of Dorohedoro this month.

Anime

I watched and completed Angel Beats along with its special episodes. Its an anime I tried watching many years ago but couldn’t complete. I’m glad I finally have as it was worth finishing. It was a very bittersweet ending but the following OVAs were very silly so it didn’t end up as sad.

The Soundtrack is very, very good and I found my old playlist that I downloaded. Still a good listen to, though some of the songs in the playlist I didn’t hear in the show. I remember some rumour that the show was originally supposed to be 26 episodes but cut down to 13 against the interests of the director or writer. Looking again I have no idea where I saw that as most information says it was always written to be 13 episodes.

Blorps

Stalin has continued to show the Berserk shows and I’m very much enjoying the universe. The Memorial Season of the original 1997 series was a bit too fast paced for me mainly as it skipped a few of the early episodes of that original series. Being a CGI anime the animation was serviceable but worse that the original. But the series did tie up its ending and sets up for the following arc, unlike the original.

Now we are continuing with the 2016 Season that follows on from the Golden Age Arc previously shown. The animation is similar quality to the Memorial Season. Guts in this series feels extremely different to all the other characters in this show, the only way I can describe it is that the rest of the cast are from a 2010s anime while Guts is still from 1997.

Garg showed Blue Submarine No 6 a 4 part OVA. It was an decent watch with a combination of CGI and 2d animation but the CGI is really dated.

Others

An animation not an anime, I watch the Soviet Versions of Alice in Wonderland and Alice through the Looking Glass. They were a really good watch with very smooth animation and an amazing art style. Also a good soundtrack in both.

I’ve carried on trying to survive in Project Zomboid. I still haven’t made it past 2 days yet. One memorable moment was entering a school with 1 character, opening a door into zombies and dying immediately. Then spawning in with a new character pretty close to the school, exploring the school and attracting a massive horde inside before having to run away. Still, pretty fun.

Personally I think that some of Vladimir Serov’s best works are his landscape and scenery paintings. ‘Blue Mountains’ from 1966 is my favorite; they all give a feeling of sitting down, relaxing and admiring the world around you.

@Grebgreb@hexbear.net You wanted a ping when I posted.

Did a follow up sketch but using a reference and adding colour this time. Used Brush pens for the first time. This took forever to actually complete and I kinda messed up the boots but the chainmail turned out fine. Hopefully the next sketch or piece doesn’t take as long.

Didn’t really play much last week but managed to unlock all the race types in Forza Motorsport 2 including the 1 hour long endurance races. I still have most of the career mode to complete but with each race type you have events accessible for each vehicle class. You are able to work through events with your starter vehicle while using unlocks to do events that those cars are eligible for. It isn’t really a linear career mode which makes it much easier to pick up after a break.

I tried out Project Zomboid this week. Its very difficult and stealth focused but was enjoyable. Hopefully I can make it past 2 days with a character and start surviving at least for a week or so.

Made a sketch from memory of my trousers and boots I wear most of the time.

I haven’t drawn figures in a long time so its very wonky but its something. May try a combination of drawings pens and brush pens in the future.