Behind The Nihon Review

…And the extremely effective.

Recently I’ve taken to watching video reviews from The Angry Video Game Nerd. I find his work hilarious… he has that college internet style of humour that online satirists like Maddox from The Best Page In The Universe have, except the “satire” itself has been replaced with extreme crassness delivered with highly colourful (and often creative) language. As a reviewer, he’s kinda going for easy targets by searching for the absolute worst in video game history (though I don’t think any of the titles he’s examined have received any less than they deserve), but as an entertainer, I think he’s great. He’s got legions of fans and he’s been imitated many times, but no one’s come close to reproducing the same responses or executed the over-the-top deconstructions of really bad video games as well. So there’s gotta be something that he does better than most. And I think a big part of that is due to his wide range of facial expressions.

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I had the full intention of signing up for Crunchyroll membership this season, but baulked when I realized they only had two shows I was interested in. However, those two shows are arguably the best of the season so far, and with the US dollar where it is, there’s probably no better time for me to sign up than now. The last season was horrendous, so I guess the question is, will this season be better. With my momentary policy (borne out of practicality) of trying my damndest to avoid crap, I’m not really sure I’m qualified to answer that question, but I have been mildly pleased by what I have picked up. We don’t have any out-and-out gems this season, but this isn’t usually the time of year for outstanding anime. What we do have, at least on my “following” list, is a number of quaint, enjoyable anime that have shown glimpses that are worth getting excited about.

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Continuing on from the last post. (Source of above image.)

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The fullsize image (which I found on Danbooru) is quite amazing, but I unfortunately can't track a source...

It’s been a little over a year since I first got a Wii, so I guess this is about as good a time as any to look back at the games I’ve played in that time. And I have actually played quite a few. Wii is probably the console that fits me best, since I don’t consider myself a “hardcore” gamer (in fact, this whole ridiculous dichotomy between “hardcore” and “casual” gaming is best summed up with this comment, IMO), and I’ve grown up with major Nintendo franchises like Mario, Zelda and Metroid, so my attachment to them is completely unabashed. If I were a “hardcore” gamer (or a true America patriot), I’d probably get a PS3 after it, from all accounts, had an very good year just now, but I don’t have enough time and the Wii keeps me sated as far as games are concerned. Anyway, in the next two posts I’ll be mini-reviewing all the games I’ve played on the Wii this year and then posting some general thoughts on the console.

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We’re currently in the throes of recruiting, but this time round we’re doing something different: a staff contest. The amount of people we take will depend on the number of entries we get, but at this stage, we’re looking to top up our existing staff list with two or so new reviewers. If you’ve ever thought about joining The Nihon Review, now is the time to do so, as we’ll most probably be closing applications temporarily afterwards.

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