I Just Went Full Geek… And I’m Glad I Did

It’s now been just over two weeks since I last posted something and it seems that my idea to try and update weekly has gone straight out the window and into a vacant lot filled with a swarm of angry time-keeping wasps who’s idea of punishment for daring to break punctuality is t- what was I talking about again? I guess my excuse for not updating is not really having anything really worth talking about in any particular detail (As outlined in my previous post). So this update seems to be more the exception than the rule, because shock-horror! I have something to talk about!

I should start by mentioning that for the last week, I have been living in a hotel close to the CBD while the floors at my house were being sanded and polished and all that stuff we do to get floors looking as good as they can look. I don’t know if it was proximity to both Toowong and The CBD (and therefore proximity to some great comic/manga/games stores) that triggered this, but for the last week I’ve felt exceptionally geeky… In a good way. Now in the past, particularly during my years in high-school, it seemed that to embrace anything geeky was social suicide. And while this didn’t phase me much when it came to my love for all things computers and video games – the latter of which really didn’t hold much social stigma in the later years – I often found myself still shunning a great deal of things, Manga/Anime being one of those until I ended up in a relationship with a big fan of the medium. Among the shunned were any sort of fantasy media, including fantasy RPG’s such as the ever ubiquitous Dungeons & Dragons.

As university started, I came to a realisation that I’m sure is shared by many: It really doesn’t matter what you do as long as it’s something you like doing. In the words of the great Corey Taylor, who sings for Slipknot and listens to the likes of Michael Jackson and Justin Timberlake: “Dig what you dig, don’t take any man’s madness over that”. So I decided to change, to branch out and embrace what I had previously shunned, and had a lot of fun doing it. I’d been introduced to a whole new world, I played card games like Citadels and Magic: The Gathering, I jumped further into the World of Warcraft (Admittedly I dabbled in it during high school), I played more RPG’s and I started not only attending, but loving conventions such as Supanova.

This leads me to the events of last Friday afternoon, a day quite long in the planning where myself and a group of friends sat down at a table, character sheets in hand, 20 sided die at the ready, and had our introduction to the world of D&D. We spent the first two hours generating our characters. Now this may seem like an ungodly amount of time to spend on something that isn’t even part of the gameplay, but since none of us really knew about any of the races, classes or abilities and because we only had one set of books on the topic, it’s easy to see how it would take that long. It was an interesting two hours though, while myself and another were contemplating the fine points of our characters’ abilities (which would apparently allow my Half-Elf “Mr. Snrub” to throw his Gnome by the name of “Glomp”) another friend was sitting attempting to draw her character, a Dragonborn named “Xala”. Joining that trio was a fourth, a “Chaotic Good”-aligned Tiefling named “Batius Manii”. I’ll admit that I’m quite ashamed with how long it took a number of us to realise that the Tiefling was actually based on Batman. The last member of the party was our healer a Shaman Shifter named “Ida” (My sister was watching Desperate Housewives at the time, so the name was taken from that).

After generating our characters (who in the grand scheme of things had never met), we found ourselves together in the office of the Mayor of Fallcrest who informed us of a task that he required us for. Apparently some men he sent to survey a mine in the area were overdue in returning and he wanted to send us to find out what was going on. We made for the mine and quickly discovered that its entrance was surrounded by minions. After the ensuing battle (during which Xala was both set on fire AND covered in glue), we entered the mine. We found ourselves in some caverns with yet more minions along with some higher level foes. Rather than let the battle drag on, Glomp decided to scare the enemy away by mimicking the noise of none other than Orcus, the Demon Prince and Lord of The Undead himself! In doing this, he also risked scaring off the rest of our characters because even though he tried to communicate his plan to us, ultimately he failed to do so. As luck would have it though, our party was a wily bunch who saw through the deception. So, with all the enemies either dead on the ground or fleeing out the door, we set to looting the corpses. Glomp instantly went for the high value corpse and managed to loot (among other trinkets) a “Bone Mask”. Batius Manii then tried to steal the Bone Mask from Glomp and failed miserably.

The Orcus, Demon Prince and Lord of The Undead

Unfortunately that is where the adventure had to be put on hold. Looking at the time it was now well after 5pm, and four and a half hours had past since we began our adventure into the world of D&D. We would have kept going for sure, but unfortunately many of us had other places to be. It really was a fun afternoon, and while I’m still quite lost in the plethora of information needed to truly understand D&D, I’m very much looking forward to continuing the adventures of Xala, Glomp, Batius Manii, Ida and Mr. Snrub. Who knows, maybe I’ll make a bit of a blog “series” out of it.

A Somewhat Uninteresting Week

So here we are again, it’s been a week since my last and (somewhat humorously) first post. In keeping with the “blogging standards” of the internet, I guess that means it’s time for post number two. So, here I am. As I write this draft the time is, let’s see…. 3 am… hmm… Ok screw this, I’m going to bed first, I’ll be back to continue at a reasonable hour.

* * *

And I’m back. It’s now after midday and I find myself almost at a loss of something to say. I know, I know, it’s only my second post and I’ve already run dry? Well truth be told my first post (the glowing recommendation of Katawa Shoujo) concerned something that had taken up a vast majority of my time in the days prior to writing. And giving it recognition was also something that I felt quite obliged and passionately about. But now, the last week of my life has been filled with almost nothing that has compelled me to write about it as much as Katawa Shoujo did. So where does that leave me? It seems that the best option in this case is to provide a brief reflection of the last week. A “filler” post, if you will. Now I can already picture the pained expressions of other anime fans after reading that last sentence, but don’t worry, you can skip this post. There won’t be any future plot points mixed up in the boring garbage to follow, because I’m not a mean person (unlike those bastards who write Naruto filler).

So what have I been up to? Not a whole lot actually, about the most exciting thing as of writing this in the last week it that I’ve managed to watch two complete anime series’ of a genre I’ve never really watched before, the infamous “Slice Of Life” anime. Many people may know that Lucky Star fits into this category and while I’m currently watching (and enjoying) it, I have to say that my preference is for an older anime by the name of… Azumanga Daioh. My close friends have already heard my ravings about this particular show, but to put it simply, It has extremely likeable characters with great situations of interaction between them. Some of the characters include the hyperactive Tomo, the hilariously slow-minded Osaka and my personal favorite, Sakaki, whose relationship with cats is one of the best parts of the entire series. Seriously, if you’ve never seen it, watch it! if you have seen it, watch it again! I know I will.

Quite hypnotizing

Besides that the most exciting thing I did this week would have to be doing my first proper photoshoot with the band (and the first one since about 4 lineup changes ago). Rather than just do the typical metal band “look-angry-at-the-camera-with-arms-crossed” photo, we decided to spice it up a little by change the location. This photoshoot took place in a playground (two of them actually) which created a nice contrast between our guitarists angry expression… and the rocking wombat he was sitting on.

Beyond that, I was out in the city last night, trying my hand at karaoke for the first time with friends, but I won’t say much more of that before I give away the fact that I’m finishing this blog a day after I started it… -oh shit.

A Novel Experience… Visual Novel That Is

Recently I had been talking to a friend about a game they had been told to play, I decided to give it a go to see what the fuss was all about. Of course, I wasn’t expecting much but to my amazement I left the experience feeling emotionally moved, this game is a true diamond in the rough. Then again, maybe “game” isn’t the right word.

What I’m talking about is Katawa Shoujo, a free visual novel with elements of the Japanese eroge/dating-sim genre. True to it’s genre, Katawa Shoujo is more of a book than a game. There aren’t many opportunities for choice and the rare times that a choice is afforded it is often minimalistic, natural and sometimes seemingly irrelevant (Do I exercise or don’t I?). This is the reason I hesitate to call it a game. However, I have so much praise to give to this gem that I’m going to review it in a category of it’s own, free from the trappings of game reviews.

First… Some History

For those who have no idea about what Katawa Shoujo is, it is a visual novel taking place in a school for disabled kids, it inspired by a sketch posted on the image board 4Chan. The sketch, featuring character designs of each of the 5 main female characters, spawned lots of discussion, and ultimately a group of developers from 4Chan and other internet communities were put together to work on bringing the project to light. Now at this point, I know that those familiar with 4Chan may be thinking something along the lines of: “So this is a game, where you date disabled girls, originating from 4Chan… ummm, really?”. At this point let me interject. While it has origins on 4Chan, the game was extensively developed separate from the community. The writing itself shows an amazing amount of tact and sensitivity when dealing with the risque topic. The level of “fetishization” expected from the 4Chan community is completely non-existent. What remains is a sensitive, heart-warming, and at times heart-wrenching story.

The Story

To elaborate on the story, the main “player” character is a high school student named Hisao Nakai. The game opens with him meeting the girl he likes after receiving a note from her. Not long into their meeting he discovers that her intention is to ask him out, at this point Hisao’s heart starts beating erratically and he suffers a heart attack. In hospital he is told that he is suffering from a condition known as arrhythmia and he is advised to transfer to Yamaku High School, a school designed to cater for disabled student with a 24 hour nursing staff, whilst also preparing them for the real world. Hisao is shocked by this revelation, but as his friends start visiting him in hospital less and less, and as the girl he once liked eventually stops visiting, he begins to welcome the idea of a fresh start. He immediately begins to make some new friends among the female members of the school. From there the plot can go in any one of six directions, one for each of the main female characters and one for when you fail to gain the interest of any of them.

The Cast

The main cast of Katawa Shoujo. From left to right: Lilly, Hanako, Rin, Emi, Misha and Shizune

The main female cast of Katawa Shoujo is phenomenal. Each one is remarkably unique and all loveable in their own way. Perhaps the most remarkable and admirable part of the writing is that each of the girls (maybe with the exception of Hanako) has learned to cope and adapt their lives to make the most of their disabilities. There’s Emi, a vibrant girl with a happy-go-lucky attitude who despite losing her legs in a car accident is one of the fastest runners on the school track team. Rin, a somewhat “spacey” girl who lost her arms due to a birth defect yet is still able to live fairly independently and is one of the best painters in the school. Rin and Emi have been friends since arriving at the school, where the housing manager put them in adjacent dorms thinking that they could “complement each other”. Lilly, blind since birth, is well-mannered, formal and amazingly independent. Hanako, a beyond-shy girl who suffered burns to half of her body in a house fire, is inseparable from Lilly. Last is Shizune, deaf and mute, she’s rarely seen without Misha her interpreter around (I’m actually unsure what Misha’s disability is, all I can think of is ADHD).

My Experience

On my first playthrough of Katawa Shoujo, I wasn’t expecting much, surprisingly though the story was quick to captivate. I knew that it was technically a dating sim, and was originally trying to get together with Hanako. Despite that I tried to answer all the choices in a natural way, that reflected the choices I’d make in real life. To my surprise I found that by the time Act 2 came around, I was heading down the path of Emi’s story. At first I was a little disappointed, after all, I had my heart set on Hanako, but before I even got to Act 3, that feeling was behind me. I quickly found myself falling for this character, she really was the one that was right for me. It’s feels strange to be talking this way about a fictional character, but that’s just a testament to how powerful the writing is. I won’t talk further about the story as it’s something that really needs to be experienced first hand. But by the end, I found myself more moved and closer to tears than I’ve been from any form of media since the endings of Code Geass and Armageddon. It got me to the point where I was hesitant about whether to play through a second time on one of the other stories, because as silly as it sounds, it felt like I would be cheating poor Emi. To top it off, I’m not alone in this. 4Chan’s /v/ board was filled with threads detailing the stories of the usual douchebag anonymous internet commenter who has played through and come out the other side as a changed, emotional wreck.

So There You Have It

Seriously, Katawa Shoujo has been the single best game I’ve played this year. It’s powerful writing, sincere handling of subject matter, not to mention it’s astounding level of polish make it a game that I would recommend that everyone play. Who knows, it may even help bring about world peace. My only complaint is that it had to end.

For those who are interested, Katawa Shoujo can be downloaded for free here.