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Rey and Shinn kind of being the main opposing/rival characters in GSD definitely holds it back for me. I quite enjoyed this Special Edition for the most part though but yeah, 7/10 feels right since I'm not sure how much I'll think of these characters again. I think that's how I view SEED in retrospect. I don't have anything negative to say, but it's not real standout either. Do you recall what was different between GSD TV and these movies?

One random thing I liked was how Kira and Lacus were pretty much an official couple in GSD. Kind of rare to see that in Gundam, so it was nice for a change. Durandal was pretty solid like I've heard. There's definitely some solid ideas here. Feels like everytime it wanted to pull from Zeta again though, it just does that stuff worse haha (Stella/Cyber Newtype stuff).

Maybe the new movie puts a nice bow on this series.

Yeah not surprised, since you don't rewatch stuff much. And then I did laugh seeing your scores on Gundam 00. Feel like I can't blame you and others there, but I'm feeling optimistic about it again. I wonder if all the Middle East/Earth drama is going to be real boring though, that's maybe my only hesitancy. Just like... we get it, that was in everything in late 2000's media.

Watching the GSD SE movies was a surprise in this way, I forgot how technologically advanced the SEED universe was. Pretty cool. I finally jumped on this since torrents were out of the new HD remasters and they do look excellent. I'm just weirdly excited about the new SEED movie, but didn't want to skip all of GSD despite its reputation haha. I think it'll be decent fun watching it this way.

Also grabbed the Turn A movies, since I'm not confident I'd love watching that one all the way again. And then I saw AGE has some movies, supposedly based off one of the more popular arcs. Maybe that'll be a decent way to get a bite sized experience of that one. All I ever hear about with AGE is "missed potential". The time leap concept sounds cool. But I guess it's all kind of half baked.

I think in Votoms' case it helped that Takahashi got to steer most of it. That series always does seem ripe with more potential though. But I'd rather it retain its legacy than be milked or turned into crap. lol

We both had Code Geass R2 as a 4/10... but I bumped it up to a 9 after this rewatch went so well lol. You ever think of giving it another shot? There's still a handful of things about it I don't like compared to S1, but the highs outweighed the nitpicks and I had pure fun with it. The Chinese arc (3-4 episodes) with Xing was the only real low point of the whole series to me. I liked Lelouch more than I expected again. All in all, I can see how weekly watching was awful for this one and I must have just bought into all the memes and hate back then. lol

I'm optimistic about rewatching Gundam 00 next sometime soon. But I have a hunch Code Geass has all Gundam TV of the last decade or two beat.

I didn't care for Resurrection movie much. But I'll maybe give the new movies a shot. I was telling Templar, I'd probably be more okay with new Code Geass stuff if it were a total reboot or alternate universe, like Gundam does. I don't need these characters dragged through more shenanigans, so an all new story/cast would be more ideal to me. Which kind of seems to be what they're doing. But Resurrection sets things up so some legacy characters might still be around, so who knows...

Guess I'm not surprised. Looks like a wild ecchi show.

Actually yeah, thinking a 6 is more appropriate for Metallic Rouge. lol, since Bravern has been a little more fun but isn't amazing, so a 7 for that one is worthy in comparison.

Yeah skimming the next lineup of seasonal shows nothing is really jumping out at me. I'll be excited once Kingdom S5 is done airing though and probably binge that really fast. I'm glad Templar recommended me that one several times and I finally got through it all last year. The real Suikoden of anime!

Mahou Shoujo ni Akogarete worth seeing in the end? lol

Still thinking a 7 for Bravern and Metallic Rouge.

Yeah I'll have to consider maybe there's some first time buyer perks out there. Sounds like HOA's are best to avoid? If they can be avoided haha. And yes, it's a nightmare for me when I'm cruising Zillow or whatever and take a peak at a homes history, 10-20 years ago. The prices have pretty much literally doubled and tripled. Doesn't seem like this is ever changing in our lifetimes going forward with how broken the economy is, so I better get in sooner than later. But also not something to rush. It's stressful to think about and I know I'm in for real stress when I'm ready to get real serious and take action on all this. lol

Yeah, one of my coworkers got one recently for 300k and interest rates still in the 6% range somewhere. Not sure what kind of loan and down payment situation he had but yeah. I know he went through some agent group though and put down $1-3k immediately for some kind of method to show how serious he was about it. 3B, 2bath, basement, garage, I think. Doesn't seem terrible but yeah, not clue what his mortgage and all that is yet haha... I think 300k is the range I'm going to try and stick to. Maybe can move that down if I move further out or away from school zones. Who knows. Don't want to overthink the Zillow window shopping yet.

I'm excited for the Switch 2 to be PS4 levels at least, hah. Can't wait to see what Monolith Soft cooks up with some better hardware. Now my gaming PC is powerful and I do favor good performance thesedays. But I'd say we've kind of plateaud with graphics. Devs need to do more than that to strike gold now sometimes. So Nintendo's hesitancy to jump on more expensive tech seems to weirder be paying off for them. The Switch is a bottleneck for sure though, any 3rd party game I'd buy on a PS4/PC instantly instead haha. I'm like you, I don't know if I've ever used my Switch in portable mode.

Nice, looks like Shinobi Non Grata was on my wishlist.

I'm hoping interest rates keep falling by next year. Things are getting better (in comparison to the 8% high recently) but yeah, hope I can wait it off more and things keep improving.

Yeah not sure I'll do much handheld gaming after all this stuff I got on my 3DS is done. Grabbed mostly a bunch of RPG's before the eShop closed. I do have a cool Samus XL and got a grip for it, so it's comfy that way. But I'll always prefer the big screen. I've been reading Star Wars books a lot lately too which puts me in same position, so I have to be extra mindful to stretch and move around lately haha.

Random but I know you like old CV, I heard some good things about this one slipping through some radars:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuTGQjHtwmQ

I'm hoping to get a house next year or sooner than later. I'm nearing 10 years of apartments and most of that spent living under some loud couples and stuff. I bet I've ranted about it before lol. But yeah things are looking good job wise and making this possible. At least it feels like for the first time in ages I'm able to save more this year. Finally got a second CC too to try and bump my credit up to Excellent. So yeah I want to really pick and choose my shots with games. I could keep myself busy with what I have already for years I'm sure. lol, but there will be some exceptions...

I actually do have the 3DS version of DQ7. I hear it can shave off like 30 hours from the original yet it's still huge. Yeah I tend to hear it's kind of a "for the fans only" kind of installment. I don't expect it to be the best but I bet I'll dig it as a big DQ fan now. The 3DS version kind of has a N64 vibe to the looks that I dig. I beat DQ11 early last year, it was so dang long but I loved it. I'd say my favorites are DQ3 (SNES), DQ4 (DS), DQ8, and DQ11.

The more SMT's I play the more I wish some cool anime existed like them. It's such a cool take on demons crossing over to the real world and vice versa. Dark urban environments, SMT4 was even kind of cyberpunk, SMT3 post apocalyptic and horror, etc. You could say it's almost like the darker version of DQ with the monsters and stuff. I like when they lean into the idea that not all demons are truly evil or bad and it can often be the humans that are worse, things like that. The Demon Slayer anime was kind of like that. I'd say SMT4 was better though story wise haha. Since SMT3 got a remaster and is available on several stuff, maybe that's one you could consider checking out someday if there's ever any interest.

Ahhh yes, haven't played Under Night In-Birth at all but I had a fighting game friend who was really big on the first one or something. Does look cool. I'm bumming I haven't played Tekken 8 myself. There's a slew of games coming out this year I'm excited for that I could get on PC, but I think this will be a big year of saving money for me. I'm definitely getting the Elden Ring DLC though. For $40 and knowing their excellent DLC track record, I bet in ER's case this DLC will be the size of a standalone Dark Souls game. lol, I'm also really excited for Eiyuden Chronicle, so I might not wait on that one. Very sad the creator passed away before it or the Suikoden remasters could release... but I'm glad it sounds mostly finished and he saw how much it meant to the fans that he was helming a new game.

I may get to Dragon Quest 7 this year, the last big mainline one I need to play. But I'll see. I kind of like making this a big SMT year for me too. I'm a handful of hours into Strange Journey now. It's not bad but definitely not as good as SMT4, that one blew me away.

Realistically I own enough games to keep me busy for years if I couldn't buy any for awhile haha. I was kind of thinking of maybe playing Yakuza 5 or FF Stranger in Paradise soon as well, my way to kind of cope in not having FF7 Rebirth for now.

Yeah, it is a bit tough to keep up with the current stuff. Most of it is mediocre usually too. You may get like 1-2 shows a season that are worthwhile.

I basically agree with all you said.

If you're itching for mecha though, Eureka 7 may scratch that itch.

Yeah I'll be curious what you make of Metallic Rouge when you get further in it. Perhaps it's just me overstating Bones in 2024 here. In the 2000's when mecha was kind of on the decline they seemed like the one studio still putting some out and maybe they still peaked out the gate for me with Rahxephon haha. It's a weird series and one I'll need to give yet another rewatch but I think I'll always dig it. Eureka Seven was pretty good and then Xam'd was decent. I'll admit I fell off there, I wasn't too big on their aesthetic, which felt like something Tomino maybe liked since G-Reco had a similar art style. So I don't know how popular Bones is all these years later. It was kind of like a "Hey let me check up on them, it's been awhile" moment for me. But yeah... can't say this one is doing much for me main story wise. So I'm almost grateful to finally see it's just 13 episodes, lol. Almost near the finish line.

Playing anything good lately? I beat Shin Megami Tensei IV and absolutely loved it. I'm probably skipping the PS5 so I'm in a painful phase now waiting for FF7 Rebirth to hit PC. I'll check out FF16 too if it comes as well. Also excited for Stellar Blade. But yeah I just can't justify $600 for ~2 exclusives I'm interested in, also knowing FF7 Rebirth will come to PC eventually like Remake. 9th gen is pretty weird, I don't regret focusing on PC these last few years.

RIP Toriyama... this one cuts me deep. Was just reading how he was an influenced on what Miyamoto wanted Mario to look and move like in SMB3. His influence probably ripples throughout the entirety of 80-90's Japanese entertainment and the world.

Just to chime in a little on your latest comment on Echelon's profile.

I'm going to have to agree that Bone's reputation as a studio is over praised like Studio Trigger. Then again, it's hard to find a studio that's made bangers across the board. I think it comes down to the staff and source material vs. the production studio at the end of the day.

I will say from Bones, two great ones they adapted were:

Psalms of Planets: Eureka Seven
https://myanimelist.net/anime/237/Koukyoushihen_Eureka_Seven?q=eureka&cat=anime

Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood
https://myanimelist.net/anime/5114/Fullmetal_Alchemist__Brotherhood?q=fullmetal%20alchemist&cat=anime

It's probably works like these that give Bones a decent reputation. My Hero Academia included (It's a so-so anime imho). But overall, the studio is a mixed bag pivoting more towards the mediocre.

You and Mahou Shoujo ni Akogarete is a funny sight to see. I've seen some clips and grabbed a few episodes. Meant to keep up with it this season. Worthwhile fun? lol

Bravern's been a funny surprise. I don't know if I'll rate it higher than a 7, but it's been really chill laid back fun to me playing on all the mecha tropes.

Metallic Rouge on the other hand... saw you just started that one. So I don't want to say much for now but it's probably obvious I'm not liking it starting off a comment like this haha. I just wonder if I would have liked it more watching at my own pace instead of weekly. I saw it has some Rahxephon staff attached and was interested in a new original anime from Bones, haven't tuned into them in years. But yeah... not sure about this one.