Dragon Age Anime?

It seems that EA and Bioware has a Dragon Age anime in the works. Though it is obviously not a traditional anime but a CGI one using the animation style and art influence of the recent Appleseed movies. Doesn't look too bad. Some of the animation and art looks different. The design doesn't really feel "Dragon Age" to me. But it looks to be a decent movie for a pretty decent game series.

ほら！新しいベルセルクのアニメ！！！ Behold! A new Berserk Anime!

興奮されたぜ！

Was everything from 1997-2000 cooler?

Don't get me wrong. I'm a 80s kid. I have played all the games since way back when and watched anime from the 70s and beyond. But seriously it just feels to me that 1997 was a sweet spot in gaming, anime, manga ect.
Game examples: FFVII, FFVIII,FFIX FFX,
Suikoden II
Chrono Cross
Xenogears
Legend of Mana
Panzer Dragoon Saga
Arc the Lad II and III
Dew Prism (Threads of fate)
Dragon Quest VII
Anime:
Trigun
Cowboy Bebop
Outlaw Star
Orphen
Gundam Wing
Berserk
Thats just to name of a few of my favorite ones.
Its sad. It seems like during that small window of three to four years we were at an all time high. A peak of creative juices from Japan. Now it feels that Japan might be experiencing the same thing the US is. Where in the U.S everyone keeps remaking 80s and 90s movies because no one either has the budget, wants to take the risk, or has the creative mindset to make something new, original and breath taking. I really wish we could change that. I'm into retro gaming. But retro-ing everything isn't what I'm all about. I love the old stuff. the only reason I revel in the old is because only a bit of the new has touched me. Sadly, the bit of the new that hits that sweet spot is trying hard to emulate the old...but not always in an original way. That is why I like to give new things a fair try. Sure Catherine wasn't a typical Shinmegaten game but it was amazing for what it was. Final Fantasy XIII gets a lot of crap from FF fans, but despite the lack of towns and the linearity of it all it was still original and thinking forward, and I like that.

Vow to become the True GURU!

(Picture is an unrelated GameShark-like set filled with 2500 game saves from PSone games written in Cyrillic (most likely Russian but I can't tell).)

Sometimes as a gamer I get overwhelmed with too many games and not enough time to play them. It is possible that I may have gamer OCD which might attribute to the fact that I can’t STOP BUYING GAMES! Sometimes this is depressing, especially when I look back at the many games I have played half way through or to nearly the end but haven’t beaten. Many of the games I play are heavy story based games and are comparable to novels. It's like having thousands of whole novel series that you have started but not finished, but you keep buying more and more books until you're swamped and don't even have time to start your new ones, much less finish your old ones.

For a gamer like me who is the self (and follower) proclaimed Otaku Guru, with immense knowledge on Japanese gaming, anime and comics, it’s a crying shame to look at my game collection and see that I haven’t even beaten classics like Legend of Dragoon.

I know there are many of you out there who feel the same. So this message is to you too.

Lets stop just buying new games and start beating our old games. I often tell myself that I keep my gaming collection around for the memories of my childhood and for each game’s special worth to me. Sometimes it's just the nostalgic feeling that pulls me in.

Well when it boils down to it if I want to experience this nostalgia the best, I should quit pining over these games and break down and beat them. This applies to anime too as there are whole series that I have bought (and or *cough * downloaded *cough*) but have not finished, nor have I finished their predecessors.

That is my vow this year. As the Guru of Otaku, I vow not to reach Otaku Nirvana until I have cleared my karmic slate of old games and anime. Sort of like an Otak-sattva (a play on the word "Bodhisattva", I’m trying to smile while making a semi blasphemous statement.). I am going to follow the Otaku Dharma until I can claim to be your True GURU!

Otaku Guru: Zaciroth

Uncharted 2 is .....Outlaw Star!

Yeah, I'm sure a lot of you gamers out there who have played the game Uncharted 2 and enjoyed it have also heard the whole "Uncharted 2 ripped off Firefly" claim. We'll there is quite a bit of backing to it, and if you aren't familiar with this rant from various brown coats I suggest you watch HAWP's take on it.

However, I'm here to bring you a more in depth Otaku Guru take on it. Uncharted 2 is Outlaw Star! In case you haven't watched or heard of Outlaw Star it was an anime made by Bandai's Sunrise division who were responsible for awesome shows like, every series of Gundam, Cowboy Bebop, Witch Hunter Robin and Esclaflowne. Outlaw Star is a much different breed than the others. To speak in bias it's one of my favorite science fiction anime with beautiful artwork and soundtrack as well as a dark and gritty universe, but that all is for you to figure out when you watch it. My statement here is that if Uncharted 2 is Firefly then its only because Firefly is Outlaw Star.

My reasoning are, that Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds is Gene Starwind. Both are smart ass captains who drive an old cruiser/cargo ship with a reluctant rag tag crew many of which are outlaws. Okay, so maybe that has been done elsewhere also before either of these stories, but hear me out. Both Gene and Mal get shot in the abdomen, both take odd jobs and bounty hunting jobs while running from the government and searching for treasure.

However the primary reason is RIVER! Who is MELFINA!

Both are girls who were constructed/brainwashed. Both have secret powers, memories that they themselves don't understand and are being hunted down by their enemies for the knowledge they possess which might be the key to everything. But the worst rip off is the fact that they were both found in a cryogenics sealed suitcase.

Here is River from Firefly.

Now here is the original: Melfina from Outlaw Star

There are many many more similarities. However, I don't want to steal someone's thunder so I suggest you read Wikipedia member Staxringold's article if you find yourself as intrigued as I did. He does a wonderful job.

Also I implore anyone with a bit of free time and cash to check out Outlaw Star. It's one of the best anime classics out there.

-Otaku Guru