memory of the future

Deemo II is a mobile rhythm game that came out earlier this year from Taiwanese developer Rayark. The music is mainly (neo/post-)Romantic piano and piano OST j-pop.

As a rhythm game, the charts are decent, but can be too Romantic or jazzy — even easy charts have rubatos. Also, in other rhythm games, the musical repetition of pop or dance music leads to chart repetitions, making them easier to learn, but there’s not much of that here! I wouldn’t say it’s inaccessible for a rhythm game newb — the scoring is very forgiving compared to most rhythm games — but it’s not like some rhythm games where you can partly memorize the chart after a few plays and ace it.

The IAPs work out to just above $1/song. It seems very expensive compared to other mobile rhythm games; however, Deemo II doesn’t do gacha mechanics — you get what you pay for. I suppose they have to make up for the lack of gambler money by charging for extra songs. It’s still quite pricey in terms of play hours per dollar.

The story is … sort of plodding along. The first arc could have been longer and used more of the station residents, so that the cutscenes could be more spread out.

( Credits and Central Station spoilers )

i’m on twitter ban, so i’m trying to find new non-productive hobbies.

been watching the first, sky-hi’s boyband audition show from last year, since just before i stopped going on twitter. i just made it past the filler ep, aka “being a tourist around lake yamanaka” — a nice change from horror jump scares. (although they did spring a birthday party on one guy.) i’ve watched a lot of these shows, but i enjoy this one’s emphasis on formal dance and vocal lessons. and the small group from the outset means that every contestant gets a chance to shine.

started playing mini motorways. i honestly didn’t think i would like this game, because i usually find this genre of game stressful. but i have free apple arcade rn and enjoyed watching a civil engineer on youtube play this during pandemic 2.0. so i started playing it, managed to lose track of time, and three-or-more hours later it was 5 am D: the reason i like this game is the pause button! ominous timers do pop up when i’m on my way to losing, but the ui is otherwise so nice and relaxing i’m not even stressed?

Links roundup:

• You can now buy piano sheet music for Gris! I kind of want the physical book, of course, but I would probably wreck the edges so fast if I used it with an actual piano. The arrangements are quite good.

• An essay about Dutch baroque typography, and how modern typography is unnecessarily gendered.

• Chaoyang Trap S2 E1 — this is a great newsletter about Chinese pop culture and internet life, and this specific issue covers how the Taiwanese indie scene is perceived in and operates on the mainland. Of course, it touches on cross-strait politics and the shared cultural nostalgia around Teresa Teng; but there’s also an entire section of how machismo gets associated with authenticity, rock music, and Beijing. It also comes with a playlist (Youtube / Spotify). [CW: the music videos by Chthonic and Obsess have violent imagery. Also there’s a bunch of smoking and alcohol in various videos and lyrics.]

• Last month someone in The Old Guard fandom was exposed for racefaking and claiming to be a cultural authority in order to bully POC.

( Back on my britcom bs )

( And being nostalgic for boybands I wasn’t even a fan of )

( Posting early because I haven’t started the albums one yet )

Haven’t really done a fannish journal in a while, might as well!

I’m rereading Nervous Venus: I started page-flipping bc I was trying to put together my Yuletide letter and it made me want to reread it. Dropping out of anime fandom for years really took a toll on my Japanese skills, oof. I’m one volume down, five to go. I’m always surprised by how much this manga (and Tokyo Babylon) have managed to hold up despite my tastes changing and maturing.

I finally finished Demian Syndrome. As I mentioned previously, the last scans group that was doing it dropped off the face of the earth roughly 7 years ago, but I recently discovered that someone else picked it up and finished it! I just didn’t get around to reading that last volume and a bit until I had to write my Yuletide letter and reread it from the beginning. No spoilers but can I punch everyone?

I also went down the entertainment industry BL manga rabbit hole again. (Pray for me if I start putting futekiya on my CC bill.) I enjoyed Koi ni wa Mukanai Shokugyou especially, bc Kanai Kei is incredible at using panels to frame things and to visually show emotions rather than tell them.

I’m also playing Hades bc my friend campaigned for it (ʘ‿ʘ)✿ I am so so so bad at it. I’ve always been bad at games involving aiming and dying, and for some reason I am very bad at bullet hell when I need to do anything other than dodge.

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The big news of course: new Tokyo Babylon anime! Everyone’s commented on the younger and slimmer-shouldered seishirou, but my main worry is the seeming setting change. Tokyo Babylon is deeply tied into themes about societal changes and anxieties due to technology in the early ’90s. I can definitely see how it would translate well to 2021 but at the same time, it would be a very different footing for this story. At least it looks like we’re getting an animation budget!