doctor_claw

The Doc can safely say that the year 2008, for all its flaws, is still the year The Doc really feels like he's arrived, and he's grateful. Looking at The Doc's age, he kind of wished it happened sooner, but late is better than never.

This past weekend (Memorial Day Weekend), The Doc spent some time in Chicago. In such, The Doc got to meet a lot of great people, see a lot of great things, and got to expand his cussword palate (in dealing with the North Side drivers, and the tolls for what amounted to a 6-hour trip either way). He's definitely going to do it again, only next time, he will be fully prepared.

This current weekend, The Doc's ride through the Gundam Gauntlet made its most recent run, through the series of Gundam Wing, including the Endless Waltz OAV/movie. It was a great series; The Doc doesn't know why he wasn't paying attention, some nine years ago when it aired on TV and elsewhere, as much as he's taken a liking to the Mobile Suit Gundam franchise. Must have been latent pretty boy hate, even though there is Claw-bait to be found (Noin, Une, Sally), and the cast really wasn't bad at all (even Quatre, who turned out to be a good boy after all). Even the bad guys (with a couple of exceptions). The mobile suit designs represent a more refined motif as what was established in the predecessor series G Gundam, and the plot put a nice spin on the politics that drive the endless struggle between space colonies and Earth (The Doc liked the "mobile doll" element, in particular). It wasn't a real Final Fantasy VIII affair as The Doc thought it might have been, and that's a good thing. No sappiness, just tension from all angles, suspense, and of course, robots breaking stuff. What else can you ask for in a Gundam series?

Of course, The Doc watched it all the way through w/subtitles (as his introduction to these characters was mostly through Super Robot Taisen video games), but he's going to watch certain episodes in dub format to hear how certain characters sound (Une in particular). Now The Doc sees why it was hyped up so... 20 years late to the party, The Doc used to speculate which Gundam would get localized here first -- his guess was either Gundam Wing or "G Gundam" (depending on how well audiences took to that wack juice Saban-financed Dragon Ball Z dub). The reason being that, American audiences would fall asleep at a "real robot" series would it not have any "flair" of sorts (i.e.: "it would have to be one with the the BISHONEN-SENTAI SQUAD, first"). However, The Doc will have to say, it's a good entry for Gundam novices, not "Scheiß Kreuz with Gundams in it", and actually, it's worthy of discussion even with the hallowed Universal Century Gundam series (personally, The Doc thinks it's a better actual series than Victory Gundam, despite The Doc recognizing the V2 Gundam as the absolute G.O.A.T. among Gundam designs). A few rabid fangirls aren't going to dilute that.

Next up on the gauntlet: Gundam SEED and Gundam SEED Destiny. Now this really is what The Doc expects to be Final Fantasy VIII with Gundams. We'll see how right The Doc actually is.

Further more on the geek front, The Doc has been reliving the "glory years" of 1995-96 with two Dragon Ball Z games for the Playstation 2, the second and third entries in the Budokai Tenkaichi series. Now The Doc is a true Dragon Ball geezer; he refuses to hear anyone other than the sectagenarian Masako Nozawa as the voice of Goku (or as we jokingly call him, "Kakarott" after hearing it in the dub the first time), any media that says "Special Beam Cannon" is bogus, and "HFIL" is a service station in Penguin Village. The Doc's introduction to Dragon Ball was through the old Super Famicom (SNES) video games, and he worked backwards into the anime (on VHS tapes that had seen better days), and the manga (through used bookstores and stuff like that). These kids nowadays have it easy -- DVDs, English-language (and still censored) manga, video games such as this.... SHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEIT. It used to be expensive and time-consuming to be a Dragon Ball head. However, The Doc digresses...

...let The Doc say, that these two games, represent the pinnacle of Dragon Ball gaming. The Doc started on Budokai Tenkaichi 2, and he was just amazed at how faithfully the show was represented. Story mode was classic. How crazy was it to actually fight from the beginning, all the way until the end of Dragon Ball GT (a series, mind you, that might as well not exist outside of Pan, in The Doc's mind, but still..)? Finally, these jabronis had gotten it right. The side stories featuring Zarbon and Raditz were a very nice touch.

And part 3? SHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEIT. That game has successfully dethroned the previous champs of Dragon Ball fighting games, the ages-old Dragon Ball Z Super Butouden 2 and Dragon Ball Z: Hyper Dimension (The Doc owns Shin Butouden for the Sega Saturn, and it was great, but at the same time underwhelming). With a character roster that would make even the most skeptical double-take (Seripa?! Random Freeza lackeys?! FREAKIN' ARALE?!), and an even more refined fighting system (it's actually deeper than The Doc thought it would be for a game that favors button mashing over good ol' "Street Fighter"-style controls)... and it's difficult as all hell, but it's definitely nothing near the W.O.A.T. Dragon Ball game (Dragon Ball GT: Final Bout)... without hyperbole, the greatest Dragon Ball game The Doc has ever played.

The Doc can only imagine that the Japanese versions of these games Sparking! Neo, and Sparking Meteor capture the feel of DBZ even more -- as they actually use the music from the show (where as, the one low point of the US ports of these games, though minor, is that infernal "Guitar Hero Demo Music" that replaced the original soundtrack). The fact that the original voices are included off the cuff makes these games a much more tolerable experience than Super Dragon Ball Z, and makes Budokai 3 obsolete.

Finally, the children are not being gypped. The Doc is a happy man.

Work is moving along nicely. It was crazy up until the holiday weekend, however.

The Doc will be attending a cousin's wedding in Rock Hill, SC very soon... which means that there'll be time to spend in nearby Charlotte, where The Doc's (maternal) extended family resides. The Doc plans to make the most of it, one way or another.

With all the opportunities afforded him in the last year, The Doc can't complain.
Even as gasoline reaches ridiculous heights...
Even as people in high places in the world act incredibly stupid...
Even as other assorted PB&J comes around to bite an Autobot where the sun doesn't shine...

Considering the climate, and the forecasted future... The Doc is in no position to complain. Having been there before, it could have been much, much worse.

On that note, The Doc leaves you all.

Until next time,

Dr. Claw