So I totally got behind on this. Real life is a bitch. Seems that, just as I (and you, for that matter) have to deal with the cruel bitch mother that is real life, so does Araragi. Well, if you count curses and cute girls as real life. The aforementioned (very ‘afore’ because I’m so behind, sorry!) snake-staker (tm, for my new deathmetal band) turns out to be Araragi’s little sister’s old friend, Sengoku. Add another to the pedo-fodder list. At least this one’s in middle school.

Anywho, it seems Sengoku has a lot of things that are constricting her, including a giant, invisible (to most) snake. The snake is constricting her body, leaving scaly prints on her skin. Which she shows to Araragi and Lesbo while half naked. So what does Araragi do? No, he doesn’t beat her up, and no he doesn’t jump her bones. He takes her to Oshino. Because he’s a tool. Oshino explains the circumstances of the curse, how it’s gotten worse because Sengoku did a botched up job trying to break it, and how that’s amplified because she tried to break it at a shrine, etc. Sengoku explains the curse was put on her by a guy she rejected, and Araragi and Lesbo now set out to break the curse on Sengoku without setting it back on the person who casted it. Nice of them.

To bad it doesn’t work. After a fight with a giant snake he can’t see, Araragi, witht he help of Lesbo (I love that she’s stuck around, I find her refreshing) they chase off the snakes (turns out there were TWO cursing the girl), but don’t manage to destroy them. Which means some poor dude somewhere is pining and raging about being rejected by his crush, and then hit with the curse he tried to lay on her. While this is sort of brushed off, I’m wondering if it’ll come up in a later episode.

Cut to episode 11: Araragi spends the majority of the episode talking to various girls again. We learn Class Pres (Hanekawa) is living with parents who…aren’t her parents, and her “dad” has hit her at least once. Then we run into Snake Staker again, out to thank Araragi and Lesbo for helping her out. We also find out that Araragi has yet another amazing ability, one possibly even more astounding than his regenerative capabilities- the ability to get old-school anime references from obscure episodes. While I’m not sure if this is something to be proud of or not (God, I hope so), I do appreciate the sporadic moments of animation style change, when they switch into “Doraemon Mode”.

So Araragi runs into Class Pres again, who seems to be a bit bent out of shape at the mention of Hot Dish (Senjougahara, yeah, she still exists) yet again. She tells Araragi that there’s a rumor going ’round that Senjougahara has changed since she’s “hooked up” with Araragi. Even though she defends Hot Dish, I can’t help but sense the tinge of jealousy. Which spawns this question:

How do anime men make every woman want them (even lesbians!)? At least this show is more subtle about it, but still! That trope is played out here extremely well without seeming too “dating game”. I’m just waiting for the “even the men want him” trope. Mmm.

Anyways, Araragi and Hanekawa are chattin’ it up when Hanekawa buckles down from a sudden headache, and we’re given a glimpse at what had happened to her before when Araragi took her to Oshino for help. Her hair turns white and she sprouts ears, charmed by a “meddlesome cat”, or better known as a multiple personality, which is given a form as result of some major stress. As “Black Hanekawa” she attacks people and drains their energy to release her stress. The first two people she drained? Her parents. When Araragi set out to find the Black Hanekawa, she prepared to attack him, only to be attacked by Shinobu (the little vampire girl) who, like the meddlesome cat, has the ability to drain energy. And that seemed to end everything. Until now. But the headaches Clas Pres is experiencing are different this time….

The two episodes, while not really as dark as the first few, are trying to build up some of the recurring characters a bit, I feel, but only partially managing to do so. I honestly feel no real attachment to any of them other than Araragi, and I mostly like him because he’s just a big loser. However, we’ll see what happens. At least the “Insert adjective then animal” problems are still fairly creative.

Next post will cover 12 and 13.

The newest game from the Touhou series, Touhou 12 – Undefined Fantasic Object is set to release this summer at Comiket 76 in August 2009. A demo version of the game can be downloaded here. The game is in japanese but you should be able to find your way around. Z is shoot and X is bomb.

Story:
It is Spring in Genosokyo and a rumor is spreading about a magical flying treasure airship. The three main characters, Reimu, Marisa, and Sanae Kotiya (who has returned from the mountain of faith) race eachother to reach the ship. Un be knowest to them, they are being followed, and that is all we know so far.

Gameplay:
Like the large majority of Touhou games, it is a bullet hell style game where you must dodge millions of things getting fired at you from all directions. Each main player (Reimu, Marisa, and Sanae) has 2 weapon styles. The use of spell cards (separate bombing counter) from the earlier games is being brought back.

The newest addition to the gameplay in Touhou 12 is the UFO’s. There are 3 colors of UFO’s (red, green, blue) that some enemies will have flying around them. Once you defeat the enemy you can pick up their UFO. If you collect 3 of a color a large UFO will appear, and if you collect 1 of each color a flashing UFO will appear. You have a time limit to defeat these special enemies once they appear, and if completed on time you will get special items (depending on the color).

Music:
The music rocks .. like all Touhou games.

I’m stoked for this game, as the graphics seem a lot smoother than the previous Touhou – Mountain of Faith. The demo was great and am hoping to get my hands on this soon!

Check out the controls & character bio’s at here

I downloaded it on my laptop (PC) but if you’ve got VirtualBox or Paralells you should be able to run it on your Mac no problem.

If you want to see these crazy ladies in action before you download, check out this gameplay video.

As far as free PC fighting games go, this one has fairly smooth gameplay and can be addictingly fun. A little hard to play on the keyboard but if you have a controller you can plug in to your PC it will probably be easier (and funner). All in all, a good addition to the library of games on my laptop. This will be good for taking a break between watching anime episodes on boring flights. 7 Stars.

Rating: ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 

First off, I really like this game.  It reminds me of Monster ranchers, in that you can capture monsters, they help you fight, and they not only evolve, but you can fuse them together to create cool new creatures.  You get to play the role of a rookie Demon Buster (DB).  The Demons Busters protect humans, and the ‘homes’ from demon attacks.  There isn’t a lot of character customization, one or two sets of cloths for different level groups, a couple of different hair styles, and three sizes of character to choose from. (Child, teen, or adult.)  Its quest system gets a little annoying from time to time.  The NPC that sends you on a quest, will show you where you need to go, once, and if you don’t catch it, you get to go searching the general area they give you, for the NPC you need to find.

On the monster front, it’s pretty simple.  The monsters have there own certain attributes.  Some will attack with you, some will attack whenever they want, and some will defend you, ect.  Also, there are many different types of creatures.  The first few that you meet, include pixies, and… essentially a purple puss in boots.  (Yes, from Shrek)  Later on in the game, you will also be able to ride some of your higher level monsters, such as a dog type monster, Called Cerberus.  Though it does share its name with a certain three headed dog, it only has one head, and for a good part of the game, you will have a wounded Cerberus following you around.  But if you want to find out why, your gonna have to try out this game.

-Skull666

http://megaten.aeriagames.com/

Rating: ★★★★★★★★☆☆