So one of the things I’ve been doing recently is trying to convert various anime characters to the HERO System, which has a reputation for extreme customizability. The upside is that you can make anything you want; the downside is that you can make anything you want.

How the system works is that it has a number of actual power effects, and then we tack on all sorts of variations and modifiers to it, then we add in what the power actually is. For example, any ranged attack which isn’t a bullet or something obviously designed to kill is an Energy Blast. (Those which are designed to kill or injure are Ranged Killing Attacks.) It can be an actual blast of energy, it can be fire, or ice, or rubber bullets, it’s all Energy Blast. The specifics are pasted(e on yay) onto the basic Energy Blast, which gives the HERO System the customizability so vaunted.

It also gives the HERO System the Deep Complexity so very much complained about. You will need a calculator for this, as well as several pages of notes on what your newly-designed power does, in great detail, along with how it interacts with other powers. The GM will need to be highly intelligent, level-headed, and quite possibly psychic, both telepathically and precognitively. For the rulebooks themselves place an enormous onus on the GM to veto, ex cathedra, any creative use of the rules which appear to be done for the sole purpose of munchkinning, while simultaneously allowing the very same thing if wielded responsibly by the hands of a dedicated roleplayer.

It is a narrow, some might add microscopically so, line to tread. With great power, etc.

My most recent attempt at converting a known fictional character to the HERO System involved the infamous Nanoha Takamichi of the titular Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha trilogy of anime, a lady who has had her unofficial nickname (not worksafe, since it’s Danbooru) apply as fittingly as a well-worn glove (+5 Enhancement). Those unfamiliar with the character in question have questioned my need for a 600 Active Point Starlight Breaker, since surely no character would have such a powerful attack, would they?

Little do they know.

I’ve already given up on statting Lina Inverse, because I’m not sure what kind of damage is needed to level a mountain. Which, if I remember my Slayers correctly, Lina did. Twice.

Finally, yes, I know that I haven’t had a Card Captor Sakura episode summary for some time. Let’s just say that the more people nag at me to do one, the less motivation I have. Whenever I read a “why aren’t you working on a CCS episode summary?” comment, my desire to actually do so drops to about zero.

One of my (many) failings is that I tend to obsess over things. When I get something new, I immerse myself as deeply into it as I am capable of. Now, this may not last, especially if the work in question is Not To My Tastes, but since I generally pre-filter my entertainment through intense scrutiny of reviews and what few fellows who share my opinions I can muster, I often find that by the time I think to myself “this is pretty fun, but I probably should take a break around now“, the authorities may well have already declared me legally dead.

Right now, the obsession of the moment dictates that I cannot look at a withered, leafless tree without getting the urge to paint a circle around it.

There’s no real reason why I picked this random manga scan. Well, not so random, since I like Negima, I find Sayo pretty cute, and I am quite fascinated by the ability to spin pens (possibly since seeing Momiji Ookura in action, so to speak, in the manga version of Prism Palette). Nevertheless, this is Random in the sense that I found this page posted somewhere for no apparent reason, bereft of its fellow chapter pages, and I have no other Random images handy to go with this off-topic post. Needless to say, I shall be buying the volume whenever Del Rey sees fit to release it in English, as I have done for the seventeen volumes of Negima thus far.

Crunch time over in the set of dimensions known collectively as Real Life means that I’ve been taking what amounts to an enforced break from anime, and indeed all leisure activities. As of this writing, I can see the as yet unopened cases containing the long-sought Playstation 2 game discs of Okami and Final Fantasy XII. The temptation is strong, but I shall resist.

I had expected some sort of withdrawal symptoms, but oddly enough, with a bit of mental jiggling, I can transition to a veneer of Normality with a minimum of fuss, provided I am allowed to keep a small but significant amount of brain runtime to thinking about anime. Not any anime in specific, but just anime in general; tropes, concepts, and example images. The merest thought of an original character in full meganekko mode can settle my mind into hanyaa~n mode, which I seem to be able to do a good job of bottling up inside, seeing as nobody has been creeped out by my vapid expression as of yet.

At least the weekend is near, and with it some vague respite. Although judging from the pile of backlogged Obligations I have to other hobby interests, mostly in the prose-writing field, it might be a while before I can come up with anything substantial for this blog. Not, of course, that anyone might have expected differently.

I’m not entirely sure what I just watched.

Let that be a warning to you all.

I wonder if it says something about me that the only reason I’m playing Pokemon Diamond at all is because I think Dawn (or Hikari, if you want the Japanese name) is very, very cute.

It’s the hat, I think. I don’t know what she’s like in the actual anime, being that I don’t have a source for it, but just looking at the fanart makes her seem so adorable.

Of course, I tend to treat games as a significant collection of plot and dialogue interspersed with irritating but sadly unavoidable gameplay, so this is not unusual. I suppose what I’m really looking for when I buy a game is an interactive CG movie, preferably anime-style with cute girls.

My excuse for not updating much this week.

You know, the weird thing is that I had to stare at this poster for the longest time before it dawned on me that technically speaking, they were right.

Technically my favourite character from Rental Magica is Manami Kuroha, but she seems to get unusually short shrift in terms of screentime and characterization. A pity for a character so interesting.

I am, as the evidence in the blog archives can painfully attest, not very good with self-induced blogging deadlines which approach me stealthily like some sort of dastardly rogue bound and determined to use all those extra Sneak Attack dice, leading to a desperate last-minute rush to hammer out a post extempore.

Plenty of other blogs have, by now, wished one and all a Happy Chinese New Year, or some equivalent sentiment, and I see no reason to be any different. Much has also been made about the zodiac animal baton being passed to the Rat, ranging from the direct reference to Yuki Sohma from Fruits Basket, to ranging further afield with rodents in general, featuring Chamo the ermine from Mahou Sensei Negima or Yuuno in ferret form of Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha. I’m sure that there are other rat-like beings or characters associated with such in anime which I am blanking on at the moment.

And of course, the title picture is Ayumu Nishizawa from Hayate the Combat Butler, whose attachment to Rodentia is what appears to be her nickname and animal totem, the hamster. Said hamster was the embodiment of her fighting spirit, albeit for the very brief time it was around before Nagi’s dragon ate it.

Nishizawa has vowed revenge. Possibly this may involve radioactive hamsters from a planet near Mars.

Kalium gave me this.

Blame him.

One of the issues often raised is how much anime blogs, at least in the rather incestuous community which the Popular Anime Blogs are mostly a part of, tend to focus their sights on the Newest Anime, currently being broadcast at this very moment in Japan. The lament is that people who don’t keep up with the newest and freshest feel left out in the cold, with nothing to inform them on what they can actually obtain in a wholly legal manner. (Rant excised For Your Convenience.)

I’ve gotten several compliments for my episode summaries for Card Captor Sakura, by no means a new series. On the flipside, I’ve also been the target of several puzzled looks and questions on why I am spending my time with older series, which everyone can presumably watch for themselves. I remain peacefully in my zen of simultaneously Doing It Right and Doing It Wrong at the same time.

And since it’s been a while since I had the time to sit down and watch some anime for the sake of personal enjoyment, rather than as a prelude to some blog post in the near future where I wax sesquipedalian over what would invariably amount to an incoherent fanboy gush over a female character or other, I have taken the opportunity to finish up watching a few series which have not actually obtained the distinction of being old enough to get a DVD release with subs, but which are nevertheless not new, and not of this current season.

It’s a refreshing feeling to be able to make all the usual comments about a plot development without having to write it down. Although I have to admit that the primary purpose of this post is entirely so that I can use that joke.

In about a week (the 26th of January, to be precise), this blog will hit one year of active operation. I have no idea what I’m going to do for that; suggestions would be welcome.