Okay, so I know...It's been a long time.

School isn't the best thing to be doing while trying to do other stuff like write content for a website.

But I've got some good news for the people out there who subscribe to this community.

School is almost out for the winter. Did you hear me? Just a few more days and I'll have about a month of free time. Content is bound to crop up somewhere in there...Though I'm not sure how I'd do it...you see, since I made my last post, I've got a mac...and I haven't figured out the best way to take screencaps of an anime on it...

Meh, I'll figure that out later. In the mean time, I've got some news for you.

First of all, not unlike my last post, I will adapt my final exam into a STT post, as it also deals with an anime...and that anime is an anime that just came out on dvd (And Blu-ray!), by the way. So if I can crank that out this week, I will. I think sleepfighter wanted to review it, and maybe she still does, so that needs to be figured out...and it will. Soon.

But even bigger news! News that doesn't include any excuses from me. And, this news is ALL HIGURASHI.

First of all, there will be a live action version of Higurashi no Naku Koro ni. Don't believe me? Check this out. (For those of you who don't want to watch a youtube video, here's a still image, which is imensely better than the video, strange as that is.)

But wait, that's not all. Oh no. I've also just learned that there will be yet another season of the animated version of Higurashi no Naku Koro ni. How does that work? I dunno either. But I'll be watching, and I'll let you know. Suspect I got a few months, though.

Does anyone have any thoughts based on this awesome news?

I know it’s been a long time, and I even had a video game to review a good while ago, but I could never get the gumption to write it.

Then while watching YouTube, I see a clip from a game I once played way back on the PC. As it turns out, it was also a game on the SNES. My memory tells me this game used to be fun, even though I never beat it. One playthrough later, and I’ve got a game on my hands that needs a good review. And so without further ado, I give you a game that’s

( -I’d say something funny, but do I need to?- )

Greetings, STT faithful! My name is Stephan, and I'm a long time lurker, first time poster! Having been inspired by Ed's call to action after his most recent review, I finally got my ass in gear to review something I've been meaning to do since late summer: Tokyo Majin Gakuen Kenpuchou episode 1!

I feel bad you guys, STT is supposed to be a hip, edgy, and current livejournal community.

If the regular posters cant make it every week then someone else is supposed to fill in the slots!

We were aiming for one a week, people! The last twenty or so were all either by me, or . We need more contributers. I'm asking you all for contributions! If you enjoy STT it's time to help out! Ask not what your livejournal community can do for you, but what you can do for your livejournal community!

That being said.

I think I oughta post something. It is a new anime season after all, and I got a bunch of prospects...but sadly I haven't watched any of them yet. Too busy. Got this whole school thing in the way...

Wait, something to hold me over till I have time to watch and review those new things you all want to hear about!

Something old!

It has worked before.

Sadly, I'm too busy to do one even close to those other ones there, but instead I'm going to go in a different direction. I'm going to offer you some half-assed analysis, rather than some half-assed review.

You see, this week I had a midterm paper due, and it asked about simulations and simulacra. I decided that I would write about Neon Genesis Evangelion in this midterm, but that I'd also talk about Blade Runner and Ghost in the Shell (the original movie). Blade Runner and Ghost in the Shell were both standard, and mentioned in the prompt. But Eva is special. I went out of my way to watch and consider how Evangelion fits in with the prompt, and I just had to do it. It wasn't just writing about it though, I decided I would go all out, and watch all 26 episodes, plus the two movies in succession. I decided this about 4 days before the paper was due. This left me little time to both watch the show and write about it, but god damnit if I didn't do it. I now share the midterm with you, with some pictures added. As Misato would say...

So, Smarter Than Tim®©☆™ is back!  We've had a constant stream of articles once a week for the past....Tim? How long have we held up the steady stream of articles? Tim? Tim?! TIM!?

What the hell dude...I just woke up.

I asked you a legitimate question.  Should be able to answer it no matter what time it is.

I really think that's unfair, you know.  It's like you were waiting for me to be mentally vulnerable so you could bully me into doing what you wanted.

Well, maybe you could explain why there hasn't been a new article for 2 weeks, hmm?

Sleeping.

I had some serious Rip Van Winkle crap up in here, okay?  Time travel and all that.

Rip Van Winkle?  More like Lip Wan' Tingle.

That's not nice and I don't appreciate it.

Well what would you suggest we do to remedy this situation of tardiness?

Well...I think I had something ready to go before...hold on.

...

...

...

Holding...

Could somebody put up the title card for me?

I think it's just about dinner time, though.

Hmm...

So, I'll be back in like 30 minutes, okay?

If you just woke up, wouldn't it not be dinner anymore?

I refuse to attempt to change the world to suit my needs.

Hmm....*waits*

...

Maybe I'll start without him.

What were we doing again?

Hiya folks!

Today, our little Ota is doing what we in the biz call, a 'cop out.'

That's right! No collaborations of twenty-five some-odd pictures chosen and compiled from about 113 screemshots! Nono! Today I've got it easy! I'll be talking to you about the wonderful joys of video game music! Doesn't that just make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside?

( There is much browsing to be done... )

Well, since I graciously let Ed post the last two weeks leaned on Ed because I'm too lazy to actually write, I'm doing a review of this show a couple weeks later than I'd have liked to. You see, I got all these grand ideas about being on the cutting edge of the cutting edge--ideas which for the most part I am entirely comfortable to let remain as ideas.

It's just that once in a while, a target comes along so massive that you can't help but want to start pouring lead into it as quickly as possible.

Which brings me to the anime in question...

kinda redundant, don't you think?

( CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE )

So a while back I was flipping through the movie channels and I came across this movie staring Samuel L. Jackson as a guy living in a house and afraid of a burglary. It also had Nicolas Cage. There was a bit more to it than that...But it was called Amos & Andrew. I'm sure you can imagine what went on from there.

Beyond everything else that was in it, the most absurd thing was the song that played over the end credits. "Suburbian Nightmare," written and performed by Sir 'I like big butts' Mix-A-Lot. The song was basically a telling of the plot of the film. The beat was uninspired. It was what I've come to know as bad 1980s corporate-style rap. This song was probably not written by Sir Mix-A-Lot, but even if it was, he got a big check for it from New Line Cinema. (Oh look at that, they're working on a movie called Boob Job...and to think they could be making The Hobbit right now...Oh well.) At least it was Sir Mix-A-Lot, though, and not say, Nicolas Cage.

I'm glad we, as a culture, are past the point of bad 1980s corporate-style rap.

At least, that's what I thought...

AWESOME!


Okay, stuff to be excited about!


First of all, at this moment, I'm downloading the first episode of Higurashi no naku koro ni kai! And I'm sure, sometime tonight, I'll get to return to the murdered and murdering lolis that inhabit the town of Hinamizawa. If I feel up to it i'll even do a joint review right here in this post.

But in the mean time, I made a promise a few weeks back that I would continue my review of the first episode of Manabi Straight! And I indend to do that! So today, I give you, the rest of Manabi Straight episode 1, and most likely the first episode of Higurashi no naku koro ni kai!

So, I'll admit, I don't have a post ready for this week. Computer issues plus worldOne day have sort of sapped my availability. One thing I have been doing is making, on a basic level, a mixtape.

Earlier this year, towards the end of the school year, I made a video for TechFutures. Check it out here: TechFutures Graduation Video 2007

One of the things I like to do when I'm making these end of year documentary montages is add a music track. I try to put music that meet these criteria: The music needs to be good. It needs to have a positive mood. It should be music that the majority of the people in the audience can recognize.

You can't imagine my shock, when it was almost done, when one of the students (the guy in the video that shakes his glasses back and forth at the beginning) says "hey that's the music from Yakitate!! Japan!"

I wasn't expecting ANYONE to recognize ANY of the music.

One of the things everyone said about that video, though, is that the music selection was excellent. Including Corey Mason, who got to see an almost final version before anybody. He really liked that Yakitate!! music. He called it real music.

That inspired me to give him that CD...But I couldn't just give him that CD. I had to give him all of it.

So as soon as I had access to a computer I got out the CDs and made a 300 track play list.

( And here's that list, with my intros )

I gotta be honest with you, this wasn't a review that I was at all planning on writing alone. See, me and Ed really wanted to do another joint post--with the look at doing one a month for the rest of our lives.

However, in an echo of what prompted our earlier hiatus, Ed's laptop has gone all wonky again and he hasn't been online as much to help me bang this one out.

So. Alone, I stare into the deep dark crevasse that is...

what can i say to that?

( not entirely safe for work, not super horrible, but still man )

Wow, it’s been a while, but it’s me again, the only one here that seems to review video games. Kinda makes me wonder if these are actually valid reviews, but seeing as I have yet to have all my content taken down, I’m free to continue.

Part of the problem was finding a game to review. There’s so many absolutely terrible ones out there, that a simple bashing would be insufficient, rather a good mauling from several irate bears in heat while protecting their cubs (See Battletoads: In Battlemaniacs)

Today I’ll be reviewing something near and dear to my childhood. Unfortunately, it's common that someone looks back at something and asks themselves "What was I thinking?!"

( Warning, no bandanas exist below the cut )

Okay, I promised a review on Monday and I always deliver on my promises, so here it is.

Ed suggested I do another episode of Yakitate! Japan, but I've actually been meaning to get to this particular bit of animated entertainment for quite some time now--it's something that a lot of people are really keen on, and something that a lot of other people don't even know about. It's weird--when I tell you I'm doing Death Note, exactly half of the population will go "Allright!" and the other half will just scratch their heads and look at me funny.

Of course, I spend a lot of time with people who won't watch anime unless it's dubbed and on Cartoon Network, so I suppose my sample set is skewed towards a particular brand of idiot.

Enough statistics, on with the title splash and obligatory cut!!

in soviet russia, letter R is backwards!
( read on )

I'll get around to doing part two of the Manabi Straight review. I think some others are going to be making some posts first. And I can't wait. But I saw something today that made be revisit Higurasni no naku koro ni earlier than I had expected. (For reference, I wasn't planning on mentioning the show again until its new season starts sometime in July.)

You see, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni started its North American DVD distribution this week. I've been debating back and forth on whether I should buy it now, wait till it's a complete set or just not buy it at all...

( So far, I'm still undecided. )

I'm sure there's a lot more I could write about Higurashi no Naku Koro ni.  Tons.  Hell, I have tons of pictures left...But I think I've done enough to it.  I'll wait for the new episodes to start this July. 8D  Just you wait, more cicadas coming this summer!  Ah hahaha hahahahaHAHAHAHAHA.

-ahem-

In the mean time, I thought we could get away from the horror loli and go back to the more regular loli.  The High School drama/comedy!

I'm gonna be doing a couple of these in the next few months, cause I just happen to have them backlogged. 

They're also the things I saw at fanime other than murdering lolis.

The first one I want to write about is a program called Gakuen Utopia Manabi Straight.

Update~! Now with pictures, embedded videos, and spell check. More coming later today.

This is going to be a quick one because I have no pictures to share, only words. I also don't have the time and means for links or spell check, so bear with me.

Probably wont even need an LJ cut.

This Smarter Than Tim(tm) community has been lacking in posts for a few months, and for that I apologize. I had stuff to do, as you can imagine. But with this post as my starting point I'm going to bring it back this summer, one way or another. I've already got some shows planned, I just have to watch em and write em up. But that's not what I'm here to write about.

First a little background. Right now I'm at the Fanime Convention in San Jose. I'm enjoying it so far, but I haven't been feeling that creative urge I usually feel at a con.

But that's not what I'm here to write about. I will...

SAVE IT FOR LIVEJOURNAL!


Today I'm writing here about a completed Japanese television program that I just spent the last 0.5 days watching, literally. (This post is the first thing I've done other than watch this thing for the past 12 hours.) It is a program called Higurashi no Naku Koro ni.

( Okay, screw it, I do need a cut. )

You should beware of things known as Spoilers.

So we're discussing reviews, and we keep hitting on how hard it is for us to sit down and review things. There's time involved, watching a show and then watching it again to take screenshots. There's gotta be a better way, we think. Something we can review that takes microfortnights instead of hundreds of microfortnights. That thing, dear viewer, is the ytmnd.

The internet's greatest and most miserable tool for creativity, the ytmnd is capable of high hights and low lows--but rarely anything inbetween. They only last thirty seconds on average, and so are perfect for the critical eye.

The world's been begging--but nobody has heard the call.

Until now.

Behold--ytmndon't!

http://ikillyourkhan.ytmnd.com/

Sometimes, the greatest joys in life can be found in the things we're most inured to. Sunshine and spring water have nothing on this gem from user Kayne, though. The Kaaaaahn fad seems to grow new legs singlehandedly here--something that even the most hardened ytmnd connoisseur had long since thought impossible.

My verdict - ytmndo.

http://tk421poop.ytmnd.com/

And then the stormtrooper stands up, and he finds this ytmnd staring back up at him.

It may have one point been funny, but that's only for a number of nanoseconds under controlled labratory conditions in a comedic supercollider.

My verdict - ytmndon't.

http://lolaprilfewls.ytmnd.com/

It's a shame, given the heights ytmnds have reached, that there are still people out there who refuse to exhibit any sort of creativity towards the medium. We've come a long way since the first funny picture and looped sound, but by and large the overwhelming majority of content on ytmnds is still funny pictures and looped sounds. Animate your damn gifs, people. Show me some skill, and stop living in the age of the ytmndinosaurs.

My verdict - ytmndon't.

That's it for now (just a test printing, see). Drop off suggestions for ytmnds you want me to look at if you feel like it, and stay sharp for more of the same!

Mongoose out.

So I know I've been bad, we all have.  Just been busy is all.  Except for Tim.  He's got no excuse for not cranking out these things.  He should be putting out 2 a week while the rest of us are busy with school.

But I'm not here to blame anyone.

I'm here to celebrate Valentine's day with an extra special episode of Kamichu!

It's been a little while hasn't it? Well it's time for me to make a new post for SMARTER THAN TIM™! Consider it my Christmas gift for the world.

Earlier this month, Geneon released their last volume of Kamichu on DVD for the Region 1 market. And what better way to give ya'll a Christmas Review than to review a stocking stuffer title like Kamichu.