#jankenpon

[superthatguy62]

A Reflection on Alex Kidd

Some time ago I played through two platformers that happened to have re-releases on the Switch.

The first was Klonoa 2: Lunatea’s Veil. An excellent game, very good platformer, would definitely recommend even if it gets kinda intense towards the end.

The other was Alex Kidd in Miracle World DX. Alex Kidd was one of those franchises that I knew existed, but didn’t think too much about. Most of my exposure was via Alex Kidd and the Enchanted Castle on the Genesis, which was decidedly kinda janky (and not in a fun way) and punishing. But it still remained a curiosity to me, so when the remake caught my eye, I decided to eventually nab it and experience it for myself.

Cut to now and I’ve not only played Miracle World DX, but the Sega Ages version of the original as well as read up on the other games in the series.

And now I have thoughts regarding this franchise and so must inflict them upon all of you. My apologies. 

(Janken Dance!)

The Origin of Alex Kidd

Alex Kidd is considered Sega’s second mascot, preceded by Opa Opa: A cute sentient spaceship that fights to protect to Fantasy Zone who is also a child soldier and traumatized by the events of the game up to and including killing his own father, the leader of the enemy forces. 

However, when Sega entered the home market and released the Mark III console (the basis for the Master System), they wanted a character that could stand against Mario.

(Sega showing themselves to be the masters of subtlety)

Alex’s creation, funnily enough, mirrors that of his rival: Sega had intended to create a Dragon Ball video game, but were ultimately unable to secure the license. They decided to take what they had and turn it into a new character: Goku’s power pole was replaced by by Alex’s fists and his design eventually shifted to what would become Alex. With this in mind, the series’ chibi artstyle could very well be rooted in OG Dragon Ball and people have pointed out some of the remaining similarities on sites like The Site That Formerly Had The Blue Bird. One particular similarity is vehicles: Various Dragon Ball artworks had an emphasis on vehicles owing to Akira Toriyama’s fondness for them and Kotaro “Ossale” Hayoshida has a similar interest. Thus, the two main console Alex Kidd platformers feature the Peticopter and the Sukopako Motorcycle.

Plot:

The Alex Kidd franchise is emblematic of Sega’s approach to storylines in their games and builds off of what Fantasy Zone did before, as well as setting a standard that the Sonic series would follow later.

Alex Kidd in Miracle World takes on the Planet Aries, which is invaded by a tyrant known as Janken the Great. At the time, Alex was an orphan who trained under a master named Saint Nubia and thus had no idea of Janken’s take over until he came across some citizens. Alex goes back to his master who reveals to him the truth: Alex himself is one of the two princes of the kingdom of Radaxian. The royal family has been in a tizzy as the king disappeared shortly before Janken’s take over with acting king, Prince Igul/Egul, being held captive in Radaxian Castle itself. Alex thus sets off to not only save his kingdom, but his family as well, using the technique of Shellcore; a style of martial arts that allows its users to embiggen their limbs (or at least, their hands).

It’s not the most original plot, nor is it really the first platformer to put such emphasis on plot (Maybe. I’m not sure.). Still, considering that Sega had eyed Alex as a potential rival to Mario, it’s interesting to see some degree of ambition here: The reveal of Alex being the prince of Radaxian is saved for a couple levels in. When Alex needs to get into a nearby kingdom after rescuing his brother, he has to collect a letter inside Radaxian Castle (in turn, rescuing his brother) or he’ll be turned away. Even after beating Janken, Alex still needs to reclaim the Crown of Radaxian that Janken was after. It gives a general context for why you’re going through the stages that’s a smidge more varied than usual. And then there’s something else that I’ll mention later.

Compare this with the Mario games, which generally had little plot: SMB1 had functionally no plot outside of a general premise, Mario 3′s only major plot development is saved for World 8 and while Super Mario World narrates prose after each Koopaling is defeated, it doesn’t really have any more of a significant plot as was seen in Super Mario Bros 3. Overall, Sega’s games would have more ambitious plotlines, with Sonic picking up where Alex left off and taking it to further and higher heights.

Gameplay

Alex Kidd in Miracle World is a simple platformer. Alex’s two primary actions at any given time are jumping and punching something with his enlarged fist. Aside from vehicles and temporarily from a certain powerup, Alex can only over take one hit before dying. Lose all of your lives and it’s game over... although, if you have enough money (and know of a certain code in the original game) you can purchase another continue. Levels in Miracle World tend to be short, so it’s not too bad to die in the game (although you do lose the Telepathy Ball on a game over and certain stages the jungle can be a pain to get through normally).

Stages in Alex Kidd tend to vary: sometimes they’re simple platforming stages. Other times, Alex can use a vehicle: The motorcycle is optional and can be purchased from the shop, the boat appears automatically and the Peticopter (a pedal-based Helicopter) varies. These vehicles can make getting through a stage a breeze, but they only have one hitpoint: In the case of the motorcycle or stages where Alex can purchase the Peticopter, Alex must brave the rest of the stage himself. In the cases where he starts in a vehicle, Alex will fall into a level underneath the play area and have to work from there. Lastly there are castle levels that are significantly more mazelike. There’s only two such levels in the game: Radaxian Castle and Janken’s Castle.

Powerups differ from Super Mario Bros as well. While you’ll occasionally find power ups (usually extra lives) scattered throughout Radaxia in marked boxes, you’ll mostly be getting them from shops that litter the world. These shops cost money, which you can find scattered all over the place. The powerups range from a barrier that makes Alex immune to enemy attacks at the cost of not allowing him to attack, a ball that can shoot mini clones of Alex at enemies and a magic rod that lets Alex hover in the air. One powerup that you can only get from item boxes is Death, who will promptly chase Alex until scrolled offscreen. Another is skull boxes which aren’t necessarily powerups so much as they stun Alex for a moment if he punches them. Lastly is the Telepathy ball, which may or may not be critical to winning at Jankenpon, depending on your knowledge anyway.

 At the end of certain stages, Alex will run into one of Janken’s minions (excepting Janken’s Castle, where he runs into the big man himself) and will have to play Jankenpon (i.e. Rock-Paper-Scissors). It’s pretty much as you’d expect: Music plays, Alex can pick a hand to chose, when the music stops you play the hand. Best 2 out of 3 are the rules and if Alex loses, he dies. There are two general work arounds for Jankenpon. 1st: Getting the Telepathy Ball allows Alex to see his opponent’s thoughts and therefore get an idea of what they’re going to pick. This is less helpful as it sounds as the thoughts occur in real time and are constantly shifting, meaning the opponent can suddenly switch their hand at the last second, giving you only a split second to react. However, the Telepathy Ball does help with the second option: Janken and his minions have set patterns when it comes to Jankenpon. Thus, if you know the pattern, you can easily sweep the two rounds needed to progress. The issue is that the patterns change if Alex loses a round (i.e. if the opponent chose scissors and Alex loses, he won’t choose scissors next time). Still, one could theoretically puzzle out the winning hands and learn to choose them each time.

Boss battles are a very non-graceful affair. In the first encounters with Janken’s generals, they will die immediately after losing. In the second encounters, they will actually fight by means of detaching their heads and/or shooting projectiles. Since mercy invulnerability does not exist for enemies and Alex himself dies in one hit, boss fights usually end quickly. The absolute irony is that the easiest boss in the game is none other than the final one, Janken the Great himself: His primary attack is shooting a projectile, and the nature of how he shoots it means that Alex can stand right next to him and be at no risk. Perhaps it’s for the best that the actual final challenge is a more puzzle-oriented level.

Re-releases and Ports

Alex Kidd in Miracle World was never as widely re-released as it’s Genesis sequel. The original game remained Master System exclusive until it landed on the Wii’s Virtual Console. It eventually made it to the PS3 in 2012 as part of the Sega Vintage Collection (or Sega Ages Online) line. Today, the two options for playing Miracle World legitimately are the Switch-Exclusive Sega Ages release by M2 or the Alex Kidd in Miracle World DX remake.

Miracle World DX generally updates the graphics, adds some new stages and expands on the story somewhat (the major difference being that Alex himself now has dialogue and the first stage now takes the place of the Japanese manual’s storyline to explain how Alex learns about Janken). The game has a few QoL options that make the game easier (better controls, infinite lives and permanently having the telepathy ball) but I believe achievements are disabled if those options are turned on. Also, I’m not sure if it’s a glitch, but progress seems to be tied to the game state (i.e. if you decide to replay Mt. Eternal after finishing the game, the game will reset your progress to as if you started a fresh game at Mt. Eternal). On the other hand, the game has some neat little touches such as collectibles referencing both other Alex Kidd games (even including Enchanted Castle’s interesting boxart) and other Sega games in general, including Sonic or how the food Alex eats can be changed (in the original game the donut riceball was changed to a hamburger. The remake gives you the ability to toggle the change and even adds a few new ones). The game also allows the player to shift the artstyle to one closely matching the original Miracle World at the push of a button. The overall consensus is that if you like the original Miracle World, you’ll probably like the remake, but if you didn’t, then you won’t be won over either. The game is faithful, perhaps to a fault (and even then, there’s almost assuredly some mechanical differences that I do not know about).

The Sega Ages version is more of a remaster. In addition to Original Mode, which is what that name implies, Ages mode adds a new soundtrack based on the FM Sound Unit: An add-on for the Sega Master System which improved the audio capabilities and could lead to some stark differences between it and the more “bleep-bloop”-ish PSG audio (Alex Kidd: The Lost Stars would have support for the FM Sound Unit and is a good example of such differences). Ages mode also adds new illustrations at the start of each level (covering the map, which can still be seen on the pause screen) and adds a rewind function, which can make playing the game easier.

Later Games 

The franchise after Miracle World went in some... odd directions.

(Multiverse theory means that there is a timeline where “with STELLA” became as much of a meme as “& Knuckles”, “Featuring Dante from the Devil May Cry series” “New Funky Mode”, etc)

The first follow-up was Alex Kidd: The Lost Stars (With Stella), an arcade title released the same year as Miracle World, getting a port to the Master System two years later. I’d tell the plot here, but there’s a bit of an issue: While I cannot read Japanese, the little I’ve parsed through DeepL suggests that it varies much differently from the English plot. This was kind of a thing Sega did on occasion (see: Sonic CD). Regardless of which region, the overall plot is that a greedy star known as the Ziggurat (or the Bloom?) is going around absorbing other stars. Alex and his new ??? Stella must go out and find the Miracle Balls to restore the constellations of Planet Aries. In terms of gameplay, it’s a bog-standard run ‘n jump with bizarre visuals. Alex can’t even attack enemies without a specific power up.

(Pictured: Sega of America’s depiction of Alex Kidd, which would remain consistent in terms of western covers until Shinobi World)

The second, more direct follow-up is Alex Kidd and the Enchanted Castle for the Sega Genesis. If Miracle World was a flawed, if somewhat interesting game, then Enchanted Castle says “you are like baby: watch this.”

Gameplaywise: Alex has a new jumping-kick move when he descends, which requires positioning as it’s not a traditional jump attack. The plot-related elements that Miracle World had are non-existent, being a straightforward platformer. Rather than being strictly a boss battle affair, Jankenpon is now necessary to buy anything in the stores (or rather, the one item they have on display) and speaking of, there is only one proper boss fight in the main villain Ashura. Every other “boss” is a bout of Jankenpon. Most damningly, movement is just as slippery as ever and Alex still dies in a single hit.

Then there’s the ending, which...

The plot of Alex Kidd and the Enchanted Castle is that Alex hears a tip that his father is on another planet... namely, the planet that Janken the Great from the previous game is from. Alex travels there and fights his way to a castle in the sky, where he encounters Ashura, Janken’s son (maybe?). After defeating him, Ashura runs into the next room where King Thor/Thunder is waiting, perfectly fine. As it turns out King Thor had never been taken prisoner; He was visiting Janbarik/Paperock and took Ashura as his servant. The End.

(Alex’s Enchanted Castle design would go on to become the base for his modern design, albeit with some minor changes).

And here’s where the franchise gets weird.

Alex Kidd in Hi-Tech World was released for the Sega Master System the same year as Enchanted Castle. This one is interesting as it never released in Japan. Why? Because I lied: It did, but it wasn’t connected to Alex Kidd at all.

Anmitsu Hime was a Japanese manga/anime about a tomboy princess getting into all sorts of antics. It got a licensed video game in 1987. About 2 years later, Sega of America decided to “SMB2″ it for... reasons I cannot fathom. The main character was replaced by Alex, the characters were changed to be legally distinct versions, and the objective was switched from reaching a cake shop to reaching Hi-Tech World to play some Sega games (meaning the title is technically a lie: Alex is in Hi-Tech World in the ending).

So if you were ever wondering why Radaxian Castle went from a European Castle to a Japanese castle, why Alex’s parents are suddenly overtly Japanese, why Alex is being attacked by ninjas, etc, that’s why.

And speaking of ninjas...

(Alex is by everything as he contemplates the state of his franchise) 

Alex Kidd in Shinobi World was the last Alex Kidd game originally released in 1990, just a year before his speedy blue understudy would enter the scene. The plot is simple: Alex’s girlfriend is kidnapped by the Dark Ninja. The White Ninja, deciding that Alex is a bad enough dude to rescue her, grants him ninja powers. And all of this takes place on Planet Shinobi.

This is a weird one.

Despite being made by Sega’s R&D 2, Shinobi World was never released in Japan. It was called “Shinobi Kid(d)” during development, raising questions of if it was ever intended to be an Alex Kidd-related game. The first boss was originally a parody of Mario. This game, overall, was the note this series ended on.

Apparently, it plays really well by virtue of being based on Shinobi, so a high note. Still pretty sad when you think about it.

There is one last game to talk about regarding the Alex Kidd franchise, but it isn’t a sequel. On the contrary, it predates the series and even afterwards, it’s not immediately clear how it fits.

(Pitter Potter)

Pit Pot is a puzzle game, somewhat like Tower of Druaga. A knight, wielding a magical hammer, must save a princess who is trapped in the titular Castle Pit Pot by a witchsorceress. The knight, Igul, searches the castle for the three treasures he needs and succeeds in rescuing the princess.

But what does that have to do with Alex Kidd? Because Igul, the knight who’s the main character, is in fact the same Igul/Egul who is acting king of Radaxian, and the princess who is rescued after defeating Janken, Princess Lora/Rooney, is indeed the same princess that Igul rescued in Pit Pot. This is furthered by the Alex Kidd Complete Album release, which includes music from Pit Pot.

And Pit Pot, itself, is a sequel to an unreleased game called “Chain Pit”.

In any case, the Miracle World DX remake references this further The collectible for Radaxian Castle is given to Alex by the captain of the royal guard. The collectible in question? Igul’s hammer.

Other Appearances & Legacy

While never reaching the lows of say, Bubsy for example, Sega did have some fun poking at Alex’s failure to truly take off. Altered Beast has tombstones reading “Alex” and “Stella”, a reference to Lost Stars. Alex also featured in Segagaga, including a scene where he speaks with the main protagonist, Taroh, in order to convince him not to give up after he has been fired from Sega. Segagaga is a parody RPG of sorts, being one of the last games Sega made before exiting the console market (with the game itself reflecting the state they were in). With that in mind, the entire game takes on a bittersweet tone and Alex’s speech and reflection on his failure to catch on have a similar feeling, especially one scene that implies that Alex felt envious of Sonic (his replacement).

Alex has also been a mainstay of the Sega Superstars/Sonic & All Stars brand since Superstars Tennis.  While the franchise in general never got a court or track, Alex himself still has a slew of references: His Superstar State in Tennis is based on Jankenpon from the two main console games while All Stars Racing features the Sukopako motorcycle as his standard vehicle and Peticopter as his All-Star move. Sega still finds use for Alex even today as a mascot for their early years, with the Sega Ages line on Nintendo Switch having Alex present the games. Alex also appeared in the back half of the Mega Man/Sonic Archie crossover Worlds Unite (i.e. Sega X Capcom, sadly not as exciting as you’d think).

(But it still gave us stuff like this image)

And of course, the Miracle World remake, which started as a fan project.

Conclusion

So... why did I type up all of that? 

I dunno. I feel like Alex Kidd is a series that had potential, but squandered it. Miracle World is decent, if flawed, but Enchanted Castle doesn’t fix (or even doubles down) on those issues. I haven’t played the other games yet but given what I’ve seen of Lost Stars and the nature of the other two games, I’m not keeping expectations high. I suppose I’m just lamenting what could’ve been with this charming little series after playing both versions of Miracle World.

Of course, we got Sonic from all of that. People can argue over how worth it it was considering the later games and the fanbase and etc, but overall probably the best call...

Alex’s future these days is no better or worse than it has been for years. A proper follow up game is as unlikely as it’s always been. “Ossale” has stated/joked that if he could make a modern day Alex Kidd, it would be a realistic first-person action game with a feeling similar to the movie, Shaolin Soccer.

Miracle World still has a fanbase, especially in regions such as Brazil where the Master System is fondly regarded. The game even has a modest fan-hacking scene: You won’t find anything on the level of, say, Sonic: The Next Level, but it’s still noteworthy. Full on fan-games are rarer, but SAGE 2023 did have someone make an “Alex Kidd CD” to imagine what Alex Kidd would be like on the Sega CD, so there’s that.

Will we ever see a fangame that reinvents Alex Kidd with a detail of quality comparable to the finer Sonic fan games? Probably not, but imagine if we did, and Alex and Stella got an adventure that endeared them to players.

It’d be a Miracle.

#long post #Alex Kidd #With Stella #Alex Kidd in Miracle World #Alex Kidd and the Enchanted Castle #Alex Kidd The Lost Stars #Alex Kidd in Hi-Tech World #Alex Kidd in Shinobi World #retrospective #Reflection #Janken #Jankenpon #Sega #Master System

[j0lyn3]

.

#jankenpon is rock paper scissors in japan. and in the philippines they call it jack en poi. #rather similar right? this is my fun fact for you.

[hirako5hinji]

@korosakis​ asked:

" why's hiyori in charge of my training? i thought you were the head of your group. "

               “ Sorry ‘ta burst yer bubble, I’m just a helpless puppet figurehead within this cruel and merciless terrorist organization- ”

#korosakis #||αѕкѕ #Shinji vc: on the plus side if you can survive hiyori you can survive anything: true story #[ won his title by losing in jankenpon: another true story ] #[ thanks for sending! XD ]

[trashsketch]

Alright! I wanna talk about my thought process behind this crazy detailed piece I made for the hxh adventures zine in 2018! Get ready for plenty of closeups and references.

So the @hxhadventures zine was the very first fandom zine I've ever been accepted in, which was huge for me back then, considering hxh is the first ever fandom I've been deeply involved in! So I was like 'damn...i gotta bust my balls to make a super good piece cause there's so many amazing artists working on this thing.' I will never make a piece this detailed again, probably LOL this took me...so many weeks.

I knew I wanted to make something regarding Yorknew City, and thought back to the marketplace that Leorio and Killua and Gon visited while waiting for Kurapika to get back to them. It reminded me a lot of Mongkok's markets when I visited Hong Kong a few years prior, so I worked with some references from there.

As for what goods would be sold in the stall...well. I was really figuring it out all as I went. After a while of thinking, I decided on drawing a bunch of little references from anything I could remember from hxh. References to characters, places, important props...nevermind that it didn't make sense that the characters were stepping into a shop that was basically meta, it just felt cool as hell to include anything I could remember from the nights when I binged the manga and anime.

Let's start from the top right:

These chinese animal lanterns are references to the 12 zodiacs! And I had to include the blimps that the main cast moved around in from the anime.

As we move lower:

Top row, left to right: Knuckle's nen, Shoot's nen, Knov's glasses, Palm's necklace of knives, Togashi and Naoko dog and rabbit bags (the first of 3 instances I would place them in this drawing)

Bottom row, left to right: Bisky's nen, Netero's nen, Morel's pipe, Kite's nen.

And on the rest of the rows on the wall:

From top to bottom, left to right:

Row 1: Pitou, Pouf, Youfi, Komugi, Meruem, various Gungi tiles

Row 2: Kurapika's nen (the rest of his finger chains from the manga), Leorio's nen (the fist that he used to punch Ging with), Gon's nen (since it's based off jankenpon), Killua's nen (just a lightning bolt lmao), Palm's crystal ball, Hisoka's cards

Row 3: Togashi dog, Naoko rabbit, a (very tiny) representation of the W and E books from dark continent expedition arc, the starting tower of Greed Island, the Hunter symbol.

Row 4: Black whale ship, Heaven's arena tower, I...forgot what this tree was meant to be LOL, the World tree that Gon climbs to see Ging, 1999 anime hunter license, 2011 anime hunter license.

Moving on lower! We have:

Top row: Togashi and Naoko again as plushies, the Greed Island book, a postcard of Whale Island, the Greed Island end prize card case.

Bottom row: Various characters as dolls, a reference to Hisoka viewing everyone as dolls.

And now on the bottom right:

Some of these are various plushies from Alluka's room (it was mostly filler)

And last, but not least:

On the left we have a hookah pipe, because Kurapika was smoking it in the 1999 anime:

And the ring that Gon is pointing at is the ring that they later used as a prize for Leorio's plan!

#my art #hxh #yorknew #leorio #killua #gon #killugon #a very long ramble about the props i included as references to the hxh series itself #hope everyone understands now that i'm insane! #me: i wanna make a love letter for hxh. me 3 weeks into this piece: ughdhgjjkgkjdf

[jekacatrina]

I celebrated AO3 being back up by reading like 10 Bakudeku fics before breakfast and I loved it!

Also, next chapter of Nobody Else is finished, thanks to Hozier (Love you, babe) and here's a small sneak peek:

Huh, would he look at that? His breath caught in his throat as Kacchan covered Izuku’s fist gently. “I win.”

Izuku wasn’t so sure that was the case. The outcome of a Jankenpon had never been so irrelevant to him. He truly didn’t care about who got two of the three, since he was winning either way. Especially since Kacchan hadn’t let go of his hand yet.

Look at this guys, I'm back at it with the longing!

#im sorry for the massive delay i was sick for like a month and a half i thought i was done for akdjakjd #bakudeku #bkdk #nobody else #nectmh #bakudeku pacific rim au #i need to reread it and then my beta can give me a green light

[tobiasdrake]

I expected to be dead by now and that locked door is starting to make me curious. So I guess I'll just go jump on a timedrop.

Using made-up words for an openphrase is a pretty good idea, but I've been told it's best to include numbers and symbols too. Have you considered "stostorage roomoom five ampersand"?

See, that's why you should always change your openphrase away from the default. Now malefactors of unclear intent have complete access to this person's shed. I could be stealing their personal information to sell to the shoshop keepeeper right now and they'd have no idea.

But I'm not that wicked, so I'll just take whatever this is instead.

Length implies value. This seems more than valuable enough to burgle. I will take this and be on my way.

Let's see, what else do I want to do in town? Oh, right. The flower.

First time, I panicked, flung it at Mira for being a great team leader, and fled for my life.

Second time, I tried to use it to bury the hatchet with Bonnie and only succeeded in weirding them out and making things awkward.

This time. This time, I have a plan. I'm going to pry Isa's secret love confession out of him. Right in front of the Favor Tree. Where my Lemonfriend is stalking me. Hm.

...

CAUTION TO THE WIND!

Oh my god he's so goddamn precious

Yeah. I didn't spoil my appetite with pain du chocolat this time so I was ravenous and prepared!

Then I got up to refill my drink and suddenly I hear a sickening CRRRKKK and then the goddamn bread was broken in half. How!? How do you people always know that I'm watching for that!? Which one of you is temporally screwing with me!?

I feel like I'm losing my mind. This is literally worse than dying. I will find you, Breadripper.

But I gave you a pretty flower and everything. Come on, man. Find your nerve!

*sigh* I'm going back to sleep. Enjoy your face pillow.

Good night, Isa.

That feels like it's going to be important to remember for later. Typically, if trying to read it causes physical pain, it's probably some sort of horrifying eldritch text from beyond time and space. Which usually means it's definitely worth the effort to figure out how to read it! It might hold the secret to unlimited happiness.

It means a person of slim characterization and very limited expressiveness, designed to allow the audience to easily project themselves.

Our reality's principle form of violence is playing Rock-Paper-Scissors. What are you even supposed to do with a spear?

...I mean. I guess I have this knife I use to form Scissors. Mira's got a rapier for the same purpose. Isa gets Rock out of his punching gloves while Madame Odile's Tome makes Paper.

Not sure how Mirabelle's doing Paper attacks with a sword, though. That's kind of weird. Mira, where are you getting the Paper from? Do you have a motivational brochure for the Change religion as a sidearm?

Oh my god she uses a rapier.

Mira's weapon is a blade made from thin folded steel. That's where the Paper comes from. That's genius. Mira, you're a goddamn genius.

Okay. I get it now. I understand how weaponcraft in our world of Jankenpon Combat works. So yes, this spear would be a Scissors weapon. But since it's a spear, you could also use it as a bo staff. Would it then qualify as Scissors/Rock?

Hmm....

I appreciate your pragmatism. Contextually speaking, in times of crisis, it's not stealing. It's requisitioning.

Now let's requisition whatever isn't nailed down.

Oh shit, that's the traditional Rider-Waite Eight of Pentacles.

The Pentacles sign typically pertains to commerce, labor, and material affairs. This particular card usually symbolizes slow and steady skill progression at a menial craft. The man depicted is practicing his trade, carrying out the repetitive but necessary task of crafting his wares - and in so doing, developing his skill and becoming more capable in the production of his craft.

It's not hard to see the relationship between this card and the timey-wimey mission we're on right now.

There it is. We've found the key with diagnosed and well understood gender dysphoria.

Just because the egg has cracked, that doesn't mean this key is necessarily comfortable with announcing itself yet. Cracking the egg and coming out are very different experiences. If the key doesn't feel safe or ready to do the latter then it's fine for it to remain in the drawer for however long it needs.

...

Or it would be fine except we need to unlock a door. So. Uh. We'll just ignore that for the purposes of the metaphor.

Do not force people out of their closet even if the world is in danger.

#in stars and time #drake plays in stars and time

[hoshi-kawaii]

Okay I am pissed that I didn't learn this eight years ago when the YOI Fandom was super active.

So I have reached a lesson in my duolingo where they are literally teaching you how to play Jankenpon (Japanese Rock Paper Scissors) and there in the sentence that translates to "Rock beats Scissors" is a funny new verb that I'm learning: 勝つ, which means "to win".

勝つ is pronounced "katsu".

So Yuuri eats Katsudon when he wins because it's a fucking pun. When he wins he eats the "winning bowl".

What a fucking nerd. I love him so much.

#yuri on ice #yuuri katsuki #yoi #katsudon #japanese puns #play on words #anime #how did i not know this?

[hyeahgaku]

SAKADAYS TRIVIA

Chapter 98 of SAKAMOTO DAYS, titled "Tora Tora" (とらとら -translates to Tiger, Tiger) is actually a reference to a Japanese ozashiki game (party/drinking game) that geisha will engage in with their guests. Suzuki-sensei has creatively directed part of this chapter to be in such a way that Osaragi vs the maiko was, indirectly, playing this game.

Also regarded as another version of "Jankenpon" (じゃんけんぽん) -Japanese name for Rock-Paper-Scissors game, this game requires a minimum of two players (guest & maiko), who will be separated from each other's view by a rice paper folding screen. A geisha will play the music and sing the Tora Tora song while the two players will also perform hand gestures or a small dance. Once the song nears the end of the "Tora Tora" bit, the players will emerge from behind the screen and reveal which one of the following 3 roles they've chosen to play:

Watōnai (Samurai, aka the hero) -> Player does the spear-stabbing pose

Old Woman (Watōnai's mother) -> Player does the hunched-over pose

Tiger -> Player does the crawling pose

How to win: Depending on the choice, Watōnai will defeat the tiger, the tiger wins over the old woman & the old woman will defeat Watōnai. You can watch an example of the game here. Naturally, the loser of the game will have to drink a shot.

-

During the battle between the two ladies, they crashed into a room where the geisha were incidentally already singing the Tora Tora song. The maiko then suddenly brought out a folding screen and placed it between herself & Osaragi, symbolising that they're players in the game.

As soon as the "Tora Tora" portion reaches the end, we see Osaragi used her buzzsaw & threw it long-range to attack the maiko which sent her flying out of the room. Later on Osaragi extended the cord from her buzzsaw to lasso the maiko & reel her back before she finished her off. From these two occassions, we can assume Osaragi as the Watōnai and the maiko as the tiger based on the Tora Tora song lyrics -"Wearing a gold headband and cord, Watōnai, with much effort, has captured a beast."

#サカモトデイズ #SAKAMOTO DAYS #yūto suzuki #sakadays #sakadays trivia #did you know?

[maverynthia]

Coin-toss Tess is a great example of changing too much in localization.

Her original name is "Look that Way Hoiko". Which is a game where you are trying to NOT look the direction someone points. Which is why she's pointing this way and that. (And example of this game is in the old NES text adventure Princess Tomato in the Salad Kingdom. After the Jankenpon (Rock-Paper-Scissors) you have to play this game. Janken Pon, also, is the original name of Paper Rock Sylvie)

"Coin-Toss" makes no sense in this case and I'm betting many people are going "Why is she pointing all over the place."

She could have been named "Look-There Lily" or something.

#Fashion Dreamer #localization #bad translation

[insertdisc5]

Devlog #7 - Tokyos and Game Shows

Hello everyone! Welcome to this month’s devlog! If you just stumbled upon this, I am Adrienne, also known as insertdisc5! I’m the developer, writer, artist, main programmer, etc of the game. The game being In Stars and Time, which is the next and final game in the START AGAIN series, following START AGAIN: a prologue (available here!).  You can find out more about In Stars and Time here!!! 

LET’S GET TO IT

In case you didn’t know, this month we announced that In Stars and Time will be coming to Nintendo Switch, as well as showed off a brand new trailer!!! Did you see it? Did you see it. It’s such a good trailer. Watch it again.

And in case you didn’t know (second edition), In Stars and Time had a booth at the Tokyo Game Show! And I got to be there, along with Gabrielle, the Release Manager from Armor Games Studio! AND I GOT TO SEE PEOPLE PLAY THE DEMO RIGHT IN FRONT OF MY VERY EYES!!!! It was such a surreal experience, and so validating too… Feedback has been very positive and I couldn’t be happier! (I also got a lot of compliments on the battle system, which has surprised me??? I’m glad people like the battle system…)

I’d never been to a video game convention before, or to Japan, so I had a lot of new experiences thrown at me very fast! Japan is such a beautiful country (so clean!!!), and I had a wonderful time exploring and looking at the other TGS booths and talking to people… Gabby was here to use her Japanese language mastery to show off the demo, but thankfully I also learned the key words to survive and be able to explain my game in Japanese: “time loop RPG” to explain the concept, and “Jankenpon” (Rock-Paper-Scissors) to describe the battle system! Sometimes that’s all you need!!!

Thank you to everyone that played the demo, and passed by the booth!!! The demo will be available for the whole month of October still, so you should play it while it’s still up!

As for development, it is going well! The game having reached alpha last month means it’s time for intense rounds of QA to catch all those nasty little bugs. And localization into Japanese is underway! And!!! Studio Thumpy Puppy finished the soundtrack, and oh my god!!! I cannot wait for everyone to play the game and hear all those amazing tracks!!! So exciting!!!

That’s all I have to say for today! Let me know if you have any questions, or if there’s any aspect of the game development struggle you’d like me to talk about! See you next time!!!

AND DON’T FORGET TO WISHLIST THE GAME ON STEAM ALSO IT REALLY HELPS BECAUSE STEAM’S ALGORITHM IS MORE LIKELY TO SHOW OFF GAMES WITH A HIGH AMOUNT OF WISHLISTS THAT’S THE REASON WHY GAME DEVS ALWAYS ASK TO WISHLIST!!! OKAY BYE!!!!

#in stars and time #start again start again start again #devlog #indie dev #game dev #tokyo game show #Youtube

[superfurytamago]

Wanna sing along with Takaba and Kenjaku as they play rock paper scissors in chapter 242?

The best thing from this chapter is knowing that this song comes under the purview of JASRAC and Shueisha had to apply for permission to quote the lyrics.

Jaka jaka jan! Jaka jaka jan! Jaka jaka jaka jan! Yay! Jaka jaka jan! Jaka jaka jan! Jaka jaka jaka jaka jankenpon!

#jujutsu kaisen #akutami gege reminding us he's a 90s kid

[seafood-33]

2012-11-25

NHK trophy 2012

Javier was watching yuzuru 's SP and claps for Yuzuru.

They warm up together in front of Brian.

Javier was alone in kiss&cry because Brian is accompanying Yuzuru.

NHK Trophy 2012 Yuzuru Hanyu after SP press conference

Yuzuru : When we practice, we are not always in good shape, one of us is in good shape, one of us is in bad shape, but today, both of us were able to show everything we have practiced together. Javier's quad, 3A, 3Lz-3T, I think all of them were very good, I myself didn't see it properly, but Javier said he is very happy, so I'm very happy too, and I hope to work together again in FS.

Javier: I am very happy with my performance today. From the beginning to the end of the program, everything went well. I was aggressive in everything. I have nothing else to say. I'm just happy. Anyway, it was good. I am glad anyway, because my practice in Toronto paid off here. Also, Yuzuru, congratulations on your 1st place. Tomorrow will be a tougher battle. That's about all I have to say for today.

I was watching Yuzuru's performance, and I thought, "That was really good. Yuzuru was trying to do his best, to get that great score again, and I was watching with the same passion as Brian. I thought, "Oh my God, that's impossible." I thought, "Wow, that's amazing." I'm so happy that he went as far as he did. That's how hard we have been practicing. Of course, as Yuzuru said, we have our good days and bad days, but we support each other as a team, so I think that even the bad days are good.

Yuzuru and Javier were exchanging eye contact frequently, partly because of the questions they were asked. After the photo shoot, suddenly a voice said, "Jankenpon, ah, ah!" and "Jankenpon, face that way!" It was Yuzuru and Javier. Yuzuru was doing the "Hui over there!"

今日のエキシビションの練習の時に は、ユヅルとツイズルの練習をしていまし たね。

During today's exhibition practice, you seems to practice Twizzle with yuzuru.

「そう、アイスダンスみたいにね(笑)」

"Yes, it's like ice dancing (laugh)"

Source

Figureskating-online 2012 NHK

NHK杯2012まとめ 演技以外の部分

2012 NHK trophy man SP

2012 NHK trophy gala

Full list from 2011 to present

#yuzuru hanyu #yuzuvier #ハビゆづ #javier fernandez

[crokitheloki]

me and @thelowcalcalzonezone are curious... how do you/did you say rock paper scissors

like what did you call it cause I grew up with rochambeau, and she grew up with rock paper scissors

and then of course there's the other culturally specific ones like jankenpon which i did hear a little growing up

#croki rambles #I'm actually curious now #roomie says it's a California thing but idk #rock paper scissors #rochambeau #tumblr polls #croki polls

[yourfriendlykagamines]

I Like You, I Love You!~ [Rin Kagamine]

Hey Hey Hey Hey! Hey, could you wait a minute? I’m sorry, just one little moment of your time? Hey just one second, hey, for a little while. I only want to spend some time with you.

So what should we do? What is there to do? I know! We could play a game together! Maybe a word game? Shirito’ri’ – ‘Ri’n! Sorry, you must be bored with this already!

Maybe you’re hungry? Do you want something to eat? I guess, I think I’ll just have water to drink. Yes, I noticed, I can see When take your eyes from me. Just how much I wish you and I could be.

And yet I watch you pass Feel my heartbeat racing fast. My mouth is dry, I can’t find the words to say. I just don’t know what to do. Speaking honestly and true. It’s no good, no luck, I’m too afraid.

I want to tell you just how I feel about you. But why is it so difficult just for me to tell you?

Hey Hey Hey Hey! Hey, could you wait a minute? I’m sorry, just one little moment of your time? Hey just a second, HEY! for a little while. I only want to spend some time with you.

So what can we do? Just Let me think, now. Um, maybe we could play janken-shiyo? Jankenpon! Uh, Something else then? I’m sorry, I’m really no good at this am I?

Maybe you’re hungry. Do you want something to eat? I guess, I think I’ll just have water to drink. Even if so suddenly, all these feelings inside me. Leave my face red, leave me feeling kind of weak. So, then would it be okay? If today I heard you say something about you and me? -Well, anyway- I just don’t know what to do. Speaking honestly and true. It’s no good, no luck, I’m too afraid.

I want to tell you just how I feel about you. But why is it so difficult just for me to tell you?

I wish that I could say it, sorry, I, wait a minute I just want to, um, er I wish, hey, um, I can’t say it. You’re the one that I, um, you’re the one that I, uh You’re the one that I, er, you’re the one that I , I– Hey honestly, I um, truly I mean it, er, I just want to tell you, uh– You’re the one that I- Sort of, kind of, um, I mean it’s just kind of– Honestly truly and I wanted to tell you that–

I sort of kind of can’t I’m not very good at this I wish I wish I wasn’t so nervous! Just a minute!

I- That I- That- That I… That I’m in love with–!

I- That I- That- That I… That I’m in love with you.

#kagamine rin #vocaloid #kagamine len #pjsk #rin kagamine #vocaloids #official #rin and len #twinsduo #vocaliod #lyrics #lyric posting #i love you

[shuimicaultra01]

Ultraman Decker Finale : Journey to Blazar in Indonesia 11 Juni 2023 ( Bahasa Indonesia only )

Halo, semuanya saya akan menulis blog tentang Ultraman Decker finale : Journey to Blazar

Iya, kalian gak salah dengar karena ini adalah tur terakhir untuk Ultraman Decker, bahkan ini adalah tur kedua setelah Ultra Heros Tour South East Asia.

Tapi, sebelum itu saya menceritakan perjalananku ke La Piazza, Mall Gandaria City, Jakarta Selatan tempat event di Selenggarakan.

Mula-mula, saya bertanya arah menuju ke Gandaria City terlebih dahulu di sosmed ,yaitu twitter, akhirnya ada jawaban akun twitter resmi TJ ( @/PT_Transjakarta ).

Nah, saatnya jalan menuju ke Gandaria City

Saya berangkat dari Halte Rawa Selatan dengan naik bus koridor 2 ( Pulogadung-Monas ), setelah sampai di Halte Monas lanjut naik bus koridor 3 ( Kalideres-Monas via Veteran) untuk turun di Halte Indosiar setelah itu naik bus koridor 8 ( Lebak Bulus- Pasar Baru via Tomang ) untuk turun Halte Ps. Kebayoran Lama, awalan saya bingung pas sampai di tambah lagi pake acara salah naik bus, untung ada bus arah sebaliknya jadi saya beruntung, akhirnya naik bus koridor 8D ( Joglo-Blok M ) turun di Halte Gandaria City 1.

Setelah sampai di Gandaria City, awalnya sempat bingung di mana tempat event tersebut dan ketemulah gerbang ini.

Liat gerbangnya saja sudah sekeren ini.

Setelah memasuki area tersebut, saya langsung duduk lumayan capek juga

Yas, sebelum memasuki acara, biasanya ada kuis berhadiah merch dari RTV. saya sempat angkat tangan di pertanyaan kedua ( Untuk yang streaming Day 1 atau datang Day 1 pasti tau pertanyaannya, jadi saya ga kasih tau pertanyaannya kayak gimana hehehehe ), yah alhamdullah dapat merch Terima Kasih, RTV

Setelah beberapa menit sesudah adain kuis barulah Live Show di mulai yey ＼⁠(⁠◎⁠o⁠◎⁠)⁠／＼⁠(⁠◎⁠o⁠◎⁠)⁠／

Lumayan seru juga hehehehe

Mulai dari episode favorit dia ( Raiga Terasaka ) , kebetulan ada episode favoritku di sana yey ( Ultraman Trigger episode 19 )

NB : Ternyata ramah sekali ❤️❤️❤️, jangan kapok datang ke indonesia lagi ya.

Ada permainan juga kalau Day 1 Jankenpon ( Batu, Gunting, Kertas ) kalau Day 2 tebak nama-nama hewan

Sangki serunya, tiba-tiba......

Alien Magma muncul untuk serang pembawa acara serta Raiga ahhhh tidak

Ok, mari kita nonton stage show singkat ini di IG saya

Dan dari stage show singkat ini, kedatangan cahaya baru, Blazar yang akan di tayang bulan depan ( di jepang tanggal 8 juli sedangkan di sini tanggal 14 juli tentu saja di dubing pake bahasa kita )

( Mika : Blazar kok nonton tralier Blaz...

Rena : Diamlah dan tonton

Mika : Baiklah )

Maafkan OC saya ikut komen soal ini hehehe

Ok, lanjut di video tersebut ada pesan dari Kapten Gento dari Ultraman Blazar untuk sapa penggemar Ultraman di Indonesia.

Setelah itu, ada pose unik dari Ultraman Blazar

Dan sebelum akhirin acara dengan Karaokean bareng Raiga Terasaka ( di sinilah suara hampir mau habis untung beli minum sebelumnya jadi aman ) an pesan-pesan darinya sebelum bubar jalan.

Yah, akhirnya selesai sudah Live Show sesi 1, tapi saya sebenarnya pengen lanjut ke sesi 2 sayangnya saya untuk memilih pulang karena sudah lelah saya ini 😵😵

Begitulah cerita saya ke acara Ultraman Decker Finale : Journey to Blazar

( Mika : Padahal ini acara Decker , kok malah....

Michiko : Banyak komplan lu

Rena : Sudah tau cast mereka bentok karena 3 cast tersebut ke Taiwan gitu

Mika : Iya, maaf )

Sampai jumpa di lain kesempatan 👋👋

Tambahan :

Masih sempat-sempatnya foto ini juga

Doakan supaya Ultraman favorit kalian datang juga, amiin

( Gambar dan video akan di perbaharui)

#ultraman trigger #ultraman blazar #ultraman decker #live show #tsuburaya productions #shuimicatrip

[tsunflowers]

even though niki was just threatening to break up with rinne when rinne comes up with a stupid new bit he jumps in on it right away

actually their voice actors are like this too. they were going to play jankenpon to decide who went first and niki's actor was like "ok it's time for crazy janken!!" and tatsumi and mayoi's actors were like ??? and rinne's actor was like "oh you guys don't know crazy janken??" like immediately backing this stupid joke up

#immoral fruits