#this took a while but. this was the winner of the birthday art poll

[gren-arlio]

For ONCE I cover a game with Madou Monogatari mechanics. Welcome to Episode 12 of (Waku) Puyo Extras.

(No Waku Puyo Manga page for you today. You get this instead, a photo for a calendar. Oddly, Suke is there despite not really being in the game.)

Hello everyone, it's the guy who likes talking about how silly Witch and Schezo are together, back at it again making (Waku) Puyo Extras. Wild to think that the art shown above was for a calendar. Wish SEGA did that more often. This was a little late because I've been focusing on school a little more, that and I wanted this to be really good, so my apologies.

This time around, the 12th go-around, I'll be covering... an actual Madou Monogatari game. It's taken us this many episodes to talk about one in full, but here we are guys. An actual episode about it.

And it's the really popular one too compared to every other game I've covered, besides maybe Serilly's Happy Birthday. That's right, we're covering Madou Monogatari: Tower of the Magician. AKA, the game that everyone knows stars Schezo and Witch.

Honestly, I've been wanting to cover this game for a long while, but I wanted to get better at translating before I covered it, and well, it's been enough time, I think. I wanna give this game justice, ya know?

But enough of that. Let's get into this, shall we? Hope you enjoy.

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So, What're the Origins/Characters?

Thankfully, because of how popular this game is compared to other Disc Station games, dates are a lot clearer for me. The release date of the game varies, but for Japan, it was released on September 6, 1997, for Windows 95, and a Korean version was released on September 20 of the same year.

(The cover of this game.)

The reason why this game exists... is a pretty interesting one to be honest. Compile held a popularity contest to see who the most popular characters were at the time, and the winners of that poll was Schezo and Witch. I mean Schezo is basically universally loved by the fanbase of Puyo at the time, and still sorta is, but Witch? I mean, I'm happy for her, but still, fascinating. Because they won, they got their own games.

As such, the game was put into development. The most notable part for me was the redesign for the characters, more specifically the main duo's design, and honestly? I rock with these designs so hard, these look amazing. The artstyle they went for is also just really pleasing to look at.

(I just wanna let people know I searched for 20 minutes for this image.)

As well, due to...well, I guess luck to be honest, we now also have some old artwork of what they were going to look like, along with Wish, Witch's grandmother... Oh, and Dark Matter, too.

(Also, the borders of the pages look great. Least IMO.)

Actually, about the characters, in this game, they're honestly really good.

For example:

Schezo is shown to have morals, and despite not exactly caring much about Witch at the start, to at least being kind enough to give back her magic after the final boss when she willingly gives it to him. He even accompanies Witch during the final floor and gives her the credit of beating Dark Matter when it was him, PLUS declining to take Wish's magic...though mostly because Dark Matter took most of it. It's a cool side of him.

Witch herself is honestly quite charming. She attacks Schezo first because she assumes he's an illusion, but realizes "Oh wait. That IS Schezo." and run into each other occasionally, though it's mostly banter and talking about Wish. When there's no jokes though, she's also shown to really care for her grandmother, Wish, as she brazenly rushes to her when Wish is collapsed before Schezo fights Dark Matter, and after the final boss.

Wish herself isn't given too much character but we do know that she was (and somewhat still is,) pretty dang powerful, and is at least shown to care for Witch, despite making her fail the test she was given due to outside help. Oddly enough, when Wish realizes that Schezo is there for her power and asks for it, she doesn't really protest at all, hoping it makes him stronger, confusing him and opting to leave so when she's back to her real strength, they'll have a fair fight.

Dark Matter...I mean he's fine, I guess. He wants revenge, which is fair enough. He did get beat by a 16 year old girl...though that's common in Madou.

...We don't talk about Gay the Whale. They're just...let's just say bad representation.

(Ah, the only story relevant characters...who's Dark Matter?)

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What's the Gameplay?

A first in Extras, it's literally Madou Monogatari gameplay. No wacky gimmicks, different gameplay, etc. We get... a pretty definitive Madou experience.

Madou Gameplay is thankfully straightforward enough. You're given options for attacks, using items, running away, the classic JRPG stuff.

(Yeah, Witch isn't actually playable. I'll explain later, but wow does she look really sad.)

It has it all. Random encounters, floor placements, treasure, the list goes on. It's probably the most refined gameplay for the franchise if I have to be honest. Plus, it looks pretty. That's half the battle.

Something to note is that this is an adventure with Schezo and later Tenori Zoh, Witch is of course, important to the story, but she's more of a roaming sidekick. She often appears because you came around at a good time and she needs help with something... which is so in-character for her, that or you two just run into each other. I will say though, the animations of this game are really good.

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How About The Story?

The game starts off with Schezo reading a book from a library about a story made about 50 years before the game begins, with Wish, Witch's grandmother, defeating Dark Matter, unfortunately not the Kirby one, but some random other geezer, when she was just 16 years old, and the tower she rests at isn't too far away, so Schezo goes into said tower to get Wish's powers.

(So at the very least, she's about 66. Not exactly, but at least there. She doesn't look 66, that's for sure.)

Unfortunately for him, life isn't so easy. During his quest, he runs into Witch, who thinks he's an illusion created by Wish, and they fight. Since he's the protag of this game, she loses, but realizes that he's the real deal, and explains why she's here; To complete her trial that Wish gave her to become a real witch...but she can't stand being at the tower. She also jokingly mentions to not say "I want you," to Wish, her grandmother, or else Schezo will look even more like a pervert.

After that scuffle and a bit later, Schezo runs into Incubus...doing Incubus things, such as but not limited to:

Being a loser

So they fight, leading to Schezo's victory. His victory spoils are actually solid for once, as Incubus had Tenori Zoh, and Schezo just takes the little fella and goes on with his day. I like Tenori Zoh, t.hey're a little guy and that's all they sorta need to be.

As the story progresses, Schezo does run into Witch sometimes, usually just trying to solve a puzzle and him just so happening to help her out, with puzzles and the sort, and wondering if Wish is alright herself, considering that this trial has been kinda tough.

However, those claims are slowly getting more scary as both Schezo and Witch climb up the tower, as near the top, they find a broken wall.

(Now ain't this unusual?)

Witch (very obviously) starts getting concerned if her grandmother is alright, and Schezo... I mean he tries to calm her down, and it somewhat works before they reach the final floor. At that point, they're working together... and it only took the entire game.

After a bit, and on the final floor, Witch rushes to Wish, who's sorta on the ground. Is she dead? Nah, but something's up, since when you rush to get to her, she's all beaten up and such.

(Wow. Who knew the stakes could actually be high for once.)

SURPRISE, it's that guy Wish beat 50 years ago, Dark Matter. With the energy she does have left, Witch gives it to Schezo to fight...and he does indeed fight, because he squares up against Dark Matter and wins, which is kinda cool when you think about it.

That's just Round 1 though, as after defeat, Dark Matter decides to possess Wish to control her, leading to the REAL final battle.

...I like the music for it. More on that later.

(Honestly speaking, this fight is so cool. Though saying your final boss is a literal grandmother is kinda funny.)

After that whole... Debacle, Dark Matter is defeated for real, and Wish once again collapses, and after Schezo returns Witch's powers, she rushes right towards her grandmother. Thankfully, she's alright, and when she wakes up, Schezo says that Witch was the one who defeated Dark Matter, not him. He even decides against getting Wish's magic, even though that was his plan from the get-go, even when Wish said that she wouldn't protest to it. Though with everything...Wish says that Witch got outside help for the test, and thus, she doesn't exactly pass.

Thus concludes the story of this game. For once, it's small enough to fully cover. I frankly love this story mostly due to the fact that, not only does it show sides of Schezo and Witch we don't see often, but also takes itself seriously at the end, which is a surprise for Madou standards.

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Well...Uh, How's the Music?

Simply put, stellar. I usually just say "Listen to them on your spare time," but today, for once, I'll link some songs.

Battle Music:

Wish's Boss Theme:

I Forgot Where This Plays:

Fufufu: (and I think Momomo)

Forgot Where This Played Part 2:

They're so good. Trust me on this one.

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So, Final Verdict?

...If it wasn't obvious enough, I really like this game. It's really good. Honestly, if you ever get the chance to play the game, I'd say try it...if you can find a guide on it. But other than that, I'd say try it.

Though that'll be all for me.

Adios, and if I don't post again, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

#Youtube #madou monogatari #puyo puyo #schezo puyo puyo #sega #windows 95 #witch puyo puyo #witch #puyoposting #schezo wegey #japanese translation

[backstagechatter]

Today in Music History 📜(RHC)

Hello Rockers 🤘 Welcome to Backstage Chatter 🤩

Not sure if you all would like this much but I learning new things everyday so maybe you do to😄

Give me a thumbs up or down I promise you weren't hurt my feelings

Today in Music History:

1958 - Oh Boy!

The first teenage all-music TV show Oh Boy!, was broadcast for the first time in the UK. Each week Oh Boy! featured resident artists plus a selection of special guests. The residents included Cuddly Dudley, who sang on 21 shows, Cliff Richard (20 shows), The Drifters (Later to become The Shadows) (17 shows) and Marty Wilde (17 shows). Guests included Billy Fury, Tony Sheridan, Shirley Bassey and Lonnie Donegan; with occasional US stars, such as The Inkspots, Conway Twitty and Brenda Lee.

1969 - Led Zeppelin

During a short 5 date UK tour Led Zeppelin appeared at The Free Trade Hall, Manchester, England supported by Blodwyn Pig and The Liverpool Scene. The flyer for the tour stated: 'Come & take off, levitate with the Led Zeppelin album'.

1974 - Abba

ABBA's second album (but first UK release), 'Waterloo' entered the UK chart for the first time peaking at No.28. The album's title track won ABBA the 1974 Eurovision Song Contest.

1981 - Duran Duran

Duran Duran released their debut studio album which reached No.3 on the UK Albums Chart and remained in the UK top 100 for 118 weeks. In the US the album reached No.10 on the Billboard 200, and spent 87 weeks on that chart. Singles from the album included the UK top 10 hits 'Planet Earth' and 'Girls on Film'.

1985 - Dire Straits

Dire Straits started a nine-week run at No.1 on the US album chart with, Brothers In Arms. The album is the seventh best-selling album in UK chart history and won two Grammy Awards at the 28th Grammy Awards, and also won Best British Album at the 1987 Brit Awards.

1988 - Bruce Springsteen

During Bruce Springsteen's stay in Rome during a world tour a photographer took a shot of Bruce in his underpants sharing an intimate moment with his backing singer Patti Scialfa. The picture confirmed the rumours that Bruce and Patti were having an affair.

1989 - Nirvana

Nirvana's debut album Bleach was released in the US. The title for the album came from a poster 'Bleach Your Works' urging drug users to bleach their needles. Kurt Cobain claimed that most of the lyrics on the album were written the night before recording while he was feeling "pissed off", and that he did not regard them highly.

1996 - Ella Fitzgerald

US jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald died in Beverly Hills, California, aged 79. Already blinded by the effects of diabetes, Fitzgerald had both her legs amputated in 1993. Winner of 13 Grammy Awards, the 1956 'Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Cole Porter Songbook' was the first of eight "Songbook" sets. Appeared in the TV commercial for Memorex, where she sang a note that shattered a glass while being recorded on a Memorex cassette tape. The tape was played back and the recording also broke the glass, asking "Is it live, or is it Memorex"

2002 - The Beatles

A rare autographed copy of The Beatles' album Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band sold at auction for £34,000 ($57,800), more than five times the estimated price.

2003 - Radiohead

Radiohead scored their fourth UK No.1 with their sixth studio album 'Hail To The Thief'. The title Hail to the Thief – a phrase used by anti-George W. Bush activists during the controversy surrounding the 2000 US presidential election was a play on 'Hail to the Chief', a march played to announce the arrival of the President of the United States.

2005 - Coldplay

Coldplay went straight to No.1 on US album chart with their third album 'X&Y', having already entered at number one in the UK. The last time a British artist had a simultaneous US and UK number one was in November 2000 with '1', a compilation of hits by The Beatles. The last studio album to reach number one on both sides of the Atlantic was Radiohead's 'Kid A' in October 2000. 'X&Y' went on to top over 30 global charts.

2008 - Liverpool

Liverpool was voted England's most musical city in a national campaign set up by the Arts Council. The home of The Beatles Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark and The Zutons took 49% of the vote in an online poll set up by the funding body. Sheffield - which brought the world the Arctic Monkeys and Pulp - came second, while Manchester with Oasis, Stone Roses and The Smiths came third.

2010 - Elton John

A case against a man accused of threatening Elton John's life was withdrawn just hours before his trial was due to begin. Neal Horsley had responded to Elton's suggestion that Jesus Christ was gay in a Parade magazine interview by writing an angry online response entitled "Why Elton John Must Die". After being held in an Atlanta, Georgia jail since last March, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Kimberly Esmond Adams dismissed the case against Horsley because his actions did not warrant criminal charges.

2016 - Jimmy Page

Led Zeppelin's guitarist Jimmy Page denied stealing the riff to 'Stairway To Heaven' when he took the stand at a copyright trial in the US. The band were accused of lifting the opening guitar line from 'Taurus', a 1968 track by the band Spirit. Page testified that he had never heard the song until people started posting comparisons online a few years ago. Page admitted to owning several Spirit albums, but only remembered buying two of them, neither of which contained Taurus. Under questioning, he conceded that he did own a copy of the band's self-titled debut, on which the track appears, but could not recall how it came to be part of his collection.

Birthdays:

1937 Waylon Jennings, American country singer and guitarist (Ramblin' Man), born in Littlefield, Texas (d. 2002)

1969 Ice Cube [O'Shea Jackson], American rapper and actor (Boyz in the Hood, Anaconda), born in Los Angeles, California

1976 Gary Lightbody, Northern Irish musician (Snow Patrol)

1981 William Dean Martin, American musician (Good Charlotte)

Deaths:

Elle Fitzgerald dies age 76 at 98 years olds