The Blog of Xbolt

Floating Cloud – 幻想郷夜会

It makes me happy.

At long last. After four years, episode 2 has come upon us.

It’s a little light on the plot-sauce, (especially given how long we waited for it,) but the jokes were fun, and made me chuckle. The art and animation is much improved as well.

In addition to the cast of the first episode, we are introduced to Yuyuko, Youmu, and the Eientei crew.

And continuing in the tradition of hiring big-name voice actresses, Youmu is played by Madoka(!), Eirin is played by Cindy Campbell, and Tewi is played by Enri Granitz. Other than that, I haven’t watched any animes with the other new characters. (Some are on my “to-watch” list, though.)

Touhou Musou Kakyou ~ A Summer Day’s Dream Episode 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKyPdKEaH-c

And there you have it, folks. Hopefully, we won’t have to wait until 2016 to get part 3. (Or worse, what if they catch Valve’s fear of 3s?!)

Mann vs. Machine

The update that has been speculated about for over two years is coming out tomorrow.

Truly, we live in the future.

Alstroemeria Records – Moon Struck

Now I’m seeing stars.

QuakeCon 2012 – John Carmack Keynote

3 1/2 hours. Holy cow. I think that’s a record.

I always like watching Carmack’s talks. He’s not afraid to talk about the gritty technical details that normal people don’t understand.

And someday, I’ll make it to QuakeCon.

Gustav Holst – The Planets – Mars, the Bringer of War

Last night, the Curiosity rover landed on the Red Planet. Housing a host of scientific instruments, Curiosity promises to tell us much about Mars that we don’t know yet. Including data for a possible manned mission in the future. Which would be pretty much the coolest thing ever.

Heavy Arm Wrestling

Intense.

REDALiCE – Spark Bolt

But is it explosive? Probably.

The invader comes from the bottom of the sea!

Ika Musume is about a fearsome squid girl who comes out of the ocean to subjugate humanity for constantly dumping trash into the water. Her first target is an unassuming beachside food stand, the Lemon. After punching a hole in the wall with her tentacles, Squid Girl is defeated by the Lemon’s owners, and put to work as a waitress. (Her tentacles allow her to carry lots of stuff.) Eventually, she gets to be good friends with the Lemon staff. Her dialogue also incorporates lots of squid-based puns.

The Aizawa family manages the Lemon. Eiko is the formal manager of the Lemon, and always has to keep Squid Girl in check. Despite that, she cares about Squid Girl more than she lets on. Chizuru is Eiko’s older sister. She’s a kind person, but has superhuman strength and reflexes. You do NOT want to see her angry. Takeru is their younger brother. He likes playing with Squid Girl.

And then there’s lots of other characters. Sanae Nagatsuki develops an unhealthy obsession with Squid Girl. Goro Arashiyama is a lifeguard dedicated to protecting people on the beach. He has a crush on Chizuru. Nagisa Saito works part-time at the Lemon. She’s afraid of Squid Girl, who enjoys the fact that there’s at least someone who thinks she’s fearsome. Cindy Campbell and the Three Stooges (Harris, Clark, and Martin) are extraterrestrial researchers who believe that Squid Girl is an alien. The Stooges were top of their class at MIT. Kiyomi Sakura is the first person that Squid Girl officially makes friends with, after a prank gone wrong. The Southern Winds Owner is… the owner… of the rival beach house Southern Winds. Hoping to capitalize on the popularity of Squid Girl, he has his daughter wear (rather creepy) Squid Girl masks to attract customers.

*whew*

Anyway, Squid Girl is a very funny show. My wife and I were constantly laughing throughout it.

Squid Girl Cemetary
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TY7ebKZHBeU

This was one of my favorite parts.

Practical Problems

This one’s really good.