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SOON probably im gettin that "be productive" bug again at least, fuckin college though Gamwhiz1 fucked around with this message at 03:18 on Apr 8, 2017 |
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Oct 25, 2015 19:18
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I also got around to reading (and finishing) the Pluto manga, and I really enjoyed it. There's some really dark stuff in it though.
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Oct 25, 2015 19:47
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Hoss Corncave posted:I also got around to reading (and finishing) the Pluto manga, and I really enjoyed it. There's some really dark stuff in it though. I read it too, thanks to this thread. It's definitely a good read.
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Oct 26, 2015 10:18
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So while we wait anyone seen young black jack?
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Oct 27, 2015 19:57
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dont mind me just preventing all my work from being lost forever FOREVERRRR no but seriously workin on it just wanna be safe we'll be back online shortly
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Dec 26, 2015 16:41
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Always happy to chip in one post against oblivion. Seriously, though, it's pretty perfect that the gimmick of a game that is 100% Tezuka hinges around EVEN MORE TEZUKA.
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Jan 30, 2016 03:37
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Hey all  I just finished replaying this game recently, it's a wild ride. I need to check out some more Tezuka stuff now, this game is the only Tezuka-related thing I've been exposed to lol
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Feb 25, 2016 21:24
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You ever have something you really wanted to do, but just can't? Like, you keep getting set up to do things, start on it, then a random distraction comes up, you go "I'll come back later", then just forget about it? Yeah, me neither.
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Apr 25, 2016 00:25
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No.
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Jun 23, 2016 10:20
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I hope things are at least going well for you in the meantime. I'd rather have an LP with the truckload of bonus content you add lapse from a lack of drive to keep up that standard, than life punching you in the balls to much to try.
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Jun 23, 2016 11:23
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Agreed, this is a neat game but the added content is just as if not more interesting.
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Jun 26, 2016 23:03
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Last time I'm gonna bump this if I can't get things up and running by the next time round. Reason it's taking so long, beyond schooling and work and yadayada life things, is that I've been working on retooling things ever since pretty much every one of my video reference links went down the shitter due to copyright claims of some sort or another last October or something. It killed my motivation something fierce, biggest burnout I've ever had; getting everything fixed and back up is a massive job, and while I was at it I looked back on what I had so far and went "well youtube allows 60fps with hd video now, and I don't have that; I've regretted not putting reference images into the videos themselves when describing plot and characters; I'd like to retool a few of the bios...and so on with the snowballing poo poo. I have all the raw footage, commentary audio, scripts where applicable, reference images and character post data back to part 1, it's just slow going getting the time, mindset and necessary setting to fix everything, and given that everything's gonna need to be reuploaded I've been toying with the idea of just letting this thread die and relaunching it with fixed, redone, sparkly parts up to the present lined up and ready to go so there's none of this "wait 6ish months between updates" nonsense. Tl;dr if the poo poo's done in two months, it goes here, otherwise the thread's allowed to die until I do finish this. And I will loving finish this, it's been an albatross on my back for like two years now, constantly ticking down the days til I had to bump the thread and lamenting my own distractions. This entire section of my life is gonna be defined by "the years I wasted not finishing the Astro Boy LP" at this rate. And thanks for stickin' around, those of you what got interested in this, means a good bit. Every time I post a non-update and someone replies to it I die a little inside for having failed this long 
Gamwhiz1 fucked around with this message at 21:01 on Aug 25, 2016 |
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Aug 25, 2016 18:05
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Maybe it got hit by copyright claims because of the Astro Boy digital CCG they're kickstarting now.
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Aug 25, 2016 18:30
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I still have this LP bookmarked because learning about Tezuka's works is awesome. Is this game the most ambitious work in terms of trying to use seemingly every single star in Tezuka's cast in a story?
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Aug 25, 2016 21:01
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Having all your reference material still is a huge deal for this kind of thing (So uh, make extra backups if you can  )The fact you were going all out ancient anime informative on top of demonstrating a game that can get balls hard even without 100% completion, well, that's a pretty huge workload. So good luck with your life concerns, because those are more important than  We're both hopeful that someday you get back to this, but also understanding if you don't because that's a big loving goal you've set for yourself on this project.
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Aug 26, 2016 00:23
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Don't worry, even Tezuka died before technically completing his magnum opus! ... Wait that's not uplifting at all is it. Either way I really appreciate all the work you're doing to try and get this thing done. Like everyone else in the thread has said even what you've done so far is incredibly impressive. Thanks for all of the anime
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Aug 26, 2016 00:47
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I'm a super lurker, but allow me to pitch in against letting this great lp fall into the archives. I think I read like one chapter of Astro Boy, before accidentally reading Pluto without knowing it was an Astro Boy retelling. It was still fantastic. Now days, I'm a pretty big fan of Tezuka's works and enjoy each one that I come across. It's pretty fun to discuss Tezuka's stories in the time period that they came out in. There were pretty strange and now archaic to us ideas in his stories that reflected pretty much what nost people (and scientists at the time!), but I'm still pretty impressed by how Tezuka's themes seem pretty modern and progressive despite everything he was surrounded by. I'm more familiar with Black Jack than I am with Astro Boy, but it's still super nice to have such informative posts about Astro Boy lore and still see how progressive the messages that Tezuka presents along with the hard challenges that his stories took on that still sound out even decades later. Loving this LP, and just wanna say it's an enjoyable read/watch!
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Sep 11, 2016 23:18
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Okay, so this is the deadline date, and it's happening. Gameplan: Going through the old posts and fixing links, as well as rewriting things where I feel it necessary (already got started on this, and will probably rewrite the Astro bio just because I've always felt it awkward). I've already started on this and will be continuing - Big issue here is that a lot of the 1980 episodes aren't available in jap anymore. I'll be replacing them with sucky 1980s english dub where I can (unless a new distribution deal happens to allow them back on youtube), and any link I can't fix gets this little number thrown onto the link as a placeholder just in case I can ever grab it again. I'm also fixing up the videos, re-recording a bit of audio and probably editing in some reference images. 'Cause of living situation it'll take a bit to re-record poo poo, limited quiet hours and whatnot, but I plan to have probably 2-3 done by the end of the weekend. They'll be uploaded separately, replace the extant video links here, and be posted separately with the title card images from the op as well as relevant star system post links, redirecting to the original text posts. I'm fine with the state of most of them so there's no real need to start a new thread, but I do want to consolidate videos and posts given the timeframe this has gone on; essentially a quick, hopefully improved recap of the game that makes it more accessible should someone poke their nose in for the first time. Or doesn't have a perfect memory of a two year old thread. While that's going on, new part and posts will be worked on. Goal's to space it so that I can get a few done by the time old ones are reposted and finish this without stupid breaks. I also have to refresh myself on what all I have, because, uh, it's been a while. its crunch time Gamwhiz1 fucked around with this message at 12:02 on Mar 20, 2017 |
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Nov 12, 2016 01:49
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Sometimes life happens, so it's ok. Take your time. 
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Nov 12, 2016 01:56
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Good luck with everything, and hopefully your life situation smooths out enough to make free entertainment for the internet not something you'll burn out over. You've got your work cut out for you with all the ancient research, on top of the Treasure gameplay.
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Nov 12, 2016 02:22
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I really enjoy what you've done so far, but life always comes first. Do what you've got to do, and don't worry about this thread for now.
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Nov 13, 2016 00:01
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Bumping, but also updating - I've re-edited all but part 9, including doubling resolution from 720x480 to 1440x960 for 60fps, fuddling with audio balancing to maintain consistency across videos, and adding reference photos to bio sections - I change I'd regretted not implementing from the beginning. On top of that, I've re-done the commentary on part one due to some nagging problems I had with it, re-familiarized myself with everything, started work on the next few bits, and  
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Jan 12, 2017 04:42
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The effort and love put into this LP is what makes it special. You rock, Gamwhiz1.
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Jan 12, 2017 21:12
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EagerSleeper posted:The effort and love put into this LP is what makes it special. You rock, Gamwhiz1. Thanks for keeping this in mind, and good luck with the Finals and other real life shenanigans.
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Jan 12, 2017 21:20
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Placeholder post just because I really don't want this to die because I took a couple hours longer getting the first bit of actual content in over a year formatted correctly than I wanted to god willing nobody replies to this
Gamwhiz1 fucked around with this message at 09:52 on Mar 14, 2017 |
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Mar 13, 2017 05:02
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Gamwhiz1 posted:Placeholder post just because I really don't want this to die because I took a couple hours longer getting the first bit of actual content in over a year formatted correctly that I wanted to god willing nobody replies to this AT LONG LAST THE SLEEPER HAS AWAKENED
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Mar 13, 2017 05:05
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Praise be 
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Mar 13, 2017 06:35
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Discendo Vox posted:AT LONG LAST THE SLEEPER HAS AWAKENED EagerSleeper posted:Praise be Technically, I'm not replying to it But yeah, glad to hear things have settled down enough in your life for spare time to be a thing.
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Mar 13, 2017 07:34
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Star #23: =Phoenix= Through the ages: Phoenix Manga, Phoenix 2772, 1980s cameo See her in action: PHOENIX 2772 MOVIE ---------- You can read Phoenix HERE. ---------- Tezuka character list bio: Number 46.  - A mysterious alien lifeform who is immortal. Tezuka was influenced by Stravinsky’s music when he made this character. This is the main character of a series which Tezuka spent his whole life on. The length of the series stretches over 30 years. “Dawn” (Manga Shonen July 1954 – May 1955), “Egypt, Greek, Roma” (Shoujo Club May 1956 – December 1957), “Dawn” (COM January – Novermber 1967), “The Future” (COM December 1967 – September 1968), “Yamato” (COM September 1968 – February 1969), “Universe” (COM March – July 1969), “Phoenix” (COM August 1969 – September 1970), “Rebirth” (COM October 1970 – September 1971), “Robe of Feathers” (COM October 1971), “Nostalgia” (Manga Shonen September 1976 – March 1978), “Turbulent Times” (Manga Shonen April 1978 – July 1980), “Life” (Manga Shonen August – December 1980), “Corruption” (Manga Shonen January – April 1981), “Sun” (Yasei Jidai January 1986 – February 1988). Kun Ichikawa directed the movie version of “Dawn” in 1978, the TV version of “Phoenix” in 1986, and “Universe” and “Yamato” in 1987. Osamu Tezuka put much effort into “Phoenix 2772 – The Love of Cosmozone” in 1980. Many new technologies were developed to create it. Satomi Mikuriya did the mecha design, and also converted it into a comic. The scene where a character drives an air car was called the “Giant Rotation Scene.” This is because they built a city model with a fully animated moving background, and filmed 700 cuts of that model. This amazing production was made possible by the famous animator Junji Kobayashi. After this project, he worked on another short film called “Jumping,” which used 4000 moving background images, all in a single cut. Unique animation techniques were used in the making of this movie. By overlapping 2 or 3 still tres, he was able to simulate full animation. This was an original idea that was thought up by Osamu Tezuka to blend limited animation and full animation together.You see all those words up there? Phoenix has the most wordy bio out of any of the characters in-game, rambling on and on about more and more tangential subjects, and gives a real impression that whoever wrote it could just write forever on the subject. There’s a pretty good reason for this, though – while Astro’s the most recognizable Tezuka face in the west, “Hi no Tori”, the Phoenix, is far and away considered to be Tezuka’s most monumental achievement in his home country, an epic masterpiece spanning decades, genres, and themes; its scope is such, in fact, that Tezuka continuously worked on it throughout his life, jumping back and forth through time, weaving a coherent and connected narrative from both ends of the story’s timeline. Let’s start by focusing on that last point. The Phoenix is very much a unique work, an example of experimental narrative, in that when Tezuka approached the publication of Phoenix, he did so from a very challenging angle – he would write the beginning of a continuous story, then the end of it, and fill in the middle, jumping back and forth through time, until he ended at the natural conclusion – in the present. This style of writing is both famous and infamous – on the one hand, it’s incredibly unique and well-done, changing settings and conflicts while still maintaining certain constants, making it an extremely engaging read, but on the other hand, it’s an unfinished masterpiece – the two sides of the timeline are left unconnected, due entirely to the untimely death of one Mr. Osamu Tezuka in 1989 at the age of 60. Here’s a little graphic to give you an idea how the series works, both in terms of chronological release dates and in terms of the narrative, as it’s hard to explain without it  As you can see, the Phoenix publication, running from 1967 all the way to Tezuka’s death, is not your average children’s series, and is a prime example of the thematically deeper part of his portfolio. While works like Big X and Princess Knight provided adrenaline-filled fistfights and fantastical medieval romance to younger audiences, Phoenix was instead used as a vehicle to push one of the strongest, most prevailing themes in Tezuka’s works to the limit – that of life, death and subsequent rebirth. This cycle is prevalent in a great many of his works, as are observations on the purpose and meaning of conflict, but the most definitive example of Tezuka’s usage of this cycle isn’t, in fact, in any one work- it’s in all of them.  In each of his individual works, Osamu Tezuka focused on a select group of characters, but at the same time incorporated those from the past. As noted from the beginning of this LP, “though someone may die in one work, you can always rest assured you’ll be able to see them back in another”. This wasn’t just a throwaway line; the very structure of Tezuka’s entire body of work is demonstrative of rebirth, of a constant cycle and recycle. Indeed, Phoenix’s publication itself even showcased a series of deaths and rebirths, appearing, as the bio states, for short stints in two separate magazines before being “reborn” into a third in 1967’s “Dawn” - and that’s without even mentioning the content of the series itself. This cycle of death and rebirth, then, can be said to have been of great interest to Tezuka from a very early stage in his career. And what better way to explore it than through the lens of a creature famous for doing exactly that?  The Phoenix, the bird of fire, is a supernatural being, a creature that is everlasting, yet is nonetheless mortal. Chosen by Tezuka as an ideal follow-up to Leo the Lion after being inspired by Igor Stravinsky’s L'oiseau de feu (the firebird), the Phoenix is a physical embodiment of the eternal and the ethereal, of permanence and impermanence, of the duality of man, of life, of the earth, and of the universe; Tezuka himself gave some thoughts on the origins of the Phoenix, viewable on these two pages, but the Phoenix is, on the surface, the creature you’re likely familiar with from fantasy and myth. What she is not, however, is the main character. The Phoenix, much like the cycle of life and rebirth, is used as a framing device for the real subjects of the saga: humanity. Each chapter of Phoenix focuses on a snapshot of humanity within a selected timeframe, and on the struggles that develop between individuals and nations. To facilitate this, the stars of the show are a miniaturized version of the Star System; a select group of humans, most notably a distinctive and flawed man named Saruta (a gruffer Ochanomizu lookalike, and one of the most glaring absences in this game) live their lives, die, and are reborn as the plot progresses through each period of time. Each has their own motivations, skills, and flaws, and each lives their life as best they can; as humans do, each dies, but in Phoenix, unlike the main star system, a continuity is maintained - Saruta reappears, not as the same man, but as a recognizably similar one, with similar faults, similar struggles, and a similar contact with the Phoenix. It’s difficult to describe the Phoenix series as a whole in terms of plot due to how wildly experimental it is; in one story, you have a tyrannical ruler of early Japan wishing to kill a historian so that the ruler may write history as he sees fit; in another, humanity is dying out and lives under extreme structure so as to not be tempted into apathy by the extreme ease with which relaxation and carnal acts may be pursued; in yet another, a group of spacefarers are wrecked and must attempt to survive in complete isolation. Individual plotlines have little importance between chapters of the saga; what matters instead are the baser desires of humanity, and the lengths people will go to obtain them. This is oft where the Phoenix comes into play; as the embodiment of life, she’s capable of granting it eternally – but obtaining that power is no easy task.  The Phoenix is, much like the cycle of life and death, a being of duality. She can be equal parts caring and cruel, a giver of life and a taker of the same; more often than not, she acts as an impartial, uninvolved observer, but when humans seek her out or attack her, intent on consuming her blood to gain themselves personal longevity, she’s entirely capable of frightening savagery. Stranger still to those only acquainted to her through this game, she’s often passive to an almost cruel extent, letting humans rush to their deaths without intervention and observing as entire tribes of innocents are slaughtered to the last man, woman and child. The Phoenix is not a force of good, she is a force of nature, an intrinsic part of the earth; her motivations and goals are unclear, and more often than not not the focus of the story. Again, Phoenix is a series of themes and ideas, not one of small-scale continuity; the series connects and takes place in the same universe, but those connections, and the Phoenix herself, operate on a macro scale, and as such she doesn’t necessarily act as you’d expect a supposedly benevolent life form to. That’s not to say the Phoenix is lacking in character or motivation, however. As the series progresses, you get small glimpses as to what her true personality is, what she strives for, and what she’s seen – most prominently, the importance and value of the continuity of life, and the right of each life to strive to exist under their own power, no matter how fruitless that struggle may ultimately be.     Phoenix: Future, the second work in the series, “ending” as it is, contains probably the most concise examination of the Phoenix, what she is, and how humanity (and life in general) tie into the universe, while also providing a very raw and visceral look into what the author valued and how he saw the world. I’ve collected what I feel is an acceptable slice of it into this gallery, but I really do recommend that, if you have the time, you read at least the first two “chapters” of Phoenix – it’s not a short series, but there is absolutely a reason Phoenix is considered Tezuka’s Magnum Opus, and there’s honestly some imagery from Future that I don’t think I’ll ever forget. The series is, and will forever remain, tragically unfinished, but thanks to the story structure, each individual section is entirely consumable on its own.  Much like in its own series, and indeed, like in this game, the Phoenix shows up as a Star System cast member, but generally only in limited or cameo capacities – like in the above picture from Marvelous Melmo, where she kicks off the plot as a granter of wishes. She’s a rare, but extremely important, member of the cast, and tends to pop up either physically or in the background when the plot involves death and acts of physical or spiritual rebirth. Despite the historical notability of Phoenix, however, the series itself has only been animated in bits and pieces, with individual stories receiving limited OVAs, short-running series, or movies, while others, like Phoenix 2772, were closer to original stories, slotting themselves into the themes and world of Phoenix. 2772 is notable for itself being rather artistic and experimental; the first 10 or so minutes of its runtime are entirely instrumental, showcasing the development of a human child from birth to a fully-grown man set to classical music – the animation, too, pushed boundaries, with the “Giant Rotation Scene” mentioned in the in-game bio viewable HERE. I’m personally somewhat lukewarm on the quality of the movie in its entirety (as well as that of many other Tezuka movies), but it’s undeniably ambitious and artistic – and again, I cannot stress enough the remarkably timeless quality of the Phoenix saga as a whole. The author may have passed before his time, but his work continues to live anew through the generations – and so, too, does the Phoenix.   
Gamwhiz1 fucked around with this message at 03:43 on Apr 30, 2017 |
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Mar 13, 2017 15:53
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Discendo Vox posted:AT LONG LAST THE SLEEPER HAS AWAKENED EagerSleeper posted:Praise be Section Z posted:Technically, I'm not replying to it y'all are fucks (so uh re-ups coming in the next day or so [the moment my lazy rear end finishes the last one] alongside a quick "yeah this is what happened in each part" posty thingy, then  video updates!this first because, well, it seemed kinda fitting. We're back baby! With sexy new custom PC and blue yeti mic because I've unsuccessfully tried to motivate myself with expensive new toys for the past half a year! so maybe it'll be less poo poo who knows) Gamwhiz1 fucked around with this message at 16:04 on Mar 13, 2017 |
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Mar 13, 2017 15:55
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Good choice of character to return on.
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Mar 13, 2017 16:28
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Yes, excellent choice of character to return on. Good luck shaking off the LP malaise and putting a pin in this.
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Mar 13, 2017 23:25
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So, because the recent Big 20 Famicom game race included a Three-Eyed-One game, I decided to start investigating Tezuka property video games out there. Believe it or not, there are 2 different games based on the same part of the Phoenix story, the one about the thief that becomes a sculptor, a side scroller for the NES, and a shmup for the MSX2. I would love to see more about the different games made out of Tezuka's stuff, though I'm sure they're not all great games like this one. Actually the only games in that category I've actually seen all of are this one, the above 3 eyed one game (Matsume Ga Toru) and Blood Will Tell for the PS2, which adapts Dororo, though makes it look "realistic" instead of cartoony. It's a decent game, think along the lines of Devil May Cry or Onimusha. Some of the games I'd never be able to play myself due to being Japanese only, like the Blackjack DS game that's like Trauma Center kinda, or the several flash games on Tezuka's official Japanese webpage.
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Mar 14, 2017 00:48
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I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna read all of Hi no Tori.
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Mar 14, 2017 03:22
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POST RECAP So it’s been a little bit (read: like 3 years) since this LP’s started and in that time many new and amazing things have come to fruition! Like Youtube allowing 60fps video! To take advantage of that, I’ve redone each of the 9 video updates provided so far; additionally, on top of upscaling them from 720x480 to 1440x960, I’ve implemented some quality-of-life shenanigans. Audio leveling is now consistent across videos (I’d started out balancing the music a bit louder than I ultimately liked and changed it as the series progressed), the first update has been completely redubbed, and, most significantly, each video now contains relevant pictures during each character bio, for the shitheads who aren’t into clicking every little link I painstakingly typed up in character posts over many an hour. These new videos have now replaced the older ones in each update and in the OP; that being said, I imagine a good few of you probably don’t have perfect memories of an LP 3 years in the making, and maybe also don’t want to rewatch the episodes in question. SO. Here’s a brief-ish story synopsis (read: me vomiting words on my keyboard for 3 hours) for each; I might also add these to the posts seeing as I make it a point not to read or overly acknowledge plot points in-game since it’s right there in the video for them to read already. Also, and lastly, videos are no longer in the polsy player - I was informed by an expert in the subject that "only weirdos and...goonlords" still use Polsy and as I am a fine upstanding member of the let us play community I have chosen to take their input to heart. Also it means I didn't have to go through another step when fixing every link in the let's play, but that's tertiary at best.   A young boy named Tobio dies in a tragic car accident! A mysterious bearded man swears to bring him back, stronger and better than humans ever were! Entirely unrelated to these events, a young boy-shaped robot named Astro awakens, greeted by a large-nosed man named Dr. O’shay. He can fly, shoot lasers from his hands, and fire guns from his rear. He gets to do all these things in the ever-exciting tutorial area – THE MINISTRY OF SCIENCE. Near the end, he learns of his “Omega Factor”, a unique element exclusive to Astro that mimics a human soul, allowing him to grow and change as he meets and understands people. Also some girl named Wato comes in only to immediately be kidnapped – setting up our first real stage objective.   Astro sets out in the main metropolis setting of his stories – Metro City. On his quest to find Wato, he also encounters Alejo, a street-savvy young resident who cheers us on and introduces us to the concept of characters hidden in the environment. After fighting through a few waves of enemies and taking out a giant enemy spider, we reunite with Wato – only to find there’s apparently an even bigger fish just slightly off-screen in the rogue powerstation bot Magnamite. Once having beaten Magnamite, it’s revealed that even it wasn’t the real threat, as a strange red humanoid robot identifying itself as Atlas appears, taunts Astro in regards to the difficulty he had with Magnamite, reveals he knows of Astro and wants him to grow in power, and then leaves without fighting. O’shay remarks there’s only one scientist he knows of capable of creating a robot as sophisticated as Atlas – and as if on cue, a strange silhouetted figure appears gazing in on metro city from a hillside, remarking on how Atlas and Astro have finally met – and referring to Astro as Tobio.   The scene opens on the house Astro’s taken up residence in, as he questions O’shay on the red robot named Atlas. O’shay swiftly deflects, introducing Astro to Detective Tawashi of the international police. He’s come asking a favor; over a specific stretch of the pacific ocean, planes have been melting mid-flight, with no immediately evident cause. The high danger posed by the heat prevents humans from approaching and surveying the area – but a high-powered robot like Astro, who’s capable of handling temperatures up to 900 degrees, might be able to get over there safely. Before leaving, O’shay also introduces Astro to a new sister O’shay’s built named Zoran – a young girl who then takes over the task of overseeing your saved games. After flying across the Pacific for some time in a side-scrolling shooter section, Astro comes face-to-face with the cause of the heat – a massive, tentacled artificial sun. After an intense battle, during which the sun grew to a massive screen-engulfing size, Astro strikes a mortal blow – which in turn causes the sun to retreat towards a nearby cruciform-shaped island. On the island, which is littered with ruins and artifacts of seemingly Central American origin, Astro encounters a number of people: -A shape-shifting young robot named Pook (who seems to recognize Astro from somewhere) -A strange grouping of a horse, duck and rabbit calling themselves the “Amazing Three” and looking for someone who’s been using Pook to carry out crimes -Big X, a soldier-looking man capable of increasing his size many times over and looking for a villian named Kim Sankaku -A British detective identifying himself a Sherlock Homespun, AKA “Rainbow Parakeet”, here on the orders of an unknown client he refuses to identify -And another, Japanese detective named Wally Kisagari, also looking for Kim Sankaku – who apparently was responsible for stealing the Artificial Sun from the Ministry of Science. After talking with Wally, Astro destroys a statue blocking access to the innermost parts of the island – and ventures inside.   The inside of the island is significantly more industrialized than the surface, consisting of masses of machinery and a number of defensive V3 robots – which Big X was tracking down. While riding an industrial elevator even deeper into the island, Astro comes into contact with yet another, well-hidden person – a golden giant calling themselves a rocket-man named Ambassador Magma. He claims to be searching for a “Devil” lying dormant in the area – said Devil doesn’t appear to be present, however. Magma asks Astro to relay to him any information he might come across regarding this mythical evil, and gives him a whistle to facilitate this, stating that blowing the whistle will summon Magma wherever Astro may be. Arriving at the deepest point of Cruciform Island, Astro finds a massive crater dug by melting the rock with the Arificial sun – within which stands Kim Sankaku, his crony Skunk, and Pook. Skunk speaks of how they found Pook in the ground and have been using him to carry out petty crimes, much as the Amazing Three spoke of; Kim Sankaku, meanwhile, is more focused on using the Sun to unearth what he refers to as the “Lost treasure of Mu”, which they’ve as of yet failed to locate. Astro decides to butt in, leading Skunk to order Pook to fight; Pook doesn’t want to, but owes a debt to the two for being found and restored, and proceeds to fight in a boss battle homage to Treasure’s well known Seven Force boss fight, transforming between multiple Central American-inspired animal forms. After defeating Pook, the young robot mysteriously requests Astro “save Mu” before collapsing; before Astro can question the request, however, all the heroes of justice met so far appear, surrounding Kim and Skunk and ending their reign of terror over the Pacific once and for all.   Zoran helpfully informs us that Kim Sankaku has been successfully captured, and Pook repaired by O’shay. In the meantime, Astro’s been sent on a mission to the Moon! During the trip, O’shay muses about Pook’s apparent advanced technology and his ability to self-repair – tech far beyond their own, despite having been sealed in the ground. Upon being asked about Mu by Astro, O’shay comments that it was an ancient civilization – but one that fell into the ocean and was destroyed over 50,000 years ago. Having answered few questions, the focus changes to the matter at hand – an independently wealthy businessman named Mr. Tokugawa, owner of an under-construction plant on the moon, is concerned about a hostile takeover of his plant. The situation is particularly fragile due to the apparent hostage-taking of Tokugawa’s son Daichi, himself a director at the plant. Those responsible have asked for Astro by name, leading him to embark on a rescue attempt. On the way through the plant, Astro encounters a number of strange beings, including Jetter Mars (a prototype robot scheduled for production in 2015), Rococo (a “Fumoon” seeking the “Seed of Disaster” and warning that the “Goddess of Justice has left the universe”, and Hecate, a witch/half-demon, here to collect the tremendous amount of bitterness and sorrow left on the moon, which was, according to her, left by “two lovers whose dream didn’t come true”. Finally, Astro arrives on the observation deck of the plant, where he finds Daichi alone and seemingly unharmed. Bizarrely enough, however, Daichi challenges Astro to a battle! Upon this request, Daichi reveals that the “real” Daichi died 3 years ago in an accident, at which point a Dr. Tenma implanted his memories into a robotic replica to eventually take over Mr. Tokugawa’s assets. On top of that, Daichi also goes by another name – Atlas. Atlas, newly revealed, transforms into the red form seen in the first stage and proceeds to engage Astro in aerial battle. Halfway through the fight, the two pause to converse; Atlas claims he wants to fight Astro so as to evolve, with Astro being the necessary opponent as he, too, was created by Dr. Tenma – not O’shay, as was previously thought. Atlas goes on to explain that Tenma once worked for the Ministry of Science before being ousted as a heretic, that the man believes Robots should rule over humans, and that Atlas and Astro were created to be at the forefront of the robotic revolution. Each has the ability to evolve and grow stronger, and Atlas, half-human that he is, is told by Tenma that by defeating Astro he’ll manage to overcome his perceived weakness. After fighting some more, the sheer force of their conflict dislodges part of the ceiling, causing debris to scatter across the battlefield – and revealing a capsule in which resides a comatose human woman. Upon approaching and examining the capsule, Atlas feels he knows her – but immediately afterwards is struck by a splitting headache, rendering him unable to continue fighting. As Atlas retreats, it’s revealed a man was watching from the sidelines – the same man who appeared at the beginning of the game and the end of chapter 1. The man remarks that Astro will one day have to finish the battle with Atlas, given that they each possess a human soul, and comments to himself that Astro will himself have to experience bitterness and sorrow in order to evolve, as Atlas has – only then will Astro be able to become the greatest creation of his life.   Atlas disappeared, nobody knows who the woman on the moon was, and Tokugawa’s requested everything that happened be kept secret, so with the moon but an unpleasant memory, we move onto our next object of interest – the recent election of the first-ever robotic president! Rag, newly elected president of Antarctica, has invited Astro to visit – and Wally Kisagari, who’s since become chummy with Astro, is tagging along. Riding along in the undersea super train, the Marine Express, Wally comments on a rumor that the anti-robot terrorist organization Black Looks is out for Rag’s head – comments that fly over Astro’s head, as he’s currently lost in thought about what Atlas said about Tenma, and how true those comments might have been. Arriving in the Antarctic, Astro’s directly greeted by Rag, as well as one of his largest supporters, a man named Duke Red, and the Duke’s daughter, Nuka. As they exchange pleasantries, however, Nuka rushes in - informing the entire group that the Black Looks have appeared and are destroying the site of the inauguration! Heading off to intercept them, Astro punches his way through a bevy of human terrorists, only to find Nuka once more, cornered by Black Looks members – who are surprised to discover that Nuka’s a robot herself! After saving her, Astro briefly converses with the young girl, and immediately takes a shine to her – before he can say anything of substance, however, Wally sends him on his way to pursue the remaining retreating Black Looks members across the nearby ocean in a second shooter section. Upon reaching and taking out the apparent leader of the bunch, it’s revealed the entire setup was a trap meant solely to lure Astro away from the president – as he went further and further away, the terrorists deployed a refitted beetle-shaped supertank named Carabs, set to fly to the Antarctic mainland and explode, destroying Rag and the hard-won victory for robotic rights in the world. Frantically, Astro races back, and narrowly manages to destroy the tank before it poses a threat to Rag and his allies. Returning to the mainland, Astro’s thanked by the Duke, his daughter, and Wally, and each settle in to watch Rag’s inauguration. Everything goes swimmingly, and Rag delivers a rousing speech calling for cooperation between robots and humans – a speech that gets ended prematurely by the detonation of a hidden bomb, destroying Rag as a mysterious cloaked figure identifying themselves as Deadcross, the leader of the Black Looks, appears and delivers a counter-speech denouncing robots as nothing but mere tools for humans. Unwilling to let Rag’s killer escape scot-free, Astro sets off in hot pursuit.   Astro chases after Deadcross, bent on avenging his newly late presidential acquaintance Rag. In doing so, he returns to the Train station he came in on, and, after witnessing Deadcross escaping on the train, flies off down the undersea tube the train runs through, pursuing the train through another aerial section. Upon landing on the train and taking out another squad of goons, he finds Wally’s already set up shop in there. Wally reveals Deadcross is holed up in the car immediately after their own, and mentions in passing his nephew, Kennedy, who was acting as his assistant and was supposed to be keeping watch on the train, but who seems to have disappeared (thus letting Deadcross enter and hijack the Marine Express). After beating the stuffing out of Deadcross and his robotic bodyguard, it’s revealed that Deadcross had more against Rag than just an anti-robot attitude. Under his mask, Deadcross looks nearly identical to Rag himself; as he reveals, Rag was originally his creation, made and modeled to be the ideal politician, meant to campaign on Deadcross’s (whose real name is Rock) behalf so that Rock could then step in and smoothly assume the presidency himself. He originally ran on a platform dismissing robots as inferior beings; as time went on, however, Rag began to disagree with his creator’s ambitions and ideals, and eventually chose to reveal Rock’s scheme to the public. He didn’t stop at that, however – he then proceeded to launch his own campaign as Rag, campaigning on the promise of equal opportunity and cooperation for both humans and robots, and ended up winning while his creator was publically disgraced. Understandably, Rock was rather perturbed by his own creation stealing everything from him, and set out to become the leader of Black Looks and take Rag’s life with his own hands. Having succeeded, however, he submits to Astro, instructing him to do as he will. Astro and Wally intend to return to the Antarctic and turn the villain in, but suddenly, the Marine Express is enveloped in light, warping and distorting before vanishing in a flash of light – before reappearing in the middle of a bizarre, ancient-looking stone courtyard! Astro, Wally, and Rock are greeted by an odd Vampire naming himself Don Dracula, as well as by his master, the apparent ruler of “Mu Empire” and prince of the Three-Eyed family – Sharaku. Sharaku greets the three, referring to them as “foolish future outlanders”, and informs them they are to be enslaved to their dying days and their train taken for Sharaku’s own purposes. Before either party can do anything, however, Pook’s lion form jumps in, grabs the three, and retreats – causing Sharaku to denounce Pook’s apparent continued disobedience and order soldiers to follow him to Sapphire Castle.   Astro and company have arrived at Sapphire Castle, and are greeted by the Princess Sapphire, also identified as the ruler of Mu. Astro greets Pook, but in an inversion of their first meeting, Pook doesn’t recognize Astro; Wally correctly deduces the group is experiencing a time paradox, and that they have somehow been sent to the past. Sapphire clears up exactly how far back they are – they’re 30,000 years in the past, at the height of the Mu Empire. Sharaku, with the psychic power granted him by the third eye on his forehead, is responsible for their temporal displacement. Sharaku himself had recently appeared in the empire, and had swiftly used his psychic powers to take control of the primitive robotic forces the Mu civilization had developed, pitting them against Sapphire and her own citizens in a similar fashion to the conflicts experienced in the modern day; Sapphire and Pook have managed to remain free, but Sharaku’s taken the opportunity to strip mine the land of minerals and precious metals, to the extent that the land Mu is built on is no longer stable and is at risk of falling into the sea. Sharaku interrupts the conversation telepathically – he’s confident that he himself (and Sapphire, who he desires) will survive, but nonetheless demands the three denizens of the future, along with Pook, be handed over, lest he destroy everything immediately. Astro immediately sets out to take out Sharaku before any more damage can be done. Traveling across the ancient central-american themed ruins, Astro fights through waves of ancient robots, while also catching glimpses of statuary similar to that he saw in the ruins of Cruiciform Island – including a statue of Sapphire that appeared identically in both locations. Astro eventually reaches the Marine Express once again (reacquainting himself with Don Dracula on the way, who’s attempting to escape while the battles are being waged), and immediately afterwards finds himself face-to-face with Sharaku, leading to an aerial boss battle against the powerful psychic. After a brief but intense battle, Sharaku retreats, making mention of Pook as his “Trump card”, stating that this fight was “just the beginning”, and stating that something called the “Hoa Kabari Kiluma potion” would allow him to one day rule over the world. Sharaku leaves, and three months pass as Astro, Wally and Rock live and work in the Mu Empire, trying to restore the Marine Express and develop a way to return to their own time. After finally having a breakthrough, Astro determines their way home is through reversing Sharaku’s own process and using his technology to distort the same points in Space-Time that sent them there. Wally and Astro prepare to leave; Rock, however, intends to stay, having little left for him in the modern world and having found a place for himself in the rebuilding (and, hopefully, disaster-averting) restoration process alongside Sapphire. And so, Astro and Wally set off on their return trip to the present, and their own restoration project in the wake of Rag’s untimely demise.   Astro and Wally return to the present, seemingly without incident – upon leaving the station, however, they find the Antarctic landscape dominated by an enormous, ominous citadel. Almost immediately, a massive, bulky green robot appears, spinning like a tornado and landing heavily directly in front of the pair – along with a second passenger in Astro’s sister Zoran. Zoran immediately questions the two on where they went, stating they were gone for an entire 5 years – Astro having missed the mark in returning to a rather large degree. The green robot introduces himself as Pluto, and takes Astro to take his master, a cloaked man named Shadow – which Astro agrees to, as Pluto and Zoran are apparently close friends, and as Pluto has been fighting to protect robots for the last 5 years in Astro’s stead. Shadow introduces himself upon Astro’s arrival, filling him in on what happened in the missing 5 years. In the wake of Rag’s assassination, the world experienced a wide-scale robotic revolt, which resulted in an extremely destructive war between robots and humans and leveled over 80% of the world’s livable surface. Shadow’s the leader of the robotic front, and is on the verge of total victory over the remaining human population; seeing Astro as a hero, the robots wish to have him on their side to lead their final charge. The top forces of the Robots consist of 5 individuals: North, Denkou, Brontus, Epsilon, and Pluto himself. Astro’s invited to join their ranks; understandably, however, Astro and Wally are disgusted by this turn of events, and upon voicing their displeasure, Shadow forces Astro to fight each of the 5 if he wishes to escape. Each of the 5 takes place as an individual boss battle, and constitutes the entirety of the stage; each is individually excited to test their mettle against the legendary robot hero, but when Astro reaches the last, Pluto, he finds a different mood entirely. Pluto again tries to talk Astro into joining the side of the robots, stating that Zoran would be heartbroken no matter who came out the victor in their battle; remaining steadfast, Astro nonetheless fights an extended battle against the massive war machine, and ultimately emerges the victor, as Pluto dies requesting Astro tell his sister Pluto died with honor. Enraged, Astro storms to the top of the citadel, confronting Shadow again. Shadow, however, is bizarrely unperturbed by Astro’s victories. It’s soon revealed why: “Shadow” is, in fact, a disguise – for Sharaku! Sharaku again mentions the “Hoa Kabari Kiluma potion” as the means through which he traveled through the intervening 30,000 years, but makes no attempt to attack Astro, stating that he had intended on bringing Astro under his wing so as to take care of an issue – an issue which it was now almost too late TO take care of. Sharaku again asks Astro to join him, and is again rebuffed, as Astro feels that it isn’t enough to have only robots or only humans survive and prosper, and that the two should be capable of living in harmony. Sharaku reminds Astro of the conflicts he’s witnessed so far, of Rag’s assassination, and states the earth can only be at peace under the rule of a single ruler – but again states that he has no intention of fighting Astro, as it’s simply unnecessary. As if on cue, Sharaku’s “issue” appears – a massive, demonic face descends from the heavens, identifying itself as “Death Mask”, as the “Goddess of Justice” come to pronounce judgement on robot kind. For the conflict, death, and destruction caused by robots in the last 5 years, the Death Mask judges the robots and sentences them to death – a sentence it will carry out with Omotenium, a substance that emits rays lethal to the electronic brains of robots. Sharaku calmly converses with a panicking Astro, stating he has no idea what exactly the Death Mask is, but that every time he tries to alter the timeline, the Death Mask is the inevitable conclusion. Sharaku then departs, stating he has a means through which to retrace the timeline and try different paths through which he can instigate further conflicts between robots and humans in an attempt to impose himself as ruler while also avoiding a future where life is ended by the Death Mask. Astro, for his part, is left to face judgement – which swiftly comes to pass, as he, and every other robot on earth, is fried by the Omotenium radiation. After a fake credit roll, Astro awakens in a disembodied state, as a mysterious being taking the form of a Phoenix speaks to him. The Phoenix confirms Astro’s death, and briefly converses about the nature of life and what creatures and things possess it, stating that everything has some degree of life and is connected in a grander whole in the “Cosmos”. The Phoenix states she has been watching Astro’s attempts to make peace and settle conflict in recent times, despite his failings; Astro reflects on how robots were created to make the lives of humans easier, and wonders why everything went so awry. The Phoenix recommends he try and find out for himself – and, subsequently, reveals she has the power to allow Astro a second chance at life. She gives Astro his ultimate mission – to find a way, by traveling through time and re-experiencing his experiences, through which humans and robots may coexist in peace. Before returning to the past, Astro finds himself experiencing of vision of a park at an unknown time and place. Two silhouetted youths converse, speaking of the nearby spaceport, of space, of dreams, and of the sickness of one of the two, a young girl named Prime Rose, who is set to be hospitalized indefinitely the following day with a disease curable only by an enigmatic doctor named Black Jack. The young boy promises to meet the girl in her ward, intending to sneak in disguised as a robot by wearing a mask, and intending to allow her her dream of visiting the moon one day. Finally, the boy’s face and name is revealed – as Daichi. Gamwhiz1 fucked around with this message at 04:12 on Apr 9, 2017 |
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Mar 19, 2017 17:42
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I might mention that I've been posting Pluto over in the Cool Crew Chat Central webcomic thread. Well, actually, MissEchelon started posting it and I resumed it when she dropped it. So if anyone hasn't read it yet, here's your chance! MissEchelon's posts starts here and mine here. Also glad to see this LP returning.
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Mar 19, 2017 19:00
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It's somewhat fitting that the LP picks back up after so long, now that goddamned time travel is a core gameplay element.
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Mar 20, 2017 04:10
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It's even more fitting considering he's redoing all the videos! Because just picking back up where he left off clearly wasn't enough work already. Thanks for the summary. The refresher is helpful given I played this right before the hiatus. Also, I'm six chapters into Phoenix. Can confirm: It is good.
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Mar 20, 2017 04:48
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  Stage notes!  Welcome to part two of Astro Boy: Omega factor – Rebirth! Second verse, roughly IDENTICAL to the first. Rather than simply make a quick, by-the-books stage-based brawler, Treasure and Hitmaker chose to take a somewhat different path upon bringing the rather climactic “Greatest Robot On Earth” arc to its conclusion – instead of continuing on, you get heaved back to the beginning of the game to think about what you’ve done and haven’t done, taking the form of a second playthrough of the game in its entirety. This’d normally be a lazy bit of padding to artificially stretch out the game’s playtime, a la Ghosts n’ Goblins copouts. HOWEVER.  Instead of taking the copout path, the devs do something entirely unique: they tie the replay, and by extension the stage select/score attack menu, into the plot itself. Stripped of his body and his life, Astro, through the power of the Phoenix, now becomes a consciousness existing outside the flow of time, tasked to return from where he came, to retrace his steps and try to find a way to mitigate the fallout of the sequential robotic threats, to stop relationships between humanity and robot kind from embittering to the point that each side kills off the other. It’s a very unique and inspired approach to a well-established gaming mechanic, and really serves to make what’s been seen before seem fresh and original – especially when combined with all the additional knowledge Astro has manifesting in him preemptively hand waving everything and going “yeah, I know, there’s a problem over there, no biggie I got this.” The game doesn’t immediately feature any new stages, enemies, or bosses, mind, but it DOES go out of its way to try to give a differentiated experience for players the second time through, primarily through the ratcheting up of difficulty. Overall, most enemies and bosses in the stages will be giving (and taking) twice as much punishment as before; the tutorial enemies, for instance, do 5000 damage in “Birth” (hard mode), while instead doing a round 10000 in “Rebirth”. It’s generally this that people refer to when they talk about the game being “difficult” – we’re not fully powered, but we are close to it, and your foes (especially on higher difficulties) start to teeter dangerously close to being consistent one-hit kills. It’s definitely a test of skill, making sure you hammer into your head exactly what the timing is for the invincibility frames of your airdash, but the ongoing plot (and the changes to it) serve as rather solid motivation for your ongoing perseverance. Speaking of which…  Right off the bat, at the very beginning of the very first stage, we’re introduced to the first, very prominent, change to the plot: Drake. Showing up at the beginning of each stage so far in rebirth, Drake immediately cements himself as a major player, and I absolutely adore him (and the brand-new track that accompanies him) because he lends a very human face to the plot, one which had been very sorely missing. Previously in birth, we’d seen humanity get curb stomped in nearly every stage; the main power plant of the city went haywire while rogue robots tore through residential areas, a massive artificial sun melted airplanes and ships with no method of stopping it, a hideously overpowered explicit warbot took over the moon-based plant of a highly prominent businessman, a robot became president and, in dying, threw the entire world into a conflict that killed off the majority of humans – they could not catch a single break, even in the past, and that’s only covering the arcs presented in-game. Tezuka’s more mature stories tend to feature conflicts and interactions between morally grey groups, yet up to now we had nothing but typical “robot is causing problems, Astro has to solve it” plots – in rebirth, however, Drake takes the reigns, appearing out of nowhere but taking an approach that’s really rather sensible: why ARE we creating these massive, unstoppable machines and letting them run amok? He’s obviously presented in an evil light, but that’s not to say he’s wrong, and indeed, our own experiences tell us he might be more on-the-ball than we were. That being said, the question remains – why has he shown up now?  Drake is, of course, a veteran character, but his appearance here is strongly based on his presence in the 2003 show – and is probably the strongest part of the game lifted from that particular source. The limitations of the GBA means the presentation of his speeches and the effect is has on the human population is a little more low-key than it necessarily should be, but think of him as a vocal activist, with his back-and-forth with Duke Red taking place on a political talk show of some sort. Here’s a quick example of what his earlier appearances look like; he’s obviously someone who appeals to emotion, but that appeal clearly resonates with a populace that already has misgivings regarding the continued introduction of robotics into their society. He’s a character than really strengthens the plot and provides connections between each “episode”, which had previously been self contained – as we continue to retrace our steps, he makes subsequent power plays, ultimately taking the place of Duke Red as main “International Councilor” in the game. What this will mean for Rag’s presidency, gained in large part due to the support of Duke Red, remains to be seen, but we’re already FAR outside the scope plot wise than you’d normally see in a game of this genre. Beyond Drake, there’s little else to discuss we haven’t covered before (not yet, at least) – though I’ve tried to include bits of background info into the video where I’d previously only put it in the thread. The extra areas we went to off the beaten path were covered in the posts for Part 1 (Science Ministry) and Part 3 (Artificial Sun/Fire Vase Island), with Tenma’s house, and Tenma himself, being a topic for another day, though he too takes renewed prominence here. Oh, and if you were wondering - the robot head that appears post-Atlas rematch is NOT visible on our first visit. Chapter names: 0 – 1: Science Ministry; 0-4: Boon’s Archeological site; 0-5: Dr. Tenma’s House. Music! We’re actually nearing the end of music tracks for the game, and won’t see any new ones for a while (due to, you know, going to the same places we’ve been to already). That said, “Changed History” is something of the theme of this new part of the game, letting you know when serious poo poo is going down, and really drives home the urgency of our quest to not become smoldering hunks of metal under the judgemental gaze of Death Mask. #33: Changed Histroy Gamwhiz1 fucked around with this message at 20:09 on Apr 8, 2017 |
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Apr 8, 2017 19:10
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(Not exactly the most exciting thing to come back on but I'm trying to speed things up. Nuka's bio is being kept on the backburner with Pook's too, just fyi) (also new mic tried to get it balanced somewhat close to the original) (also whoever put this as abandoned in the lp master list can suck it) Gamwhiz1 fucked around with this message at 19:27 on Apr 8, 2017 |
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Apr 8, 2017 19:13
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