Kametsu Khronicle Issue #4

[† RazorDan]

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THE KAMETSU KHRONICLE!

Feedback

Hello Kametsu! Just one thing to say this week. I would like your opinion on how long the khronicle should be. Do you want it shortish like issue 1, long like issue 2 or in the middle like issue 3? Post your views people!

That's it from me, enjoy the issue!

RazorDan- Head Editor

The Team

RazorDan- Head Editor

Black Star [iki]- Vice Editor

Gneiss [Anras Rune]- Literary + Gaming Chief

Krogothwolf- Chief of Staff

xxIrish- GFX Chief

Hicks- Anime Reviewer

FlutterShy- Creative Team

Mute Point- Creative Team

Feel free to contact any member of the team if you wish to make a recommendation or have a question about anything.

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Page 1- Main Story

Death of the Art and Literature Section?

Last week I wrote an article on the RP Inn, so this week I'm writing one on the Art and Lit Section. I'm basically gonna tell you my views on it and what, in my opinion, it's current state is. I will be discussing various works and so please do not be offended by any comment I make. Firstly, however, here are some stats.

Remember The Organisation? It was my first story and was pretty successful and popular. For a long time, it was the most viewed and most commented on story in Kametsu, and I remember how happy I was once it passed Murder at the Convention by Talena Mae. However, the most viewed story is now Aboard the USS NoLight by Shazi and the most commented on story is Kametsu Kombat by The Joker. Below is a list of the most popular stories, in terms of views:

1. Aboard the USS NoLight Shazi
   
   
2. The Organisation [story] RazorDan
   
   
3. Kametsu Kombat [story] The Joker
   
   
4. Murder at the convention... Talena Mae
   
   
5. A Curious String of Events (working title) Black☆Star
   
   
6. PAX Machina, a RazoRune Collaboration [story] Gneiss and RazorDan
   
   
7. Torture chamber Talena Mae
   

The ones in bold are ongoing.

All of the above stories have at least 2,000 views. Based on just that, it would seem that the section is thriving and is alive and well. However, that isn't necessarily the case. 3 of the above 7 are finished, whilst 3 of the remaining 4 are hardly ever updated. For example, Murder at the Convention was last updated in October.

Another thing is that despite having so many views and comments, the number of unique commenters are low. What I mean by this is that apart from 3 or 4 out of the 7 stories, the rest are not popular universally. They seem to attract a 'cult' following and only a few members keep up with the story. For example, PAX Machina has 119 replies, but when reading deeper, you can see how most replies are from, at most, 10 users. Also, PAX Machina seems to be the most updated and most active story at the moment, in fact it seems to be the only consistently active one. This is a far cry from the days when you had 5 or 6 new chapters to read and can be seen as a reason for the dwindling interest in the Art and Lit section.

Most people seem to be overlooking the fact that it is the Art and Lit section. NOT the Lit section. The lack of art is pretty alarming. The few contests that have been set-up, received lukewarm responses and quickly faded into obscurity. I also accept the fact that the incompleted index is another bad point. I admit that it isn't high on my list of priorities either.

Do I think that the section is dying? Yes, yes I do. Undoubtedly it is. However, it is in the early stages of inactivity so with a bit of effort and drive, it can be revived. But, the big question is whether people actually want to read stories, whether people want it back. These I cannot answer but I know that if the Art and Literature section became as inactive as the RP Inn once was, I would be very, very sad.

RazorDan

Page 2: Iki's Column

4KIDS GOING BANKRUPT!

Yaayyy! I mean, a momet of silence please. Just kidding, let's go celebrate, throw a party, drink a beer for the anime-murdering troll is finally coming down! What are the reasons for said take-down? Let’s take a trip to the past …

On March 24, Asatsu-DK and TV Tokyo filed a lawsuit last month against 4Kids, alleging 4Kids owes the plaintiffs millions of dollars under the licensing agreement for for Yu-Gi-Oh! The suit alleges 4Kids made secret agreements with TV networks and home video distributors as well as making improper royalty deductions.

The plaintiffs filed the suit after exercising their option under the licensing agreement to audit 4Kids’ financial books. The suit says the audit reveals 4Kids sought to hide its income from deals with such companies as FUNimation, Cartoon Network and Majesco in order to avoid having to pay royalties to the plaintiffs.

The suit seeks $4 million in damages and was filed after several meetings between the parties to attempt to resolve the issue failed to do so. The licensors also terminated the licensing agreement for Yu-Gi-Oh!

Now, I dunno about you guys, but I think Yu-Gi-Oh! Is the only half-decent show these guys have left. 4Kids is known to have “ruined” several anime before and while some fans lament the lack of YGO dubs, others are glad that it is finally free from the hyper-kid-friendly 4Kids.

Now obviously, these guys had to do something to cover their butts … Ta-dah! Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection! In conjunction with this Chapter 11 filing, 4Kids also filed a variety of first day motions that will allow the Company to continue to manage operations in the ordinary course.

This automatically “stays” the lawsuit filed by the licensors of the Yu-Gi-Oh! Property until such time as the Court may order otherwise.

The following is a quote from one of their minions :–

"We want to assure our clients, business partners and licensees that during the pendency of the bankruptcy, 4Kids will continue to provide the same level of service and dedication that it has in the past," – TRANLATION – “Haha, screw you! We’re still gonna ruin the crap out of 5D’s and there’s not a damn thing you can do about it!”

OTAKU FEVER

Are you a fan of Super-Special-Awesome-Card-Games-Played-Occasionally-On-Motor-Cycles-And-Sometimes-Taught-In-Universities?

If not, then sod off ya bloody wanker! If yea, then be sure to check out the newest addition of Abridged Series in the Otaku Section – Yu-Gi-Oh! The Abridged Series, created by LittleKuriboh and uploaded by yours truly.

YGOTAS was the first of all abridged series, with its first few episodes lasting merely 5 minutes and with scratchy audio quality and it’s later episodes being up to 10 minutes long with high quality sound and video.

Whether you’re a fan of YGO or not, this Abridged series is definitely not one to be missed.

** FYI, Abridged means they took video from the original anime, parodied it with their own voices and posted it online.

ANIME OF THE WEEK

The anime of this week is Nurarihyon no Mago(T/L : Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan).

Is this thing any good? HELL YEAH! I first saw an advertisement for this on Animax and it was written that it was gonna be shown in Japanese with English subtitles. Now, this was the first time I had seen a show on Animax that was not dubbed by their team (THANK GOD!).

So, naturally it peaked my interest. I downloaded a few episodes of it and while it was slow to start, it really picked up as it went along. It has some of the most steady character developments I have ever seen, along with an awesome OP and music (It sometimes reminds me of Harry Potter).

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Breaking News and Square Enix in trouble?

Well as I said last issue we should all be getting excited about the up coming E3, with some amazing games being presented and some hidden surprises definatly in the works. But on a more serious tone heres this weeks issue, Gneiss (AKA Anras Rune...^^)

Square Enix Hurting Where It Counts

Now most people have heard about Square Enix, the Japanese gaming powerhouse behind Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest. But in recent years these companies have lost alot of prestige and their market shares have fallen drastically. This is mainly due to before mentioned series having to compete with the West's rising stars and they are apparently struggling.

Square Enix recently released it's finiacials for the fiscal year, which ends in March 2011, and it didn't bode well. Square Enix's president, Yoichi Wada, said this; "[square Enix] experienced significantly lower sales and profit during the fiscal year mainly due to weak performance of console game titles released during the year as well as the impact of a continued delay in billing for a key online title, which was newly launched during the year."

The latter details from Mr. Wada's statement are probably most pressing for Square Enix right now. The game he's referencing is, of course, Final Fantasy XIV, a PC-centric MMO plagued with so many problems that it's still being played for free, without any sort of subscription fee charged to players.

Further details released revealed, "Net sales for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2011 totaled 125,271 million Yen (a decrease of 34.8% from the prior fiscal year), operating income amounted to 7,325 million Yen (a decrease of 74.1% from the prior fiscal year) and recurring income amounted to 5,390 million Yen (a decrease of 80.6% from the prior fiscal year)."

This all boils down to a vast amount of SE's resource being turned to new emerging markets like smartphone gaming and SNS (social networking sites like facebook) gaming to help them gain a foot up. Finally, strengthening Square's Enix's own impressive roster of IPs -- or intellectual property (franchises and the like) -- while developing new ones could perhaps be called the company's biggest objective. Don't forget that Square Enix owns a number of studios outside of Japan, including Crystal Dynamics (Tomb Raider), Eidos Montreal (Deus Ex) and IO Interactive (Hitman). Indeed, Square has targeted two of those three studios -- Eidos Montreal and IO Interactive -- for development of "one original IP" each while focusing on the current franchises they're already known for. So maybe after we see Deus Ex 3: Human Revolution, we'll be seeing some new and hopefully impressive titles coming from this waning giant.

The Big News: Modern Warfare 3!

May 13th Kotaku surprised the Internet by posting almost every little detail on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. The reported information was later addressed by Infinity Ward's Community Manager Robert Bowling on Twitter where he stated: "A lot of hype & a lot of leaked info on #MW3, some still accurate, some not. To avoid spoiling the experience, I'd wait for the real reveal."

Subsequently they went on to post MW3's first teaser trailer. It seems the single-player story will start directly after the events of Modern Warfare 2. The villain Vladimir Makarov and heroes "Soap" MacTavish and John Price return in 15 stages set across the world, including New York City, Dubai and Paris. The Spec Ops co-operative mode from Modern Warfare 2 will return, as well as survival maps that sound similar to Gears of War's horde mode or Call of Duty: World at War's zombie mode. The competitive multiplayer mode will feature around 20 maps.

Below it the teaser trailer, enjoy!

C_7_dYWMsL0

It seems that part of the game does indeed take place in New York but there is also similar trailers taking place in Germany France and England. Another interesting tidbit is the Russian at the end. If you're curious, we roughly translated Makarov's speech to mean, "One dreams of destroying all hope of victory."

Thats all for this week, and I hope folks enjoyed! Gneiss...^^

Page 3: GFX

So in this weeks Issue I will Be Explaining the SOTW and General GFX Tips to help you become a better Sig Artist.

First we have the SoTW, which is other forum goers making Signatures(also known as tags) to compete against other GFX Artist with a defined theme. Depending on what the them for the week is, there are usually quite a bit of entries. Basically when you enter the SoTW Comp, you need to do a few things. One being, know what the theme is and decide if you want to even enter. When you find out what the theme is research the theme and decide if you really want to enter a sig into that weeks comp. After deciding if you want to enter or not, you have to have something to work with. Go out on google, or whatever it is that you do to find your material and find something that fits in the theme. Then its time to start editing! Now that you have your material and idea you need to get it into an editor program like Photoshop, GIMP, Paint.net,etc. Now as I stated im my last post, a sig(tag) is more then just slapping things together. You have to put time and passion into it. Make sure you have good flow and Depth as well as lighting. If you haven't entered a SoTW Competition, I strongly urge you to do so if you're looking to become a better GFX person, for the sole reason of trying to get better every week.

When you are creating your signature you have to keep in mind some simple rules.

1.Size - How big is it going to be, you dont want a monster of a sig with alot of negative space. Also remember the sig rules of the site.

2.Content- What do you want in your sig. Colors? Characters(be it anime or real people). You also dont want to put too much into the sig. It makes it look cluttered. Also remember the rules of the site, no nudity.

3. Depth- Does it feel like it's deeper than what it looks, or is it just flat looking? Remember adding depth to your sig makes the overall appearance better.

4. Text Placement- Just don't put the text anywhere and think that its fine. It's not. Text placement can make and break a sig..

5. Lighting- No one wants a sig that they can't tell whats there or whats going on. Lighting is one my biggest things. If you don't give your sig the right amount of lighting it messes it up and you lose appeal.

6.Time- Take your time on the sig.. Whether you're making it for yourself or for someone else, make sure its apparent that you took time and didn't just slop things together.

Now I am going to so show some examples of good sigs and some sigs that needed some work.

First off is a sig that had basically no time put in it and is very bad in my opinion.

it has no depth, the colors don't fit the sig, and the text is terrible.

Next is a sig that has terrible text placement and the render is low quality.

The render in this sig is of low quality and it brings down the sigs overall appeal, also the text is out of place and takes away focal of the sig(the character).

Now this is a sig that captures what I have been saying.

This has the appropriate lighting so you can see whats going on. the text is in place and doesn't take away from the sig. it has a natural depth to it, and has some effects to compliment it.

(all sigs shown were Created by Irish,im not egotistical enough to trash other peoples and make mine shine.. also the first two is when I started making sigs, thus proving, Practice makes perfect.)

Page 4- Creative Centre

This is the bit where we blind you with the quality of our Creative team! Shazi and Mute Point step forward!

TripleK: The Kametsu Khronicle Komic

by Shazi

Unlikely allies (Ongoing Khronicle story)

by Mute Point

Chapter 3

After checking to ensure that there were no other footprints leaving the area, Irene went back to the pile of ashes, knowing that Caitlyn would be following her shortly. She didn’t know what had caused it for sure. But she was fairly sure that whatever it was, didn’t like the orcs any more than she did, so it might just help them in their mission.

While Irene was going through the orc’s belongings, Caitlyn came running into the clearing. She looked down at the pile of ashes and turned to her friend. “I didn’t know you could do that.”

“I didn’t… But I would like to know what it was.” Irene replied after deciding that the orc’s belongings were as useless to her as to their unknown benefactor. She really didn’t like the way this looked, because no matter who or what caused it, magic was involved.

Magic, a force few even believed in anymore on this continent, and one that no one had used in the last half century. It was true that some had left the safety of the continent, though few of them returned, they often told tales of magic being used in everyday life. One even spoke of a city that used it to keep time in the bell tower.

“Think you can get closer; make sure they haven’t been alerted while I make the final preparations?” Irene asked, looking back up at Caitlyn.

“Of course,” Caitlyn grinned. “Even you could probably sneak up on these clowns.” She added, bowing and dashing off into the bushes, and vanishing within seconds.

She gets on my nerves sometimes, but she’s damn good at her job… Irene thought, though as she prepared herself for the battle and set off toward the other side of the encampment, her mind returned once again to the problem of whatever magic happened back there.

Before she could reach her destination however, a strange voice echoed in her mind. “To anyone who can hear this… Being captured by orcs is even less fun than it sounds. I politely request a rescue.” Irene shivered and let out a long drawn out sigh. “More magic.. What’s next? A dragon?” she muttered, though on the whole, she was glad that no one answered, and even more glad that no dragon appeared.

Another minute and she’d be in position, then she’d wait for the sentries to trade off before making her move. She knew that the old sentries relaxed immediately upon being relived, and the new sentries would most likely not be completely alert for trouble, counting on their friends to have warned them if anything had gotten that close. Blind fools the lot of them. They hadn’t heard her approach, but she could hear someone yelling inside the camp. She wasn’t sure, having no command of the language herself, but she thought it sounded like one of the captives was swearing very creatively in orc.

Now, here is chapter 3 of Teddi's story. She's changed her username now. But it's too long to remember!

Holy Fool Chapter 3

Sophia blinked a little. If he was pouring her a drink, this was going to take a while. But the liquid in the square bottle was a dim maroon and bubbled. When he handed it to her, she put the glass to her lips, but didn’t take a drink. “Drink that. It’s not going to kill you.” She shook her head. Judging by what she’d seen so far, it was either going to kill her right away or turn her into one of those cartoon demons with the red skin and the horns and such. “I’m not thirsty.” She set it down on the tray. Judas shrugged at her. “Be that way. Have one of these instead.” He reached over to another little table and offered her a red wooden box with a black lid. She took the lid off to see that it had three rows of what looked like dark chocolate. “What is this?”

“You’ve never eaten chocolate before? Let me see this.” He picked up one of the chocolates and bit into it, turning it on its side when it started oozing. “It’s filled with liquor. Try it.” She shook her head and he rolled his eyes, setting the box on top of the lid and putting it on the table with the tray. “Not wanting a sweet is fine. What about this?” He offered her a plate with some kind of meat on it. She picked up a piece of it and looked it over. It was a small piece that smelled spicy. “I don’t like spicy things.” She put it back down and leaned back on the couch, using her arms as support, the underside of her bosom peeking out from under her carefully arranged hair. “Don’t sit like that. You’ll ruin my couch.” She shook her head and he sighed, running a hand through his hair. “You need to eat or drink something. If not…well, you’ll go to the upper levels and you’ll probably get another life on the surface, which you’ll spend trying to find a way to get back here while I’m free to pick a younger, more attractive concubine that isn’t going to whine or say no when I tell her to do something. Actually, I don’t see how this is bad for me, so by all means, ignore what I have to say and keep doing what you are.” He shrugged a little and crossed his arms. If he was serious, then everything she had ever done in her first life was for nothing. She gave him another sharp look and stuffed three of the chocolates into her mouth, chewing noisily and grimacing when the center broke and the liquor inside flooded her mouth. She swung at him and barely missed. “Time goes by much slower here. Years on the surface are just days for us.” He picked up a small knife that lay on the table with the spicy smelling meat then looked at her. “Wounds heal much slower too.” She didn’t like his tone of voice, or appreciate that look. It meant that something bad was going to happen, but she had no idea what. “You believe me, don’t you?”

Sophia smiled. “Why wouldn’t I?” He put it down and shrugged. She let out a little sigh of relief when he put the knife down. She fully expected him to hurt her with it. “Now, you need to impress the prince if you want to have free access to most of the areas here.” He eyed her over. “And that simply won’t do.” He stood up and took her hand, leading the way back up those cold iron stairs and going down a long hallway that started out cold iron that soon turned to cold steel. “I have a question.”

Judas slowed down a little and turned to her. “Why are all the rooms made out of metal?” She touched the wall she stood by. It was cold and hard, just like actual metal. But she was sure that it wasn’t real. “Easy. We’re the important ones so our levels are made out of precious things. Metal is precious.” She opened her mouth to ask another question but he beat her there. “And no, the prince’s rooms are made out of gold. He gets carbon steel like the rest of us.” She stayed quiet until they reached a set of glass double doors. He knocked three times and she stood on tiptoe to look inside. The Dona was in there, along with the bat winged man with the slashed open cheeks that were hardly sewn shut. She turned to the door and Sophia ducked. “Stop spying on them!” he hissed, digging his nails into her arm. She frowned, but the instant the door opened, her expression changed.

“We’re here to see the Dona. And before you can ask, she’s expecting us.” With all his questions answered, the bat winged man stepped to the side, bowing to Judas and kissing Sophia’s hand. He lead them to a rugged area that was littered with brightly colored pillows where the Dona waited for them. When they were near, she waved at the bat winged man and he went into another room. Sophia fidgeted a little when they were seated, which was definitely noticed by the Dona, who stood up to get something. “There’s no reason to be so cold, girl. I am loaning you one of my finest outfits after all.” She wanted to ask but Judas spoke before she could. “Tell me the catch.” The Dona shrugged from the open closet door. “You took something that rightfully belongs to me. I should make you suffer as I do.” He sighed. “Is this really necessary?”

The Dona came out of her closet after fishing around in it holding a red bikini outfit. The top had silver crosses on the cups and the bottom had a long train. Sophia saw it and got a little excited, taking it when the Dona handed it to her. “Leave us Judas. She needs some time to learn the dance.” Her ears perked up a little. What were they talking about?

Page 5- Kro's Corner

Welcome one and all, Welcome. Today is the day, the day that everyone gets sent to ANOTHER DIMENSION!!!

What? I’m not allowed? But you said I could? No? Well that bites. Ah well.

Okay so here what I was thinking recently, yes Kro does think sometimes, is that as epic Lord of The Rings was, it was still lacking something. What it was lacking, is awesome magical blasting. Maybe it’s just me but seriously, it’s got awesome powerful wizards, yet they don’t do awesome powerful spells of mass destruction. Where are my damn fireballs people, or chain lightning! Seriously, Gandalf should have been blasting Orcs and everything, not swinging his damn pig sticker around. But that’s neither here nor there. You know what I loved about the Third movie, The Charge of the Riders of Rohan. You know when they smash into the Orc army and the Orcs, realizing that they can’t stop the charge start running away, fleeing in terror. Well that was awesome, it was even more awesome when at one point when they cut through the riders charging down the hill, there’s one guy who’s got a maniacal smile on his face and is riding his horse faster than others because he’s got to kill himself some Orcs. God that was hilarious. Seriously though, that whole battle was awesome and epic and I can’t recall another battle like that in any move before or after.

Now, I myself am a fantasy guy, though I do love me some sci-fi too, and I find myself somewhat sad that the epic fantasy books don’t get turned into movies more often than lame ass kid books. I suppose it’s because not all them can turn into a lord of the rings, but hey, you don’t know till you try you jerks in Hollywood! Gimme more epic fantasy movies! I want to see movies with massive battles, crazy spellcasters and everything. With the Special Effects we can do know, you should be able to do this Hollywood, get to work on adapting an awesome epic fantasy setting, book or your own. DRAGONLANCE is right there for the taking! (not that horrid animation one, uggh, don’t get me started on that.)

Also, seriously guys, ENOUGH WITH TALKING ANIMAL MOVIES! ENOUGH! And honestly, if you have a movie about giant transforming robots, why do you need to ruin it by making humans the focal point of it? Or cartoons? We don’t need kids saving the world with the robots. (I’m looking at you Transformers: Prime) We want the robots beating the stuffing out of each other! And you know what’s even stupider, movies about animals playing sports against humans. Who the hell cares if it’s not in the goddamn rule book a dog can’t play football, it’s a freaking human sport, not a multispecies sport. Geez.

Forumer of the Week: Sakuye, Kyon or whatever his damn name is now, why? Cause he keeps spending gil on name changes like a crazy whack job.

Quote of the Week: Ujimushiko This guy was using two other guys as arm cannons

What is it that Mushi, aka teddy is watching? Hm….

Page 6- Reviews

OK! This issue will see a Gurren Lagaan review by Hicks and a Gears of War 3 review by Gneiss. Fairly major, so enjoy!

Gurren Lagann

(27 episode series)

by Hicks

Yet another post-apocalyptic offering, this series is definitely more in the "over-the-top" category, much like Desert Punk. Just as Desert Punk is set in a world that has been devastated and reduced to a desert due to some past cataclysm, depends heavily on over the top humor and action, and isn't really meant to be taken even a little bit seriously, so to is Gurren Lagann. It does have its serious moments, mostly dealing with death, but I never much got into that, I guess, but then that was kind of how I felt about the series at times.

There are actually a lot of things about Gurren Lagann that I normally hate about anime, and actually caused me to stop watching this when it first aired on the Sci Fi Channel (now SyFy). One is the heavy use of mechs. It’s a staple of a lot of anime, about as much as samurai swords and magic-based attacks that require the attacker to loudly announce their attacks in elaborate manners, which this show also does. So, like I said, I pretty much tuned out of this show when it first aired. Based on the advice of my friends, I gave it another try, and it did fair slightly better with me this time, mostly because I realized the things I mentioned above were being done to be funny. Part of me was still annoyed by it, but the other part was just laughing.

I'd have to say that the appeal of this show is pretty much summed up not long into the first episode: kicking logic to the curb and doing the impossible. That's pretty much what the show does, and we even got a catchy theme song out of it. With all the themes of fighting progressively impossible fights and coming out on top in the end, I can see why this show has caught on with quite a few people. It's my understanding that in the UK, there was a poll on the possibility of updating the Union Jack, and the version that won was the addition of the Team Gurren symbol from this show. I actually kind of like the idea myself, to the point of wanting my university to change its sporting name to Team Dai-Gurren, with the symbol as our new mascot.

Then, of course, there's the fan service. Yokko definitely has to be the show's other big draw, what with constantly running around in nothing but a bikini top and short-shorts for the majority of the show. She doesn't play as much of a role as I, personally, wish that she should have had. Mostly she was on a supporting role, and had an unfortunate tendency to have a thing for guys who wind up dead.

Speaking of, I was somewhat surprised when a main character actually died, and only about a third or so into the show. What made it surprising was that this character had been through a lot and lived earlier in the show. But I find I actually liked this aspect of the series, not so much because it was used to occasionally pull at our heartstrings, but because it meant that the show actually did evolve a little, adding new characters and in this case losing at least one of them.

That tended to get lost in how the show pretty much was just one progressively larger battle after the other. What started out as a battle against one and then a few mecha, here called "gunmen" pretty much just turned into fighting larger and larger versions of these things. At one point there were actually gunmen being used to pilot larger gunmen being used to pilot a gunmen that was literally the size of the moon. I personally found that kind of boring, because it was becoming basically the same thing over and over again. So really at its base, it's the humor driving this series.

Some people have complained about the ending, and I won't spoil it too much for you, but I can't say that I see it as a bad ending. I've seen much worse, whether it's that a show simply ends without resolving anything, or that it very quickly and sloppily tries to resolve everything at the last minute (see Blue Gender for an example of that), that's more what I consider to be a bad ending. In this case, the series ends on somewhat of a downer note, but only in the sense that the hero doesn't accept staying on as some great leader figure and seeks life as a wandering homeless man offering small bits of help to strangers while others rebuild the empire, so to speak. I'd actually argue that this makes sense, because this character had tried to be the great leader once, and that didn't work out so great.

Which brings me to the one thing that I really disagree with this show about. At one point there's what I would consider to be a major betrayal, with two of Team Dai-Gurren betraying their leader, conducting a coup, and going as far as sentencing their former friend and leader to death. The show and the betrayed character instantly forgave them, much in the same way Battlestar Galactica did when Commander Adama carried out a coup against his president. I never really understand when a show or the characters in it suggest that such betrayal should be forgiven, but then I don't take betrayal well.

Anyway, while I didn't like this show nearly as much as I did Desert Punk, it was still fairly good. There isn't a whole lot to it, but with shows like this, there doesn't have to be. The characters were likable, and it was funny. It's worth a watch, if nothing else so you can see it and decide for yourself if you like it. You might want to try sticking it out to at least episode 6. 6/10.

Game Review: Gears Of War 3 Beta

by Gneiss

Well this week I have played pretty much one game only, not a full game though but just as brilliant. This weeks review is on the Gears of War 3 multiplayer beta. Enjoy

This time last month, Epic Games released the third installment of the Gears of War powerhouse on the world. Gears has been with the xbox since it's first release in '05 and has gained immense popularity and fame for it's Third person style and viseral gameplay, not to mention it's good plot and well designed multiplayer. It has been ported to the PC as well, although these adaptions never reached the popularity of the console orignals.

The Gears 3 multiplayer beta was launched for the same reason all other betas are; to test gametypes, balance issues and gameplay mechanics over a vast group of Beta Players. A game with a beta normally means that quite large changes have been made as to how you play, and gears has quite a few to show off.

Players were given the choice of 4 characters to play as at the beginning; Marcus Fenix and Dominic Santiago who have been the main characters in the series since GOW 1 and a pair of enemy Locust types. There was a total of 8 unlockable characters to play as, all unlocked for playing different gametypes and completing certain challenges. A few extra characters were availible for the retail version, if unlocked and challenges completed, like the Cole Train character skin.

Also the weapons have been given a fine tuning. The good ol Lancer has made a come back obviously, with it's chainsaw bayonet now taking longer to start up and it's bullets having being powered down. The hammerburst is also back, but with a smaller clip and slower firing rate. A new edition has been added, the Retro Lancer, which has a conventional bayonet in the chainsaw's stead. The player can also intiate a bayonet charge, which needs to build up speed to kill in one. It's bullets are stronger, but it is less accurate and has a smaller clip. The Gnasher shotgun has been powered down and given more range, with a single shot sawed off shotgun being added to the mix, with it's extremem power, yet short range. A few other aditions such as the new digger launcher, something akin to a grenade launcher the burrows underground and the Oneshot, a recoiless rifle with a one hit one kill policy. New incendiary grenades have made an entrance as well, similar to the ink grenade in design, but less powerful ground effect. All weapons have their own executions that had to be unlocked by earning kills with the weapons, all of which are as viscious a gory as ever.

A few new maps and gametypes were revealed. The thrashball map, something akin to american football, with a more tactical, brutal twist takes place in a large, half destroyed stadium, where as trenchs takes place in a desert dugout trench area. New environmental hazards have been introduced. For instance, in thrashball, the mega screen dangles on a single cable. Shooting said cable brings the screens down, killing any below and creating a large block of cover. It also stops the heavyweapon in the map from being accessed. The three gametypes I played were the standard Team Deathmatch; the first to deplete the enemies' respawn count to 0 wins, King of the Hill; teams must control a moving ring which gives the owner team points and the first to 170 wins and finally Capture the Leader; similar to VIP games, both teams have a leader and both teams have to try and meatshield (downing the enemy then using them as a human shield) the leader for a set time to win the game.

The beta ended on the 15th of May, and can't wait for the actual retail version of the game to be released. Here's hoping the revamped grahics and tweaked gameplay make this third installment the best one yet!

That's all folks, thanks for reading, and cya all later! Gneiss (AKA Anras Rune...^^)

Well, well, I guess that's the end of the fourth issue of the Kametsu Khronicle, I hope you enjoy it, leave your posts below and I hope you'll look forward to the next one!

[Pinkie Pie]

LOL MY QUOTE. I didn't expect to get Quote of the Week with that.

[† Anras Rune]

the lit section aint dying if i have anything to say about it...>.<

well there is a lot of stories, that have just begun really that are quite popular so far...or at least, rising in popularity...^^

[idl12]

Hey, Hicks, you wrote that 9 in your TTGL review upside down, just thought I'd point that out lol jk

[Wake]

First to answer your question RazorDan... I would say this issue was the perfect size:confident:

Shazi; I would like to complement you on you comic making, it's very good and I've enjoyed each one:) Just thought I should mention that.

It would be sad to think the Art and Lit Section is really dying out... I think what it really needs, as was said, is new blood. Not just from people reading and commenting on stories, but people writing as well. I know I started to try and write and couldn't get my creative juices flowing, but for all the people on the forum you'd think there should be one out of every hundred sign ups that would wish to share at least one short story or something on the forum, or a peace of artwork to hear feed back. Though this is an anime forum and people I guess don't even think of something like that when sign up to use this place.

[Hicks]

I know there are plenty of other people who like Gurren Lagann a lot better than I do. For me, it was just a bit of fun fluff. I've also seen other reviewers that love to hate on that show, and most of it has to do with the show not being serious enough, at least as far as I can tell.

At least it managed not to annoy the hell out of me like NGE did.

[DrumRoll]

Which brings me to the one thing that I really disagree with this show about. At one point there's what I would consider to be a major betrayal, with two of Team Dai-Gurren betraying their leader, conducting a coup, and going as far as sentencing their former friend and leader to death. The show and the betrayed character instantly forgave them, much in the same way Battlestar Galactica did when Commander Adama carried out a coup against his president. I never really understand when a show or the characters in it suggest that such betrayal should be forgiven, but then I don't take betrayal well.

strange, this was the only part of TTGL that I actually enjoyed. Probably as it wasn't resolved by WE CAN DO IT WITH OUR POSITIVITY AND BY GETTING BIGGER ROBOTS!! like the rest of the show.

anyway, good issue on the whole.

[† Anras Rune]

actually, i know i said before that id make sure the lit section didnt die...but i think it is...

too put it in perpective, look at one of my stories: Equinox I.S

I'm extremely proud of where the story comes from (tis part of a very long saga i have been working on since i was 10/11) and i admit the version on here is lackin in comparison, but i might just give up on it. As razor said, it has a "cult" following of about 3 members i believe, and this basically takes the drive out of me editing it down to make it fit. id rather see it die now, than see me put so much effort into making it easier to follow on the site only to have it ignored. it is a shame in my eyes, as i know the original is brilliant, but the lack of support/drive is down putting.

It seems tho that sign ups are big thing to do with it, something that i actually dont like doing. With sign ups everyone is more into the story cuase they have "they're" character in the mix. This not only limits the story in a lot of ways, but most people go for something that's completely against the writers idea, show no originality or god mod to the extreme. I'm not going to say names, but i hope those that do it realise they do, twould be a shame otherwise.

This is just my opinion thought, hopefully i'll continue EQ, and maybe the lit section has a chance. As to the art part, i doubt it...>.<

EDIT: I notice PAX is no longer stickied...how come? It has over 2000 views, or are you doing it at 2500 now?

[† RazorDan]

yeah rune 2500 views now, dont wanna clutter it up

[Kinara Uzumaki]

Finally got to read this issue after a whole load of problems on Google getting stuck and driving me nuts. Good thing I discovered Safari for the first time today and I got to log into the Forums.

I think I'd really like the Khronicle to be long. That way, you can include many different stuff and introduce new ones as well, no restrictions.

[Lenalee33]

That was great...You guys are really good at this.

[Nero D. Ace]

the next issue will be up in 11 hours! sorry for the inconvenience. this newspaper business is harder than it looks.

[Shade_13]

the next issue will be up in 11 hours! sorry for the inconvenience. this newspaper business is harder than it looks.

Yeah, but the paycheck is totally worth it.

...

What do you mean there is no pay for that...