Apparently there are a lot of video games based on this novel
November 3, 2013 2:15 PM Subscribe
On Megami Tensei:
The most recent video game relatives of Megami Tensei, of course, are the Persona games.
Based on the Japanese horror novel series by Aya Nishitani, this one’s about a student computer genius, who’s also the reincarnation of an ancient Japanese deity, who uses his giant clunky 80s mainframe to summon up some horrifying devils. This involves some not-bad animation of a well-endowed teacher’s frilly brassiere heaving up and down as she becomes the conduit for horrifying monsters from another dimension to invade our world. Then giant piles of red goop start crushing students and a big blue hairy devil named Loki fights our student computer genius hero, who fights back with his reincarnated girlfriend and his magic sword and his pet devil animal throughout several alternate universes.let's anime presents: The Top Ten Least essential OVA (anime) of the 80s.
The most recent video game relatives of Megami Tensei, of course, are the Persona games.
Apparently there are a lot of video games based on this novel, and I suspect they aren’t very essential either.
Top ten wrongest statements that can ever be wronged
posted by naju at 2:20 PM on November 3, 2013 [9 favorites]
Top ten wrongest statements that can ever be wronged
posted by naju at 2:20 PM on November 3, 2013 [9 favorites]
Cosmos Pink Shock is an amazing title.
posted by naju at 2:23 PM on November 3, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by naju at 2:23 PM on November 3, 2013 [1 favorite]
The (original 80s) Megami Tensei anime is actually loads of fun in a really cheesy, really 80s folklore/cyberpunk horror kinda way. It's pretty crazy and corny, but oddly does sort of fit the style of the games (quick easy example; the character design, lighting and overall situation feel pretty MegaTen, really). Here's the whole movie on YouTube:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
posted by byanyothername at 2:23 PM on November 3, 2013 [2 favorites]
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
posted by byanyothername at 2:23 PM on November 3, 2013 [2 favorites]
It just goes to show -- cool things can have goofy roots.
posted by JHarris at 2:25 PM on November 3, 2013
posted by JHarris at 2:25 PM on November 3, 2013
This web page taught me that Project A-ko was apparently a smashing success.
posted by infinitewindow at 2:31 PM on November 3, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by infinitewindow at 2:31 PM on November 3, 2013 [2 favorites]
JHarris you make all my favorite posts it seems like.
posted by Our Ship Of The Imagination! at 2:34 PM on November 3, 2013
posted by Our Ship Of The Imagination! at 2:34 PM on November 3, 2013
It (Project A-ko) was, it was in some ways the emblem of the 80s anime scene, even though in hindsight it looks more like it was made as a parody of anime. I mean, the characters are actually named A, B and C, it outright makes fun of the battle bikini B wears ("Aren't you cold?"), and at the end the bizarre gigantic strength of A, used as a red herring in the story to first make you think she's the one the aliens are really looking for, turns out to be because she's apparently the daughter of Clark Kent and Diana Prince.
posted by JHarris at 2:37 PM on November 3, 2013 [4 favorites]
posted by JHarris at 2:37 PM on November 3, 2013 [4 favorites]
To be fair, I really liked Persona 3 and Persona 4.
The Persona 4 anime is really entertaining, too.
posted by graventy at 2:53 PM on November 3, 2013 [1 favorite]
The Persona 4 anime is really entertaining, too.
posted by graventy at 2:53 PM on November 3, 2013 [1 favorite]
Ah, The Humanoid. In the anime circles I ran in it was the legendary example of horrible anime. "Sure, X was bad, but at least it wasn't The Humanoid."
I picked up a copy when Blockbuster was dumping VHS tapes for a buck, and yeah, "least essential" nails it.
posted by dragoon at 3:13 PM on November 3, 2013 [1 favorite]
I picked up a copy when Blockbuster was dumping VHS tapes for a buck, and yeah, "least essential" nails it.
posted by dragoon at 3:13 PM on November 3, 2013 [1 favorite]
Yeah, the parody aspect is why I thought A-ko was just a footnote.
posted by infinitewindow at 3:28 PM on November 3, 2013
posted by infinitewindow at 3:28 PM on November 3, 2013
Apparently there are a lot of video games based on this novel, and I suspect they aren’t very essential either.
I have to wonder if they just threw that line in there for the epic indignation it would inspire from die-hard Persona fans, because no one in their right mind would ever recognize Persona 4 as anything but pure unadulterated AMAZING.
posted by Diagonalize at 3:29 PM on November 3, 2013 [2 favorites]
I have to wonder if they just threw that line in there for the epic indignation it would inspire from die-hard Persona fans, because no one in their right mind would ever recognize Persona 4 as anything but pure unadulterated AMAZING.
posted by Diagonalize at 3:29 PM on November 3, 2013 [2 favorites]
I watched Urotsukidōji, I feel like I've put in my time.
posted by Artw at 3:33 PM on November 3, 2013 [5 favorites]
posted by Artw at 3:33 PM on November 3, 2013 [5 favorites]
Wait, Shou Aikawa wrote both that and Fullmetal Alchemist?! Heh, that's a useful fact. I wonder who I can traumatize with it.
posted by JHarris at 3:44 PM on November 3, 2013
posted by JHarris at 3:44 PM on November 3, 2013
I contend that a Project A-ko was also a parody of the classic Warner Bros cartoons, specifically Operation: Rabbit. B-ko's crazed nights at the drafting table echo Wile E Coyote perfectly.
posted by SPrintF at 3:52 PM on November 3, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by SPrintF at 3:52 PM on November 3, 2013 [2 favorites]
infinitewindow, yeah, but I think the parody nature of A-ko went over the heads of many 80s anime fans, myself included, who just saw it as Wacky Shenanigans. And I thought the same thing of those scenes at the time, SPrintF, although I think that's less parody as homage.
posted by JHarris at 3:54 PM on November 3, 2013
posted by JHarris at 3:54 PM on November 3, 2013
The most recent video game relatives of Megami Tensei, of course, are the Persona games.
::pushes up glasses:: Actually, the most recent one is Shin Megami Tensei IV, although scuttlebutt is that Persona 5 is going to be announced soon.
posted by rifflesby at 4:53 PM on November 3, 2013 [1 favorite]
::pushes up glasses:: Actually, the most recent one is Shin Megami Tensei IV, although scuttlebutt is that Persona 5 is going to be announced soon.
posted by rifflesby at 4:53 PM on November 3, 2013 [1 favorite]
rifflesby: "The most recent video game relatives of Megami Tensei, of course, are the Persona games.
::pushes up glasses:: Actually, the most recent one is Shin Megami Tensei IV, although scuttlebutt is that Persona 5 is going to be announced soon."
Why the glasses? Shouldn't that be a monocle?
posted by Samizdata at 4:57 PM on November 3, 2013
::pushes up glasses:: Actually, the most recent one is Shin Megami Tensei IV, although scuttlebutt is that Persona 5 is going to be announced soon."
Why the glasses? Shouldn't that be a monocle?
posted by Samizdata at 4:57 PM on November 3, 2013
I do know that some scenes in Project A-ko (a movie I've seen more than a hundred times I bet!) were based off Uresai Yastura! and Space Battleship Yamamoto. The large craft that invades Earth to kidnap C-ko is based off the aforementioned spaceship and the scenes with B-ko flying around carrying C-ko outside the ship are pulled from a UY movie. I wish the anime turnpike circa '97 was around because a lot of the Project A-ko "shrines" had a surprisingly large amount of trivia from the movies and ova's on them.
Anyway, I'll just leave this here: Dance Away!
posted by Our Ship Of The Imagination! at 5:03 PM on November 3, 2013 [1 favorite]
Anyway, I'll just leave this here: Dance Away!
posted by Our Ship Of The Imagination! at 5:03 PM on November 3, 2013 [1 favorite]
I sent the monocle out to be polished, so it will fly off properly when the P5 trailer is released.
posted by rifflesby at 5:03 PM on November 3, 2013 [5 favorites]
posted by rifflesby at 5:03 PM on November 3, 2013 [5 favorites]
oh goodness those horrible ovas with a-ko and b-ko as alien bounty hunters....
posted by Our Ship Of The Imagination! at 5:04 PM on November 3, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by Our Ship Of The Imagination! at 5:04 PM on November 3, 2013 [1 favorite]
Ah yes. Still wondering what was up with those to be honest.
posted by JHarris at 5:09 PM on November 3, 2013
posted by JHarris at 5:09 PM on November 3, 2013
I would watch every one of these with gusto. I miss the days of grabbing some anime I hadn't seen yet at Blockbuster, and that experience of dizzying culture shock when I ended up with some OVA that was just a torrent of non sequiturs and/or otaku in-jokes we didn't get yet.
posted by Rustmouth Snakedrill at 8:22 PM on November 3, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by Rustmouth Snakedrill at 8:22 PM on November 3, 2013 [1 favorite]
Why the glasses? Shouldn't that be a monocle?
No. He pushed up his glasses with his pointer and index fingers, and then the lenses became an impenetrable glare of light.
posted by sonic meat machine at 8:29 PM on November 3, 2013 [5 favorites]
No. He pushed up his glasses with his pointer and index fingers, and then the lenses became an impenetrable glare of light.
posted by sonic meat machine at 8:29 PM on November 3, 2013 [5 favorites]
Also, just to be That Nerd, while the recent Personae are pretty great in a lot of ways, they're not really representative of the MegaTen aesthetic and I can't really discuss P4 without pointing out its problematic transphobia and homophobia. Both of which feel especially weird because both characters are pretty much amazing, but then there's this wink-and-nodding transphobia/homophobia which feels like it's only there to not alienate an audience of gross adolescent boys.
Basically almost any game in the series from the late 90s onward is worth checking out, though.
posted by byanyothername at 8:32 PM on November 3, 2013
Basically almost any game in the series from the late 90s onward is worth checking out, though.
posted by byanyothername at 8:32 PM on November 3, 2013
Aikawa adapted the first Fullmetal Alchemist - and the crap version of it that parted ways from the at-the-time-unfinished manga as well.
Which is to say that the far superior Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood had nothing to so with him and oh my god I am actually having this argument.
posted by maryr at 8:35 PM on November 3, 2013 [3 favorites]
Which is to say that the far superior Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood had nothing to so with him and oh my god I am actually having this argument.
posted by maryr at 8:35 PM on November 3, 2013 [3 favorites]
I would watch every one of these with gusto.
Um... I kind of hate to admit it, especially how I made the post and all... but I agree. Let's just keep that between us though. No telling anyone.
posted by JHarris at 10:43 PM on November 3, 2013
Um... I kind of hate to admit it, especially how I made the post and all... but I agree. Let's just keep that between us though. No telling anyone.
posted by JHarris at 10:43 PM on November 3, 2013
Project A-ko was the first anime I ever saw, when the sci-fi channel was showing movies on the weekend. I was probably 14 or 15 years old and I really liked it.
A friend's older brother had some anime on tape, so the second movie I watched was "Wicked City".
It took some time before I saw a third.
posted by helicomatic at 4:08 AM on November 4, 2013 [1 favorite]
A friend's older brother had some anime on tape, so the second movie I watched was "Wicked City".
It took some time before I saw a third.
posted by helicomatic at 4:08 AM on November 4, 2013 [1 favorite]
Apparently there are a lot of video games based on this novel, and I suspect they aren’t very essential either.
It's almost as if the author of this piece included this sentence to provoke a reaction from the readers. If only there were some term we could use to label such behavior.
posted by Dr-Baa at 5:44 AM on November 4, 2013 [1 favorite]
It's almost as if the author of this piece included this sentence to provoke a reaction from the readers. If only there were some term we could use to label such behavior.
posted by Dr-Baa at 5:44 AM on November 4, 2013 [1 favorite]
No relation to Megami Tengoku, I guess? Or Megami-sama? Lots of Megami out there.
posted by jfuller at 6:04 AM on November 4, 2013
posted by jfuller at 6:04 AM on November 4, 2013
OMG the shin megami tensei games are among the best RPGs ever, ever created. FFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUU uninformed assumptions make an ass of u and mptions. sorry not sorry I'M DRUNK WHICH CHANGES NOT AT ALL MY POINT seriously
posted by radiosilents at 6:31 PM on November 4, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by radiosilents at 6:31 PM on November 4, 2013 [1 favorite]
There there. You'll come out of it eventually. Here, eat a few of these. They're you're favorite!
That's right! Yu-Gi-Oh cards!
posted by JHarris at 12:52 AM on November 5, 2013
That's right! Yu-Gi-Oh cards!
posted by JHarris at 12:52 AM on November 5, 2013
I look forward to the Madoka-fication of the card-game and gottacatchemall genres.
posted by maryr at 9:32 AM on November 5, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by maryr at 9:32 AM on November 5, 2013 [2 favorites]
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To be fair, I really liked Persona 3 and Persona 4.
posted by mccarty.tim at 2:19 PM on November 3, 2013 [1 favorite]