Starting Over

Howdy all. It's been a long time since I've made a post here. A lot has happened in the interim - I started and stopped streaming, that was pretty crazy. I've met a lot of new people online and made new friends. I got into Lain. I've been with my partner for almost 10 years now(!!)

 

But what does any of that mean for this blog? Well to be frank, nothing. But I feel like I've changed as a person over these last almost 10 years since my last post. When I started this blog I had originally wanted it to be professional and organized and honestly even maybe something I could make money with. Given how rapidly the internet has changed in recent years though those sorts of thoughts have drifted further and further from my mind - I want to get away from social media. I want a place where I can just muse my thoughts, share the things I think are cool and overall just have a good time. 

So with a heavy heart, this blogs original form, JoekerStraightFlush, is no more. I always hated the name anyway, to be honest. I'll be keeping all previous posts up, though. Mind, my opinions then don't necessarily reflect my current opinions or me as a person now. A lot of time has passed, things change, people change. 

What kind of content can you expect to see? Anything, honestly. If I play a cool game and want to gush about it, watch a cool show, read a book and need to get my thoughts out. Do note that this is actually just a stop gap for now - I'm working on another website but I'm still new to HTML and it's taking a lot to wrap my head around. In the meantime, I want a place to muse my thoughts away and after a lot of thought and experimenting decided this was the best way.

 

Thanks for reading, if you did. I'm glad to have somewhere to share my thoughts again.

 

The Outcast of Digimon - Digimon Frontier Review

April 7th, 2002. A week after what many consider to be the best Digimon series, "Digimon Tamers", came to end. As per tradition up to this point, a new Digimon series would take it's place in what seemed like an endless cycle of Digimon.

Something strange happened with the fourth TV Anime season of Digimon, "Digimon Frontier". Many fans raised their eyebrows to the entire concept of the series. It was a (arguably) radically different change from what we'd experienced up to this point; and fans weren't sure whether this was a welcome change or not.

Frontier is generally the most polarizing Digimon series when it comes to opinions on it, perhaps only rivaled by the notorious "Digimon Adventure 02". Many hate the series, yet many love it and claim this hate is unfair and unwarranted. Is there any truth to this, is the large fan backlash to Frontier something that it doesn't deserve? Is the series itself something that is worth the time of the many Digimon fans that devoted their time to the franchise? Is it just plain bad? Well, as someone who has come fresh off of a rewatch, let's take a look. Beware as spoilers for the series will follow!

History of Digimon - The Franchise of many Faces

With the recent announcement of the newest entry in the Digimon franchise, "Digimon Universe: Appli Monsters", comes the same complaints many fans of the Digimon series make each time a new entry in the franchise is announced. "This isn't Digimon!". "Why must they hit the reboot button every series?". "Why do they keep reinventing the wheel! Digimon was perfectly good as it was" - Of course, these are just a couple examples, and naturally, there are many valid complaints to make about much of the franchise and there are obviously many factors influenced by opinion and personal taste.

Digimon Universe: Appli Monsters, the newest entry in the Digimon Franchise.

There are some complaints however that always strike me as peculiar. Specifically, the complaints that fall in line with the examples I gave above. Digimon is a franchise that is at it's core, about Evolution and Growth, changing, if you will. Even just a brief look at the history of Digimon will make this clear and I hope to give you that look in this article. Here, I hope to show you why claiming something "isn't Digimon" because of your own personal notions of what Digimon is may not be a valid criticism of the franchise, by showing you just how vast and different the Digimon franchise is.

Early Thoughts - Aikatsu! My No.1 Stage!

Released November 26th, 2015 is the fourth entry into the series of Aikatsu! 3DS games. After only just releasing getting my copy and spending a little time with it, I thought I'd go ahead and let you all know my early thoughts on the game.

Are you all ready for some Idol Activities?

Let me start off with a word of warning for all of those looking to import the game.

Early Thoughts - Hyperdevotion Noire: Goddess Black Heart

Hello again everyone! Joeker here again, this time debuting what I hope to become something of a new series on this blog. It was supposed to happen a lot earlier then this but due to life I've had to put it off until now; but this time we'll actually be getting it! In this series I'd like to give my thoughts on Games I play, series I watch, etc, while it's still early on. For example, I've put about 20  hours into this game and bring you my thoughts based on them. It's not a full review, since I simply haven't had the time for that sort of thing, so I hope this series will help to make up for that a bit! First up is: Hyperdevotion Noire: Goddess Black Heart.

This game was released earlier this year and unlike the other Neptune games isn't a typical JRPG, but instead an SRPG, featuring Noire, Neptune's love interest close friend.

Aikatsu! The Movie - A Celebration of all things Aikatsu!

Announced on the 27th of February, 2014, during episode 71 of Aikatsu!, after much success with the franchise they finally announced the series would be getting a feature length film; Aikatsu! The Movie. It's no secret; I'm a massive Aikatsu fan. If you'd ask me if I could only watch one series for the rest of my life, it'd probably be this. I was excited to hear a movie was coming out and the anticipation over the last year to watch it has been overwhelming. The time has finally come and I'd now like to share my thoughts on the movie with you guys.

Aikatsu! The Movie was originally released in theaters on the 13th of December, 2014 but was only released on DVD/Blu-Ray in June. The movie has quickly cemented itself as one of my favorite movies, but not just because it's Aikatsu. Because it's a good movie. Why is it a good movie? The answer is easy. Because it's Aikatsu. Beware of Spoilers ahead!

Kamen Rider Battride War - Review

This is late. This game came out a couple years ago now, right? Surely you'd think I'd be reviewing Battride War 2. Well, I haven't actually played that yet. But I have played this and thought perhaps I should give my thoughts on in the same way I did the Climax Heroes games. So, let's get into it shall we?

 

Kamen Rider Battride War was released for the PS3 on May 23rd, 2013 during the run of Kamen Rider Wizard. Ergo, it's obviously going to be a Wizard centric game...