Holy crap, it's been a week since we've started, eh? That's a pretty good effort! Both for me, writing these, and for you - reading these! If you have stuck with me over all seven days of this, then it means that you truly enjoy discovering my opinion on these things, and thus are an awesome friend. Or, a creepy, stalker-ish person. Regardless - here's the day seven challenges for Doctor Who, otaku, and Video Games!
Doctor Who Challenge, Day 7
Your favourite piece of music.
Without a doubt, this is my favourite incarnation of the Doctor Who theme music. The bass is thick, the melody is creepily sparse, and the visuals of the intro are actually pretty damn amazing (except for maybe the faces fading into the screen, but appearing in the stars is pretty epic). I do love the new series' orchestral soundtracks, from the theme to the incidental music, but honestly, this is such 80s cheese it's impossible to hate. It's one of the best theme songs in TV history and one of the best renditions of said theme - you can't go wrong.
Otaku Challenge, Day 7
An anime you hate that most people love.
Ever since its announcement and through its first airing, people really seemed to gravitate towards the odd, Cartoon Network-style humour of Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt. I... just couldn't. I don't hate the show, there's no show I hate except for maybe filler-intensive runs of Bleach, but even then it's less of a repulsion than a genuine hatred. But Panty and Stocking was so immensely popular during its first run, and people in the Twitterverse wouldn't shut up about it. I... didn't like it.
Most people thought it was fun, and I admit I appreciated the sentiment, but it just wasn't that great. A good comedy anime doesn't need weirdness or Monty Python-style non-sequiters, it can usually survive Azumanga Daioh-style on cast chemistry alone, and Panty and Stocking had none of that. (Inspired some pretty sweet fan art, mind.) I thought I would enjoy it, but it just doesn't have enough of a soul to stand up on its own two feet. It reminded me of something Adult Swim would make to parody bad anime. If Adult Swim had made it, it would be tolerable. But to me, it just tried way too hard to be "out there," and as a consequence, was rendered rather limp.
Video Game Challenge, Day 7
Favourite game couple.
Favourite game couple? There really aren't a whole lot of "couples" that I'd say really have a chemistry that stands out. Mario and Peach? Those two androgynous teenagers from Final Fantasy X? Master Chief and Cortana? Hmmm? And if there are "married" couples, they don't ever really seem that important, or even that memorable - they're just there. Super Meat Boy and Bandage girl have more chemistry than most video game boyfriend/girlfriends, and they barely have any character beyond "look helpless" and "get killed a lot".
I'm going to have to show my raging inner Valve fanboyism here and say that the father/daughter relationship between Alyx and Eli Vance is probably the most impactful game couple I know of. Half-Life 2 started it off, and Episode One had a touching scene in its intro in which Alyx assures Eli that she'll make it out alive. But it's the one-on-one conversation with Gordon Freeman and Eli in Half-Life 2: Episode Two about their "mutual fiend" that cements just how real the relationship between Eli and his daughter is. "Now he's putting words in her mouth," he sighs, after hearing his daughter say to him the words that started off the whole hellish nightmare. ...I won't spoil anything, but unforeseen consequences rear their ugly heads, and the most real human couple in videogames is finally cemented in one of the most memorable cliffhangers in gaming history.
Tune in for day eight! A Who-related photo that makes me happy, the rudest remark I get because of my "otaku ways," and what I consider the best videogame soundtrack!
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