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NEWS AND VIEWS - JANUARY 2019
WRITING NEWS Champions Weekly is coming along; I'm still on track to finish it by the end of March. I mentioned last month that I didn't think the book would hit 40,000 words, but I'm over 35,000 words into it now with several chapters still to go, so I might have been wrong about that. We'll see. Nothing else to report, sadly. * * * * * * * * WHAT I'M WATCHING Here's something I watched this month: the first episode of Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari (Rising of the Shield Hero). This is an anime about an ordinary guy called Naofumi, who is pulled into a fantasy world and told that he is the one and only "shield hero" -- one of the four legendary heroes who will save the world from some evil force. Equipped with only a shield (and unable to even touch other weapons), he's kind of pathetic, and just about everyone looks down on him from the beginning, including the three other heroes (also summoned from modern Japan). Ordered to go out "adventuring," in order to raise his "level," he meets a pretty young woman who helps him and seems to appreciate him; a couple of days later, however, she steals all his money and accuses him of raping her. Everyone believes this, and a bitter Naofumi is forced to set out on his own (ordinarily he would've been executed for the "rape," but the king figures they still need him around because he's the shield hero). 
I didn't like it very much: 1) It's another ordinary-guy-finds-himself-in-a-fantasy-world story. I'm really starting to hate this premise. Even worse, Naofumi's generic fantasy world is governed by the usual RPG tropes: levels, skills, killing monsters to collect materials and earn money, etc. It's basically a big video game -- Naofumi can even open up Sword Art Online-style mid-air menus to check his status and such. This sort of thing makes sense in Sword Art Online, where the characters really are in a video game, but in a supposedly real fantasy world it's just ridiculous. Maybe it'll eventually be revealed that Naofumi really is in a game, in which case okay, but still, it's lazy. 2) The three other heroes don't react realistically to the situation. They're barely surprised to find themselves in this fantasy world, and all three immediately start making demands. Naofumi is a little more in awe of the situation, but even he sees it, at first, as a kind of lark, a chance to live out his otaku dreams. This is so dumb. None of these anime protagonists ever worry about getting killed, robbed, beaten up, eaten by monsters, or turned into mice by vengeful wizards. They never spare a thought for their loved ones back in Japan. They don't worry about having to adapt to the local cuisine. They never complain about the lack of indoor plumbing. They're not exploding with curiosity about these new worlds; they never want to read books, look at maps, figure out the politics, learn about the local customs and religious practices, understand how magic works, see the local wildlife, or any of that. But then again, why should they? All these anime fantasy worlds are basically the same anyway. I might watch a few more episodes, to see if it improves, but there's gotta be some better anime out there. * * * * * * * * WHAT I'M READING I finished Carol Delaney's Columbus and the Quest for Jerusalem a few days ago; right now I'm working on Thomas Asbridge's The Greatest Knight (a biography of William Marshal) and Stephan Talty's Empire of Blue Water (about the pirate Captain Morgan). Lots of history lately. As for fiction...well, I'm not really reading anything right now, but I am looking forward to Brian McClellan's latest, Wrath of Empire. McClellan, in my opinion, is one of the best fantasy writers working today. * * * * * * * * WHAT I'M PLAYING Still working my way through Dragon Quest XI, which is a very, very long game. After I finish DQXI I'll probably tackle Valkyria Chronicles 4, and then...well, I'm not sure. Maybe Metal Slader Glory; I've been curious about this game for years (gotta love that title; it's just fun to say), and I was thrilled to learn that an English fan translation had finally been released. Other possibilities include Dragon Force, Shining Force 3, Wargroove, Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom, the Resident Evil 2 remake...yeah. There's a lot of games out there. * * * * * * * * FOR US! This just might be the greatest commercial I've ever seen. Really gets the ol' blood pumpin'. * * * * * * * *
BH
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