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Not What I Expected (But That's Not Bad!) - Tower of Druaga, Episode 1 In Tweets
The content of this piece was written during a viewing of the first episode of The Tower of Druaga: Aegis of URUK on September 5, 2010. Edits have been made for spelling and grammar, but the rest is completely untouched, and un-edited from its original format.
Before we begin, Hitoshi Sakamoto composed the score for this show. That's right - Mr. Opoona himself. He also did the scores for Final Fantasy XII and Odin Sphere, but to hell with those snooze-fests. REAL gamers know where the awesomeness is.
8:14 PM: Good evening, readers. Welcome to a third straight night of show-blogs. :)
8:15 PM: Tonight's feature is Tower of Druaga: The Aegis of URUK, based on Namco's 1984 arcade game, The Tower of Druaga.
8:15 PM: The arcade game was a fun, if not frustrating affair that had you wandering a maze as a dapper, yellow-armor-clad gent named Gil.
8:15 PM: You basically wandered about, poked a few slimes, found treasure, and worked your way up the tower until you ran out of quarters.
8:15 PM: But I digress - I'd like to get the basics of the show out of the way before I go too far into the world of nostalgia. XD
8:16 PM: Animated by Gonzo (Last Exile, Afro Samurai, Saikano)
8:17 PM: Directed by Koichi Chigira (Full Metal Panic!, Phantom Quest Corp)
8:17 PM: Opening Theme: Swinging, by Muramasa
8:17 PM: Ending Theme: Tochosha-tachi by Kenn
8:22 PM: And away we go. :D
8:23 PM: Ooo, spooky :o Some psychedelic cave... or something
8:24 PM: Slimes :D
8:24 PM: ...Who just got burned by a mage. :(
8:24 PM: "These guys were killed by Kusarakks. >_>" ...we'll find out what those are soon, no doubt.
8:25 PM: Yep.
8:25 PM: "They're coming :O"
8:25 PM: Fight time is go... and some armor-clad dude named Jil makes his enry... as token female warrior freaks out.
8:25 PM: ...Jil?
8:25 PM: ...Shouldn't that be Gil?
8:26 PM: Fight start!
8:26 PM: Or not... cut to the opening. -_- Disappointing!
8:26 PM: Opening is... Ska? O_o wtf
8:26 PM: And... why are they in a modern world? What the fuck?
8:28 PM: Music by Hitoshi Sakimoto: Wait.. THE Hitoshi Sakimoto?! O_o
8:28 PM: Mr. Opoona Soundtrack Hitoshi Sakimoto?!
8:29 PM: Holy crap, it is! Awesome! :D
8:29 PM: Oh... Sakimoto also did soundtracks for FFXII and Odin Sphere, but those don't matter :3
8:30 PM: Back to the action - Gil can apparently kick cow-demon ass! :o
8:30 PM: "He's so dreamy! *-*" ...this has to be a dream
8:31 PM: "I'm the hero, Jil (grr). I'm fighting to defeat the vicious dark god Druaga! :O" ...I miss game plots from the '80s XD
8:31 PM: Hunh... guess it is Jil. Gil(gamesh) killed Druaga already.
8:31 PM: Oops :D
8:32 PM: Hah. :D Dramatic shot of the tower - Caption: "The Tower of Druaga." Speech bubble - "It's back! :O"
8:33 PM: Yada yada, many challenged Druaga, nobody could do it, Ishtar gave Jil the horn-hat of Gil
8:33 PM: ...EPIC POSE >:o
8:33 PM: Apparently, Gil is the king of the land. o_o
8:33 PM: "Jil and his merry men :D"
8:34 PM: Looks like Jil is challenged by his friends... which leads to some confusing reversal-of-challenge? wat?
8:34 PM: SHORYUKEN!
8:34 PM: This is pretty goofy for something based on Druaga.
8:35 PM: Not a bad thing at all.
8:36 PM: "Before I left, I had some romance with a beautiful princess! :3" "*.*" -flash to Jil walking in on her naked, beach, bad cook...-
8:37 PM: "You're setting off to conquer the evil god ;-; I know you won't make it back alive!" She's an optimist '-'
8:37 PM: "I'll always come back. :3" "*-* Oh, JIL-SAMA! URESHII!" ...or an airhead.
8:37 PM: Cliche fireworks to conceal sex. Jil tapped that
8:37 PM: Speed line fights!
8:38 PM: "I'll kill you before you reach the tower!" "What was that?! :O" "... couldn't you hear me? '_' "
8:39 PM: Utu = red shirt. "Hey Jil... when we get home, I'mma get married :D" "That's nice, but why bring that up? :o" "AAAAAGH >:o -charge, stab'd-"
8:39 PM: Text: "UTU DIES"
8:40 PM: ...dunno who Utu was, but Jil's heartfelt monologue is now hilarious
8:40 PM: "Prepare to die, Dark Knight!" "That's Black Knight! :O" yeah... don't want DC to sue >_>
8:41 PM: Zelda Sword beam gogogo!
8:41 PM: ...and he's beat. >_>
8:41 PM: "Why won't you kill me? :O" "there's sadness in your sword. '_' I can't kill someone who knows the sorrow of battle." ...wat
8:42 PM: "Hone your skills, Great Knight. :D" "That's BLACK KNIGHT T_T" X3 -snerk-
8:42 PM: "And so TEN YEARS PASSED! :O" Just like that?
8:42 PM: Eyecatch! :D
8:43 PM: Mid-show comment - this is pretty funny. It's more a parody of the Druaga story than a serious adaptation
8:43 PM: Into the tower! :o Complete with the stereotypical "Ikuzou, minna :o" "OUUUU! :D"
8:44 PM: First danger: A roper... a very, VERY grabby planet o_o
8:44 PM: ...Rape-y more than grabby.
8:45 PM: "Watch this :o" "But we have to save her!" "NOT YET! :O" ...and they watch the girl get molested. wtf japan
8:45 PM: "JUST A LITTLE LONGER! :O" ...he's in his happy place.
8:45 PM: "DAMMIT! HOW LONG YA PERVERTS GONNA WATCH?! T_T" fourth wall broken. :D
8:45 PM: And another one bites the dust. Kally fried by Quox. >_>
8:46 PM: Black Knight saved the day. :D I like him.
8:46 PM: Serious conversation as Quox writhes in pain.
8:47 PM: "I wanna get married :3" And Black Knight gets fried >_> Note to self - "I wanna get married" = instant death
8:47 PM: And another swordbeam kills the Quox... who dropped the key.
8:47 PM: Dramatic goodbye to Dark Knight... who was 100,145 O_o
8:47 PM: "We, the Druaga three will stop you :O" no they won't. >_>
8:48 PM: The Druaga Three - ANNIHILATED :O
8:48 PM: And more raepslimes.
8:48 PM: ...Neeba got clocked by Jil. '_'
8:49 PM: "Neeba is left behind >:o" ...that made no sense.
8:49 PM: "Do you really think we can beat Druaga? :O" Yes. yes they can
8:50 PM: "When this battle is over, let's get married! :D" despite the princess waiting? >_>
8:50 PM: Oh. "The Princess - NOW AN EX >:o"
8:50 PM: Druaga fight go! :D "He's tiny '_' "
8:50 PM: ...He IS tiny
8:50 PM: "Jil, I AM YOUR FATHER >:o" Vader'd. :D
8:51 PM: Text bubbles on screen "GO TO HELL >:o" And the nameless girl is now raging
8:51 PM: Epic cutaway to... THE INNKEEPER >:o HE WILL SAVE THE WORLD!
8:51 PM: ...Well, he lasted 10 seconds. :(
8:51 PM: Jil goes Super Saiyan now... who looks like a Gundam
8:52 PM: Lots of overexaggerated, Dead-Leaves-ish expressions :D
8:52 PM: And a Pikohammer? #Hammerspace!
8:52 PM: "Druaga, you bastard! :O" distant fight is go.
8:52 PM: ...and Jil loses.
8:52 PM: Ishtar comes to save the day :D
8:53 PM: "And I forgot his name, but anyway, one of my comrades :D" "I'm Utu! :D"
8:53 PM: Jil = Hyper Mode!
8:54 PM: "Just you try to survive it, Druaga! :O -throws his friends at Druaga-
8:54 PM: "I won, innkeeper :3"
8:54 PM: ...Apparently, that didn't happen. >_>
8:55 PM: "You just passed out. T_T "Jil got his ass beat >_>
8:55 PM: And everyone hates him.
8:56 PM: And they're still in the Tower of Druaga.
8:56 PM: ...End of episode
8:56 PM: Verdict: This NOTHING close to what I expected.
8:57 PM: Aside: Hah :D Next episode segments have sprite Jil and ToD game footage
8:58 PM: Back on topic: The show is actually really damn funny, and has a lot of personality.
8:58 PM: Jil is a lovable failure, the rest of the cast seems just as charming.
8:58 PM: The animation is pretty good, the character designs themselves are great, and it feels like a strong start to a possibly great whole.
9:01 PM: The first episode is currently .@funimation's video portal in both subbed and dubbed formats, the series retails for $59.98 on DVD
9:02 PM: Definitely check it out. :D
9:03 PM: Links to the show:
9:03 PM: Episode 1 (sub) - http://bit.ly/9QMpK6
9:03 PM: Episode 1 (dub) - http://bit.ly/9DaJTA
