Two American guys, Piro and Largo, travel to Tokyo and run themselves out of money. They’re forced to look for odd jobs to keep from starving and to earn enough to pay their plane fare back to the U.S. Sounds simple enough.

This Tokyo is a little askew from our own, however.  Piro and Largo soon find themselves emmeshed in a world where all the tropes of Japanese anime, manga, and gaming are reality. Before they know it, they’re mixed up with ninjas, zombies, guardian angels, magical girls, a mecha-driving police force, and ‘zilla monsters; caught in the crossfire of a corporate shooting war between Sony and Nintendo; and falling in love with a couple of pop-culture idols, one retired from public life, the other up-and-coming. Add to that a mysterious young lady who might have hacked the world’s biggest computer role-playing game–from a hospital room–and you’ve only scratched the surface of Megatokyo, Fred Gallagher’s tour-de-force webcomic and manga.

I stumbled on Megatokyo a couple of years ago and was quickly hooked, first by the quirky, fun characters, then by the surprisingly deep storyline (which occupies a loyal and populous forum community 24/7, interpreting and re-interpreting each installment), and finally, by Gallagher’s steadily-improving and ever-more-intricate artwork. The man can draw.

Even better, he recently began drawing the comic live online, which is a hypnotizing way to spend an hour or three as a few simple lines evolve into incredibly detailed backgrounds and character images. Gallagher’s spent some time living in Japan, speaking the language, and it shows in many of the settings that are drawn from real life and in the multitude of cultural references and in-jokes.

The story may or may not be nearing its climax. It’s hard to tell–it’s taken several eventful years to chronicle two or three weeks in the lives of Piro, Largo, and their friends. Happily, every comic from day one is archived on the Megatokyo website, and I recommend starting from the beginning and working your way up-to-date, or it will make no sense at all. You could just come for the cool pictures, but you’ll miss much of what makes Megatokyo the phenomenon it is.

Compendiums of Megatokyo are available as a manga at some bookstores and comic shops (I’ve seen them at Books A Million and Barnes & Noble) as well as online from Amazon, etc, or at the Megatokyo store. Five volumes have been published so far, and the sixth is coming in December, I think.

If you want to watch Mr. Gallagher draw the comic live online, there’s no set schedule, but if you follow the Megatokyo Twitter, he’ll make an announcement when he’s about to start. The video feed is interactive, but keep any comments or questions brief and respectful. The community doesn’t suffer fools gladly.

I’d rate the material at a PG-13 for some violence, occasional mature themes, and some language (usually masked in l33t-speak). No explicit content. Most of the story is funny and lighthearted, but there is evil lurking in the dark corners of Megatokyo, and our heroes ultimately must confront it. The final showdown is coming.

Megatokyo is one of the finest examples of a successful web-comic, created by Fred Gallagher and Rodney Caston (though Caston has left the project ages ago due to creative differences), having been printed into volumes available for purchase, Megatokyo is an English manga-style comic focused on the otaku lifestyle, specifically video-games (in the beginning at least) and starts off using a traditional four-panel layout with jokes that always have a punchline by the fourth panel, however as the story progressed and Gallagher’s art improved, the panel layouts became more complex, as did the storyline.  Soon enough the protagonists Piro and Largo (two Otakus) get stranded in Tokyo and need to make enough money to get back home, but do they really want to leave?  Gallagher introduces many new characters (usually female) and the story becomes far more complex and interesting as relationships are formed and battles are raged (keep an eye on Largo).  Being set in Japan, the protagonists obviously get to deal with ninjas, robots, giant creatures and more (unfortunately this is not the case in real-life, see my previous article) and it’s this aspect that adds to the enjoyment of Megatokyo as you never know what’s around the corner.

It is also freely available for download and unlike other manga/comic-books, it’s not inked, rather Gallagher has chosen to use traditional pencil artwork and this gives the overall comic a very unique style.  Even the printed versions lack inking.

This is one of the earlier pages, using a standard four-panel layout.

The Megatoyko series has received a lot of praise for its strong continuity, artwork and colourful characters.  My favourite character has definitely got to be Largo, the video-game enthusiast who often finds himself in bizarre situations, including repairing computers naked (so as not to attract static electricity) or battling the undead.  The fictional Japan that Gallagher and Caston have created is definitely aimed towards fan-boys and otaku as oftentimes the comic will poke fun at the gaming industry or rip off anime and manga stereotypes and this is where most of the humour lies.

This is a much more recent page, notice how Gallagher has abandoned the four-panel layout in favour of a more complex structure. The artwork is also vastly improved.

At one point Fred Gallagher threatened to stop doing Megatokyo if any of his characters (particularly the female ones) were to be portrayed in perverse fan-fiction or hentai, though I’m sure he understands that a task like that is simply impossible, he’s chosen the internet as a means to distribute his work and express himself and as such there are certain pitfalls he’ll need to deal with when engaging with the interwebs and there is no exception to rule 34 although he did have this to say;

“I don’t have control over what fans do. If you must know, i encourage things like fanart, fanfiction, and even use of MT characters in people’s own comic works. The only think that i ask is that you treat the characters with the same respect that you would treat real people. Why won’t you see Kimiko naked? Because it would comprimise the character’s integrity for the sake of a small moment of perverse release.”

There isn’t actually a lot of Megatokyo hentai and whatnot floating around, probably due to the core fan base so if you’re looking for hentai go to a dedicated hentai site, but if you’re looking for a smart, witty and highly enjoyable manga (albeit a Western one) give Megatokyo a try.

Megatokyo is a webcomic by Fred Gallagher, about two guys, Piro and Largo, who are stuck in Tokyo without in any money. This webcomic is pretty dramatic in comparison to others, and many other webcomics make fun of Gallagher’s self deprecating attitude, which I admit gets pretty annoying at times. The art style is heavily inspired by anime, but is obviously American, somehow. Anyway it’s pretty good, so you should check it out.

I don’t really have a good reason for skipping yesterday’s post. I’ll blame it on my watching the documentary Trekkies at 10 at night instead of being online.

Anyway, on to the last of the collections that I have.

Megatokyo Book 1

Megatokyo’s first book (I believe he’s up to five now) collects the beginning of Megatokyo and Chapter Zero. Fred Gallagher has the comic split up into chapters and each book has at least one chapter. I think Book 3 has two chapters but its been awhile since I read it last.

Like the Penny Arcade book Gallagher’s has commentary by him under almost every strip in the book. There are few that don’t feature commentary but that’s because they’re not really strips.

—

Book 1 has for what Megatokyo is doing a great style. As mentioned above most every strip has commentary underneath. That’s not so special considering but what makes Megatokyo different is that it has a plot or a canon.

Gallagher compiled on the strips that fit the Megatokyo plot and put them in order for the first 80% or so of the book. There is of course an introduction page and such.

What I like about what he’s done here though is that after the canon he included all the one-off strips, his Dead Piro Day art, and a short story using his characters in the game world End Game. It’s an intelligent design. The story is told in order without interruption, which is great for fans. It helps you see the story properly and I always catch things that I didn’t see online because it’s so separated there.

It’s also great that he puts the one-offs, Shirt Guy Dom’s (if you want those) and the DPDs in the back. You don’t lose anything from the time period that he collects from.

I said this in my review of the website and I’ll repeat it here. Pick up the books. The art, story, and one-offs are great. It’ll help you catch up and makes for a decent afternoon read. I say this because lately Gallagher has been updating so irregularly that it’s almost impossible to remember what’s going in the story. Best just to pick up the collections if you like the series.

—

Book 2 is way different from Book 1 and  I might do Book 2. I haven’t decided yet. Tomorrow is up in the air.

Scyo.

First off an update about the new IMVU 2.0 that was recently rolled back to 1.0 due to an overwelming response by users. This comes straight from the IMVU Official Blog.

Update: 7-1-09 12:00 PM
Good news!  Even with record numbers of users enjoying the All-New IMVU 3D Chat, we’re rapidly increasing our technical ability to serve more members.  We have re-enabled access to the All-New IMVU 3D Chat for 100% of VIP members (including all new VIP members).  For non-VIP members, we are ramping up the percentage that can access it.  We will continue with this phased approach for non-VIP members until everybody has access.  It’s impossible to predict perfectly, but we expect to allow 100% of non-VIPs within one to two weeks.  Our priority is to ensure that everyone using the All-New IMVU 3D Chat has a great experience.  In the meantime, the Staff is working overtime to give everyone access as rapidly as possible.

I’ll continue to keep you posted as we make progress.  Thanks once again for your continued patience!

*****************

We’ve had an overwhelming response to the All-New IMVU 3D Chat, with record numbers of simultaneous users and chats.

Due to this huge response, we are experiencing some technical difficulties.  We have therefore temporarily rolled back to the previous version while we work to fix these issues.

Don’t worry…we expect to have the All-New IMVU 3D Chat back up and running as soon as possible.

What does this mean?
If you saw the new version of 3D Chat for the first time either yesterday or today, and if you don’t log out, you will continue to see the new 3D Chat experience.

However, if you saw the new version for the first time either yesterday or today, and you do log out or shut down your computer, when you log back in, you will be see the previous version of 3D Chat until we resolve the outstanding technical issues.

Anyone who was using the new version of 3D Chat prior to yesterday will not be affected.  You will continue to see the new 3D Chat experience.

Please bear with us while we work through these technical issues!

You can expect continual updates as soon as we have them!  Or, if you prefer, follow us on Twitter to receive the latest news and info.
Thank you for your patience,
Jami
Sr. Community Manager

So there you have it. VIP members should now be able to get back on. I hope see my fellow VIP members online when I get on.

Mega Tokyo Power!

A while back I told you about Applegeeks. I briefly mentioned MegaTokyo a few time then. Now some more information on one of the first webcomics I ever read. I freind introduced me to the site some years ago telling my “You should check it out you’ll lovie it.” Well many years later I still do. What started as a comic about two ameture game developers getting trapped in Tokyo has become so much more. Like Applegeeks, MeaTokyo has evovled from a simple humorous comic into a dramatic intense edge of your seat comic. It follow Piro and Largo’s various adventures with a serious of new friends so many I have lost count. It all takes place somewhere in Tokyo, or else it wouldn’t be MegaTokyo it’d be something like MegaParis or something. I have very little details on the artist and writer behind the comic, I don’t stalk, I mean follow, them as much as the guys from Applegeeks. I will post a link to thier site, the first page, and thier FAQ page which has many extra information as I don’t want this to get too long. However, I will post the history of MegaTokyo as it apears on the FAQ site.

What is the history behind MegaTokyo?

Back in 2000, Rodney Caston, known online as Largo, convinced Fred Gallager, known online as Piro, to start a webcomic with him. They started off with two strips that they posted in May to Rodney’s website. When a link from Penny Arcade sent some viewers their way, they decided to continue on, and relaunched the site in August with a three per week update schedule. As time went by, characters were added and storylines developed. In May of 2001, the existing strips were declared “Chapter 0” and the storylines started moving forward. Due to creative differences with Fred, Rodney’s input into the comic waned and the partnership was officially dissolved in June 2002. MegaTokyo entered the print world with the release of the first book in January 2003 by Studio IronCat, it later changed publishers to Dark Horse Comics in August 2003 and then again to CMX (an imprint of DC Comics) in February 2006. MegaTokyo merchandise moved from CaféPress to ThinkGeek in late 2002, then Fred and his wife Sarah opened MegaGear in July 2004 in order to sell their merchandise themselves. In the fall of 2008, MegaGear acquired a direct-to-garment printer that allowed Fred to begin on-demand tshirt printing with high quality color images.

Now for the links I hope you enjoy all 1217 comic just as I did.

MegaTokyo Chapter Summeries (for those who can’t or won’t go through 1216 comics) –> http://megatokyo.com/story

MegaTokyo Chapter 0 –> http://megatokyo.com/strip/1

MegaTokyo Home –> http://megatokyo.com/index.php

Also check out Fred Gallagher’s personal art site –> http://www.fredart.com/fredart/index.php3

Patches of Patches

The dA artist known as -patches- is now being featured on MAGMU. She does amazing work and you really should take a look at it. Her unique style and amazing original characters is why she is here today I can’t put much info as there isn’t much to go by so sorry. If she wishes to provide more information (name, age, other sites, etcetra) she can contact me. For now here’s a link to her dA gallery –> http://-patches-.deviantart.com/gallery/#_browse

I have spent the few weeks ramming my head repeatedly against the Great Brick Wall of Bureaucracy, so much so that I’m about ready to braid myself a noose out of red tape and jump off the British Consulate. Special sore points include: labyrinthine visa websites, non-refundable application fees, banks with a policy of only buying black and white printers despite the fact that bank documentation for visas must be in colour, automated phone directory services, wrongly addressed tax invoices, a landline that doesn’t work but for which Optus still tries to charge line rental, multiple 1300 numbers, help lines that charge by credit card, cheques which are yet to arrive, and express couriers who bang on the door in a Wagnerian fashion. Also, university assingments. SWEET ZOMBIE JESUS.

So, instead of dwelling on or ranting excessively about the above, here is a list of things I like. Feel free to go to your happy place while reading it. Sad girls in snow, calm blue ocean. Whatevs.

Ten Things I Like (Which Are Not Related To Bureaucracy In Any Way, Shape Or Form)

1. Letting my hair dry naturally in tangles, then running a brush through it.

2. Ravioli bolognese.

3. Spaghetti bolognese.

4. Linguini bolognese.

5. The opening theme song from Bubblegum Crisis: Tokyo 2040.

6. Reading four good books in four days.

7. Webcomics.

8. Obscure references to esoteric geekery that no-one else gives a crap about.

9. New episodes of Bones.

10. Random lists.

Ahhh. Everything is good. La la la la la…

Well, I’m done with the 20 Best Web Comics. I’ve reviewed every single comic on that list. It was exhausting, boring, fun, interesting, and time-consuming. 

I wanted so badly to do this on time yesterday but homework and zombies got in the way, also laundry. 

Anyhow, my basic format for this recap will be the title of the web comic, some brief thoughts on it, and a link back to my original review. In case you missed any they’re all right here.  

I’d mentioned before that I’d already reviewed several of the comics on the list, and that still stands. I’ll just give you the words I gave the last time I posted this list. 

8-bit Theater - previously reviewed

 My Review - I gave this one a fail, mostly because of lack of originality, and generally immaturity that wasn’t funny.

CTRL+ALT+DEL  - previously reviewed

My Review - I hate this comic. The author is dick, he writes like an ass, and it’s boring.

Cyanide & Happiness

My Review – Not a fan. I hated this comic. It was a chore just to go through the archives. The problem is that the writers of this comic use “gross” or “shock” humor as a crutch. I’m not offended by the content, I’m offended by the absolute lack of an attempt to be funny, whether or not they used gross or shock humor. 

Diesel Sweeties

My Review – Boring. I should just leave it at that but this comic was so boring that even my post about bores. Depressing, really.

FreakAngels

My Review – This is the first comic on the list that I legitimately enjoyed. I love looking at Paul Duffield’s art style and Warren Ellis’ story is interesting so far. This is one that I think I’ll keep on eye on in the future. 

garfield without garfield

My Review – I enjoyed and had problems with this comic. I like idea and it has produced some very funny strips but I’m could never figure out whether or not I should consider it an independent, original comic. Lately I’ve been leaning towards no. 

Girl Genius

My Review – Unlike most of the comics on this list—at least the ones that I liked—I still haven’t finished going through the archives of this one, even though I really want to. It’s a comic that I liked. It has good art, an interesting—if cliched— story, and seems to be going places. I still recommend it.

Homestar Runner

My Review – This is not a web comic and therefore did not count on the list. Which brings us to 19. However, I will say that I’m not a fan.

Kevin and Kell

My Review – The only big problem that I had with this comic is that it was/is a newspaper comic, online. I feel that if you’re going to take a comic online, especially a daily like this, one should expand themselves and do things that the newspaper limits you from doing. Sure, a lot of web comics follow a three or four panel style but they don’t stick with it all the time. Even if they do they do other things that open the comic like color, broader or more specific jokes, and story line that explore more of the characters. 

Megatokyo - previously reviewed

My Review - I mentioned in my review a few months back that the post rate on Megatokyo had slowed down totwice a week. It’s gotten worse lately. I’m starting to think I should stop reading the comic because the weeks between new comics is getting ridiculous, and it’s not as though the new comics are adding to the story. It’s depressing really.

Penny Arcade - previously reviewed

My Review - This is possibly one of my favorite comics online right now, or in print. It’s still fun to read and I enjoy seeing the way Gabe has evolved his art over the years. Admittedly, if you don’t play video games then the comic is a little out there but if you are a gamer of any kind (D&D, CCG, Tabletop other included) than it’s one you should check out. By the way, in this review I also defended myself from my first “You’re an idiot” comment, you can read what caused that here.

PvP - previously reviewed

My Review - This is another older comic that I’ve grown with over the years. It’s a good one. Kurtz, like Gabe, changes his style around and makes interesting and pleasurable choices with his art that I’ve found enjoyable since I started reading the comic. His writing has shifted away from games in the last couple of years but due to the background knowledge of the characters it feels intimate and right. I also reviewed Something Positive on the same post. I’d like to make an adjustment to the grade I gave SP. Make 3.5 clubs. See, at the time I was on this kick of severely grading down based on art quality (I still do it) but now I also grade on writing more than I did and the writing (ie Irony and Sarcasm) of SP are what make me stick around, and the comic is genuinely funny and sincere with its characters and plot lines. 

Questionable Content

My Review – This review wasn’t very good on my part. I was ridiculously sick on the day that I did and you can tell. On the actual comic, I still hate the character Faye but in general, I like the comic. Other than Faye, I think it’s worth a look. 

Red Meat

My Review – Not a fan. It’s a comic that tries too hard to be funny. It’s really boring. Also, I’m not sure if I should count this one because it started in print, and continues in print, so it’s not like the writer/artist is using the web as a medium, it’s more of an archive. I think I’ll cut it. We’re down to 18 comics now.

Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal

My Review – This comic is, for me, what Cyanide & Happiness wishes it could be. It’s actually funny and brings the punchlines in such a way that even if you’re expecting it, it still hits you as funny. Now, I mentioned this in my review but if you don’t like the gross, shock humor that C&H uses then SMBC is not for you.

The Adventures of Doctor McNinja

My Review - Loved it. The art is great. The stories are out there but they’re well written and humorous. I definitely think you should give this one some clicking love.

The Joy of Tech

My Review – Like Diesel Sweeties this comic was boring and lifeless for me. Not much more to say then that. Apparently one of the creators liked my review. It’s weird to me, considering that I kind of said that their comic was bad. Yay?

User Friendly

My Review – Boring newspaper-esque comic about techies. Yay…joy of tech from an American, the only difference is that this one doesn’t have color. Awesome, it’s twice as boring. What is with all of these unholy boring comics on this list?

What’s new with Phil & Dixie

My Review – I don’t count this one as a web comic. 1)It was previously published in D&D magazines in the 1980s. 2)All of the strips are reposts from those 1980 strips. 3)None are new. Now we’re down to 17.

xkcd

My Review – This comic was 50/50 for me. Some of the jokes are geared toward math, tech guys, which isn’t mean. At the same time though some of the jokes make me laugh really hard. You have to check out the one about the guy who becomes best friends with a girl so he can eventually marry her. It’s funnier than I just wrote but trust me, it’s good.

Well, that’s all of them. Hope you enjoyed it. Now, I just have to figure out what to do for posts for the next few weeks. Hmm…

Scyo.

Over the past couple of years, I’ve noticed an increased presence of Flickr® on the web…at least in my little corner of the Internets.  Danny Choo, Fred Gallagher, Hawk, Dancing Queen all use Flickr®.   Then there are Photobucket, ImageShack, and DeviantART.  I am sure there are others out there; I just don’t know what they are.  I always figured Photobucket and Flickr® to be for photos, and the other two for CG, drawings, sketches, and other forms of non-photo art. 

I posed this question to Twitter sometime last month, and only got one response from Sareth, who told me to get a DA.  I looked at it, and did find quite a few photographers there.  Not quite satisfied with only one answer, I started this post.  I got a Photobucket account to post my photos on my MySpace page.  Sorry kids, you’re not getting the MySpace address, because it will be gone soon.

I am looking for a place to display my amateur photography, and I think I’m getting a little bored with Photobucket.  I’m cheap (or poor) and only have a free account there.  The free one does have some limitations on image sizes, and it automatically resizes large images.  The Pro account is too expensive for my taste.  I looked at Flickr®, and it seems reasonable for the free account.  It is certainly better than Photobucket, and the upgrade cost and benefits seem to be better than Photobucket. 

Now as for ImageShack and DA, DA seems to be the more open of the two.  What I’ve seen of DA, it looks like a nice friendly community, several of my fellow MegaTokyo forumites have accounts there, and its yearly subscription cost is relatively cheap.  ImageShack touts itself as a “media hosting website” so it puts no limits on how much space you can use.  However, it also has the highest cost for a year’s subscription. 

Now keep in mind, these are only my opinions and based on a little research from the FAQs on each of the sites.  This is where you come in.  I’m looking for your input on these sites.  Which do you think are the best, the worst, the one I should go with?  On the other hand, if you don’t agree with those four, feel free to add your own suggestion for a site.  Incidentally, I’m also considering getting my own site to host my media (artwork, photos, and videos), or putting them all on my own server here (which I am building, and will eventually have for home use).

In short, what do you think?

We are now assigned with making a couple of 1-2min podcasts of original content.

I have only listened to a few Podcasts, so I would say I am a bit new to the whole area.

Currently I am listening to  S-Words with Megatokyo’s own Dom, who I believe is an interesting writer of random things…which is kinda what their podcasts are about…

Some topics I am considering for my own:

• Starting a process, documenting steps and progress:
  • Shadowrun. My church gaming group recently started a campain in this table-top roleplaying game.
  • Revolution Community Service Ministry. That I may be stepping up in leadership and starting back up for our church.
• Something I am an expert on/conversation about:
  • Pop Culture; Movies, TV, and Video Games.
  • GaiaOnline.com
  • …

I realize that I do have a fair amount of knowledge of many trivial things, many nerdy/geeky things, and some slightly embarassing things like fairies and unicorns. lol. (I lie…I didn’t actually lol cuz I am in lab right now…and typing on these keys is loud enough.)

I need to listen to more podcasts…
any suggestions?

As I mentioned in a previous post, I’ve decided to help Ogiue through a contest on the Megatokyo Forums. Below is my post in support of her in this second round. It is also a reply to some comments that Genshiken females are wish fulfillment character.

——

Two posts in one day? What? It’s like a real blog or something.

Anyway, I just want to inform readers that I came across this today and I think I’m going to use it for post fodder. 

What I want to do is go through and review each of these supposedly best web comics and see if they really do hold up to that phrasing. I’ll post a list of them below and you’ll notice that some of them will be crossed out, that’s because I’ve already reviewed that particular comic. 

Starting Friday I’ll be doing one of a day (on the usual schedule of course). 

8-bit Theater      My Review – I gave this one a fail, mostly because of lack of originality, and generally immaturity that wasn’t funny.

CTRL+ALT+DEL   My Review – I hate this comic. The author is dick, he writes like an ass, and it’s boring.

Cyanide & Happiness

Diesel Sweeties

FreakAngels

garfield without garfield

Girl Genius

Homestar Runner

Kevin and Kell

Megatokyo   My Review – I mentioned in my review a few months back that the post rate on Megatokyo had slowed down to twice a week. It’s gotten worse lately. I’m starting to think I should stop reading the comic because the weeks between new comics is getting ridiculous, and it’s not as though the new comics are adding to the story. It’s depressing really.

Penny Arcade  My Review – This is possibly one of my favorite comics online right now, or in print. It’s still fun to read and I enjoy seeing the way Gabe has evolved his art over the years. Admittedly, if you don’t play video games then the comic is a little out there but if you are a gamer of any kind (D&D, CCG, Tabletop other included) than it’s one you should check out. By the way, in this review I also defended myself from my first “You’re an idiot” comment, you can read what caused that here.

PvP  My Review – This is another older comic that I’ve grown with over the years. It’s a good one. Kurtz, like Gabe, changes his style around and makes interesting and pleasurable choices with his art that I’ve found enjoyable since I started reading the comic. His writing has shifted away from games in the last couple of years but due to the background knowledge of the characters it feels intimate and right. I also reviewed Something Positive on the same post. I’d like to make an adjustment to the grade I gave SP. Make 3.5 clubs. See, at the time I was on this kick of severely grading down based on art quality (I still do it) but now I also grade on writing more than I did and the writing (ie Irony and Sarcasm) of SP are what make me stick around, and the comic is genuinely funny and sincere with its characters and plot lines. 

Questionable Content

Red Meat

Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal

The Adventures of Doctor McNinja

The Joy of Tech

User Friendly

What’s new with Phil & Dixie

xkcd

My cross outs leave about 15 web comics up for reviews. We’ll see if they’re actually worth it. Although, I do have somewhat high standards when it comes to art, quality of writing, and general funniness. I can already tell you User Friendly, Homestar Runner, and xkcd will be looked at with a considerable amount of pre-viewing bias (especially Homestar, that site is just not funny).

I’ll go down the list as you see it here, so Friday I’ll be starting with Cyanide and Happiness. See you then

Scyo.

Finally, a blog that allows me to post on my site and allows me to make the blog look the way I want it! I’ve tried Freewebs’ blog, but that was ultimately a hassle, and the username I wanted was already in use on Twitter. There are others out there, I’m sure, but I decided to stick with the mainstream this time around.

That being said, I finally decided on a final site layout. It’s inspired by Fred Gallagher and his site www.fredart.com [I am a big fan of his art and of Megatokyo.] We’ll see how this goes!

The Megatokyo Forums are having some kind of Saimoe-esque Character Battle right now, and I was informed of Ogiue’s participation, and implored to stick up for her as that’s a common thing in these competitions. Below is the post I wrote. A lot of the ideas have been explored by previous Why I Like Ogiue segments, but this was written for the uninformed.

—–

I have been awoken from my SLUMBER, called upon by higher powers called duty and passion, to pass on to you my love for one Ogiue Chika, Shiiou University undergraduate and member of the Society for the Study of Modern Visual Culture.

Ogiue is a very unique character in anime and manga, and it comes from a realistic personality that’s almost tangible. You can practically hold her personality in your arms, and what you will find is a multi-layered cake filled with the most bittersweet cream.

Ogiue is a self-loathing fujoshi whose desire to fit in is off-set by her secret love of yaoi. So strong is her perversion towards boys’ love that she is able to take a simple thought and construct the most erotic homosexual fantasies possible. It is this conflicted personality which bleeds into Ogiue’s every action and word. She tries to be polite, but comes off as blunt, tries to be innocent but you can hear the guilt in her every syllable. Still, deep down she is the most genuine otaku you will ever see.

It is only after she joins the Society for the Study of Modern Visual Culture, a club which already houses the misfits of the world of misfits, that she begins to open up. It’s not an easy process, and there are many trials along the way, but in time she begins to accept herself as an otaku. Anyone who has ever had issues with being an otaku should look to Ogiue and understand her message: You can’t stop what you like.

Ogiue is tsundere, but this is not like any tsundere you’ve ever seen. She is every spectrum of tsundere, both traditional and modern. Her feelings gradually change over time, from that of terse rebellion to genuine love, but along the way she still maintains that hint of shame which keeps her from openly talking about herself and her desires except in the most private of moments. There are many tsundere in this world, but Ogiue is one of the few you can call a Complete Tsundere. Not complete as in it’s the only part of her personality, but that her tsundere has so many gradations you cannot call it simply tsun or dere.

That is Ogiue. That is the girl to whom I’ve devoted my fandom. Join me.

Today I bring to you another really good webcomic (had a lot to do with defending myself against math papers lately, sry.. )

MEGATOKYO by Fred Gallagher

In Megatokyo we read about the story of two guys, Piro and Largo, who find themselves stranded in Japan through somewhat strange circumstances (like booking a flight and spending all money for merchandise in Japan, not leaving any money for a return trip). While both are into computer games, Piro also likes dating games and Largo plays more violent games; both play adventure games. It’s quite funny to see how their view on things and on Tokyo corresponds to this. ^^ Add a lot of other people like two very different voice actresses, a robot girl, a magical girl, a ninja or a hamster working as a concience and you might get a rough idea what Megatokyo is about..

But better check it out for yourself! You find some of those elements in a lot of comics, but rarely are they so well drawn so well, have such a working storyline or make so much sense in their own special way!  

Megatokyo’s style is a mix of manga and american comics (as far as I can say) and the artist is improving constantly still. Updates are proclaimed to be three times a week, but I’m not sure whether that’s right anymore.. anyway, you can expect one to three new pages a week.

I own all the books and I know why!

Presenting Megatokyo: http://www.megatokyo.com

Kimiko~<3 From megatoko!

I really do LOVE Megatokyo! Huge fan!! I have the Sad Kimiko in Snow blanket… the MEgatokyo messenger bag (Which I believe is for guys but like I care XD It’s still cute… I can make it cute anyhow XD) Which remminded me of when I went to a UCLA trip and some guy noticed my bag telling me he had one too!! I was like… lmao!

So this girl really is another one of my idols <3 too bad I’m seriously behind on the web comic T.T I want to cosplay this outfit of Kimiko one day! One day…

Guess you can see why I like her so much? -looks at name-

–Kimiko–

Hey everyone,

I’m sure most of you know about MegaTokyo by Fred Gallagher even if you’re not reading it.  Its the long running webcomic that has popularized or at least semi popularized L33t.  You know that computer language using numbers and symbols instead of letters that is sometimes annoying.  Well, this very popular doujinshi has been put into manga books and from what I hear my be sold in Japan very soon.  How often does that happen?

Throughout the course of the webcomic, Fred’s artwork has improved greatly.  It went from sparsely detailed backgrounds and people to his own characteristic style.  I’m glad to have seen and still see his development as an artist.  Sometimes the plot of the story is a bit shaky and doesn’t seem to get anywhere, but recently its becoming really interesting. Also, the characters have grown from their original “gamer dude” and girless selves in the beginning.  I wonder if this reflects maturation on the part of the artist/writer.  It does seem to be as I have followed the rants over time as well.

Kagehime

I had one 15 minutes ago at 50 pesos. And it ain’t bad.

Also, I’ve been busy at work recently. We have major additions to the product we’ve been developing for a little over a year now.

I am also starting to really dig MegaTokyo. I checked their site a while ago but I didn’t stay long, just because.

kay, there are many things that I wanted to write about but couldn’t due to the goverment ban, so I’m catching up. The first thing is megatokyo.

When I first heard of this, I went to the site and thought, “hmm… american web comic…..released 1 page at a time, 3 times a week….the art looks werid.” And then I left the site. The later, by pure chance and boredom, I came across it again, read it all, and fell in love with the story.

Basically, 2 guys, Piro and Largo, went to Japan and stuff happens, I say that because simply too much happened and the plot is so all over the place it’s practically non-existent. We have zombies, robots, rent-a-zillas, suspicious clubs, highschool, magic girls, idols, ninjas, a computer made with cereal, a hamster with wings, misunderstandings, hilarious jokes, and oodles of romance. And the whole thing makes sense! The huge cast of characters are really well developed by this time (the 10th chapter had just begun), especially the romances that had developed over a long period of time. The things that happen seem to be really ridiculous, but they all serve to develop the characters, changing them, and their relationship with eath other. But, because of the huge cast, there are multiple stories going around at once and it takes a long time for a certain event to resolve itself. Chapter 9 ended with a huge cliffhanger and I can’t wait for the next page to come out.

While the art isn’t the best in the world, we really see the artist’s style evolve over the years, and the later art is quite pleasing to the eyes.

I really recommend this story to anyone who has a sense of humour and/or likes overly complex plots, long romances, and a really good story.

This is a little homage to the web comic MegaTokyo i was introduced to earlier this year. It’s american manga done originally by Fred Gallagher and Rodney Caston and then later by Fred Gallagher on his own, in not sure of the reasons behind Gallagher going solo, so if someone in the know would leave a comment i’d be most grateful.

The plot is basically about the adventures of two friends Piro (an otaku) and Largo (A gaming enthusiast). During a drunken afternoon and a gaming convention they find themselves on a plane to Japan, and issues involving funds, ninjas, evil girls, robot girls, voice actresses, mercenaries working for Sony and Sega, and the occasional monster trying to destroy Tokyo, seem to follow the pair everywhere they go. I think the basic theme is humor, and over time the great array of characters have developed nicely with more and more info on who they are and what there all about, coming to light as you progress.

It a great story and i encourage everyone who hasn’t heard about and has an interest in manga, or Japan in general. Check out the link at the top to visit the site.

Check out the official site...

Ever since a friend introduced me to Penny Arcade back in Year 10, I’ve been a devout gaming/geek webcomics fan. At one point, I was checking seventeen different strips on a daily basis; realising this was insane, I scaled back to fourteen, where I settled until my first year of college. Probably, this would’ve continued, except that the internet connection in my new room was mysteriously broken, and took three weeks, umpteen phonecalls and five consultations with university IT support to fix. By that time, the amount of banked strips had reached critical mass; I didn’t have enough time to catch them all up, and so I pared back to a bare ten, farewelling 8 Bit Theatre, GPF, Nodwick and others with a heavy heart.

Since then, different strips have come and gone – Machall and Demonology 101 have run their course, while Dresden Codak is a new favourite – but my affection for the genre has remained. As has my admiration for the creators of my favourite strips. After eight years of being exposed to their humour, social commentary and general musings, watching the changes in art style and hearing snippets of personal data, they somehow feel more like acquaintances than anything else, people I could bump into and share a laugh with. This is, perhaps, the big difference between webcomics and traditional print media: connection to the creators. I grew up on Snoopy and Garfield, but couldn’t have picked Charles M. Schultz or Jim Davis out of a crowd; I knew nothing about them, their lives or interests beyond an intangible sense that it must somehow influence what they drew and why they drew it.

Not so Fred Gallagher, Scott Kurtz, Jerry Holkins and Michael Krahulik, Greg Dean, Randy Milholland and Tatsuya Ishida. Perhaps more consistently than any other creators, these guys have been with me through the most formative years of my life. I’ve changed since I started reading them, and they’ve changed, too: since my readership began, two have been married and three have had their first children. I’ve left school, gone to university, moved states and tied the knot – but even on my honeymoon, I was still checking comics along with email.

It’s strange to think of geeks grown up - at least, so mainstream society would have us believe. There’s still a strong bias against the idea that you can play video games, enjoy fantasy or sci-fi and read comics as an adult without being just as immature as you were at fourteen, because of the perception that these are childish persuits. As a kid, I was a geekling born to normals; and worse, I was a girl, which made it harder for my parents to notice. Had I been male, perhaps my compulsive interest in dinosaurs, Mario and Transformers would have fit a pattern, rather than seeming incongruous compared a similar fixation on My Little Pony. The penny finally dropped when, after years of playing every console and computer game my friends possessed and saving hundreds of dollars pocket money for a colour Gameboy, I woke up one Christmas to my very own PlayStation. Since then, I’ve never looked back – but had I not stumbled on a group of like-minded webcomic geeks, things might have turned out differently.

One of the greatest trials in growing up is figuring out who you are, not just in relation to other people, but on your own terms. Without friends who shared my interests, I never would have discovered webcomics; but without webcomics, I might have lost confidence in the idea that I could succeed that way, too. Because that’s the other thing I learned: that quirky, geeky, interesting, creative people can, with sufficient effort and support, earn a living through what they love. Although I read books, watch films and listen to music, I’m not privy to the everyday struggle and success of the creators. The end product just appears, disconnected from any personal genesis: like a magic trick, it entertains and inspires, but the mechanics are deliberately concealed. Authors like Neil Gaiman lift the veil through individual blogs, but back then, it was webcomics that got the message through.

Unlike Peter Pan (or today’s lost boys), geeks can grow up. And if webcomics are anything to go by, they can be happy and creatively successful into the bargain.

Thanks, guys.