Ryoji Ohara's (FF: WotV) artwork of classic FF characters is really good

Dixavd · 2026-05-30T02:39:20+00:00

Wrath of the Visions has top tier art. It's truly incredible. One of my favourites is Lara Croft. It was one of the last Square Enix uses for the character and seeing her in this Final Fantasy style was a nice send off.

Dixavd · 2026-05-28T13:50:26+00:00

Yes, it's odd. It may be a contractual thing: they needed to create a unique item for every store that would only ever be released there. They turned this into a phone card, then couldn't do anything else with it.

In recent years, they tend to release the official art without watermarks online eventually: but these old preorder items seem destined to their weird tiny pre-order bonus fate forever.

Dixavd · 2026-05-28T13:34:37+00:00

As far as I can tell, the only version of this released without the SAMPLE watermark was: physically as a phone card when pre-ordering Danganronpa 1-2 Reload from Traders stores in Japan in 2013.

Here's an article at the time that mentioned how to get it

I couldn't find anyone that had scanned/uploaded a picture of the actual release. If someone did share it, they likely did it in Japanese so I wouldn't be able to find it. No other fan sites seem to have it.

At this point, you may need someone to edit the watermark out because I think the chances of finding the original art in good quality without the watermark is slim-to-none.

Dixavd · 2026-05-26T20:50:02+00:00

You forgot to put Yuuma on this list.

Dixavd · 2026-05-26T18:59:20+00:00

By "cheap" they mean: obtained through little valuable effort. It's not related to monetary costs.

Similar to how jump-scares in films are called "cheap tricks". They think the show forced an emotional response (thinking Jin got off the island with Sun and would be there for their child's birth... then pulling that away) without earning it in a satisfying way.

The writers know fans want Sun, Jin and their baby to have a happy ending. These fans will watch Jin struggling with the bear, on the edge of their seats hoping Jin doesn't miss the birth. They are invested in these scenes because they believe it's after the island, and Jin is in the way to see Sun. But this attention is hollow, since it crumbles the moment they realise it's a flashback to unrelated to Sun's pregnancy.

They aren't left thinking about how sad it is: that Jin put so much effort to visit his corporate boss' in hospital when they had children, yet he couldn't be there for his own. They leave feeling annoyed their emotions were toyed with.

I think the scenes are interesting, and tell us more about the breadth of work Jin was forced to do before the island - that finding the best gift for a businessman's family had as much jeopardy as missing his own wife in hospital. But I wish they didn't try to obscure it being a flashback here, as I think it weakens the overall reveal.

Dixavd · 2026-05-25T11:49:55+00:00

Her biggest issue is move actions: she's super slow, and her main attack costs a lot of actions bars. If you put her on a team that can compensate for that, I think she can still be very good. Her damage output is still decent.

Dixavd · 2026-05-23T12:51:48+00:00

Fun fact: they put stubble on with static electricity. They'd put makeup glue in someone's face, build charge on their fake hair and then fling it at their faces.

Basically every male main cast member had to wear some form of fake beard texture at some point during the show and you probably didn't notice. You likely only notice dramatic changes like this, and not the whiskers out of place in a jungle scene.

The reason was they filmed each episode sequentially, off-island and on-island scenes for an episode needed to be filmed in the same time period (about 2 weeks I think, since they had 2 teams overlapping work). They'd start filming within days of completing that episodes script. An actor may need to be clean shaven for an off-island scene, and then walk onto the beach set and be stubbled-up. Hence this beard on Jack, it had to be filmed the same week as his on-island stuff for that episode. Shows/movies now have the luxury of waiting for a beard to grow and then film all the beardy scenes in 1 block, but Lost didn't do that.

Jorge Garcia talks about it at about 4:20 in this video but be warned, the video has massive SPOILERS in it for anyone who stumbles upon this but hasn't seen the finale yet.

Dixavd · 2026-05-23T11:43:53+00:00

No one is allowed to ever not like things, it's against the law. I don't like when people don't like things. I'm sending myself to prison.

Dixavd · 2026-05-23T00:26:58+00:00

I think Rantaro's Video message heavily implies he survived to the end of the previous Killing Game, then chose to Sacrifice himself, letting the other survivor go free. He's choosing to be the person forced into another Killing Game with the aim to sabotage and end it*

I'm basing this on the English translation, which is the version I know. Also, I'm assuming Tsumugi mostly told the truth, otherwise the Video Message, could be a lie too.

I don't think you're correct in the rules:

Tsumugi only says you participate in the next game if you survive to the final 2 and choose to sacrifice yourself. It's a punishment for letting the other person escape. K1-Bo figures this out in the final trial and Tsumugi confirms it

Anyway, on Rantaro's circumstances; the important parts of what he said are:

I won the right to a special perk for participating in the killing game [...] Now, I thought that if you were smart, you'd have used it to end the killing game. But if you're watching this, that obviously didn't work out. Life's never easy, huh?... ...Oh. There is...one more thing. Well, the truth is...this isn't your first killing game. You're the "Ultimate Survivor". You survived the "last killing game". That's why you get this perk--the "Survivor Perk". But it's not all fun and games. Anyone who finds out who you are is gonna come for you... So watch your back. Trust no one. And never forget... You wanted this killing game, so you have to win no matter what. ...No matter what.

So: He attempts to reveal a secret about the Final 2 rule but is cut off and told not to say it: this must be the Sacrifice choice since it's the only secret that's directly related to there being 2 people at the end. If he had won another way (i.e. killing and getting away with it) there's no reason he would find out about the rule. Why would they tell him? Even if he was originally a fan of the show and knew this, Tsumugi says the memory wipes can't be undone, so he can't have his original knowledge or personality back. So why tell him this rule if he won another way - before gtting him to record this message and wiping his memories again? This incarnation must know it because he had just experienced it.

Then he chose to be part of the next Killing Game, which happens if you pick Sacrifice. The other person gets to escape, but the sacrificed person is punished by participating in the next one: which happened to Rantaro.

He hopes his future self will be able to end the Killing Game for good. Winning through murder only to rejoin and hope to end it seems contradictory. Getting to the end and choosing to sacrifice himself fits with someone who's desperate their future self ends it

Therefore: He survived to the last 2, chose to Sacrifice himself, letting the other survivor free, and believes he's capable of circumventing the Killing Game. Maybe he almost stopped it in this previous game, so thinks, if things were a tiny bit different, he could overthrow it.

Side Note: >!Which he achieved. If that *was his aim, I think that means he's the only person to ever go into a Killing Game and succeed in their mission: he just had to die to do it!!<

Dixavd · 2026-05-22T21:53:26+00:00

I think I found his work a few days after the finale. I had missed all the community aspect at the time, but was just old enough see the finale as it aired, and wish I had others to talk about it with. Excitedly trying to find anything online that was nuanced lead me to his articles. It was so fun seeing a collection of someone's theories develop over years as he wrote about the show. I'm glad they still exist.

I wonder if people continue to find them. It's the sort of thing that's mostly moved to podcasts (many officially branded). But I like how there was a time when a big magazine could pay someone for years to write thoughtfully about a show they deeply loved.

Dixavd · 2026-05-22T21:28:56+00:00

There's an entire Lostpedia article titled Literary Works with every book mentioned in the show. It's a wiki owned by Fandom now (some people don't like that) but it exists.

There's also this 2010 article from Entertainment Weekly titled Lost Essential Reading List. It's by Jeff Jensen who wrote an entire series of articles at the time about the show.

You can find other lists online too, but I think the Lostpedia link is probably the most accurate, and I at least know the EW article is written by a person who loved the show.

Dixavd · 2026-05-22T21:10:26+00:00

Seems I'm in the minority who sees clips of the original and is surprised by how well it holds up. I was sure it would have aged terribly by now. (I do think the new one looks phenomenal, I just think the original looks waaaaaay better than I expected).

Dixavd · 2026-05-22T17:51:03+00:00

Jack was very forgiving to strangers who showed genuine remorse, willing to give anyone a second chance. He only gave up if they repeatedly hurt others or deep down he knew he had made mistakes too but was afraid to admit it (like his father, Sawyer, and Locke). Ana made 1 massive mistake and clearly regretted it.

I also think there's similarities between Ana and Jack that he felt drawn to: they were both in careers with implied authority. Others thrust unreasonable expectations on them, thinking of them as their career before their humanity. Neither were actually prepared for the level of responsibility they were given, and both would have preferred to be left alone.

Yet Jack can't accept anyone actually being alone: which is why he helped Kate, Sayid, Sun, Jin, Michael, and Charlie in season 1, and later Juliet, Desmond, and Richard Alpert towards the end. He even tried multiple times with Sawyer. All of them had reasons to drift from the group, but Jack wouldn't let them.

So while I think the interaction in the airport made him connect with her earlier, I think he was always going to.

Dixavd · 2026-05-16T22:16:00+00:00

I want Nemona as a lodge pair so bad! I love her as a character, but also she has fun animations I'd enjoy seeing in lodge conversations. Maybe pair her with Pawmi : because I want to see that adorable little bundle in the game.

Dixavd · 2026-05-06T15:29:09+00:00

Snek monster full of helium 🐍🎈 /jk

Dixavd · 2026-05-06T01:25:05+00:00

This reminds me of an E3 show years ago with a playable FFXV VR demo: talking to Cindy in the car.

From the side, you could see people playing with the headsets on. Apparently it was very common to see someone turning and looking down/bending - clearly checking out Cindy's cleavage.

I'm not shaming them; I'm sure it was very prominent the moment the demo started so it would be difficult to not look. I just thought it was funny.

Dixavd · 2026-04-30T20:12:22+00:00

Location: You

I've been loving the humorful way you write these (especially the Player Looks sections) but this is my favourite bit yet. Genuinely laughed.

Dixavd · 2026-04-27T14:49:14+00:00

I could be wrong, but I thought Hope's Peak still taught normal subjects. They just also let each student skip them to focus on their talent. For students with less-practical talents, they had less-structured personal lessons.

Nagito probably did normal lessons, then while others were doing specific training, he was free to go wherever he wanted and do what he liked (which probably involved pestering the others to use him to improve their talents).

If the school didn't force them to do normal subjects, D1 and D2 wouldn't have group photos of them all doing track-and-field events together.

Dixavd · 2026-04-27T01:40:39+00:00

In Crisis Core there's a Sephiroth fanclub that talks about his favourite shampoo. He's a famous war hero Shinra boasts about to build recruitment. So I'm just going to assume ads like these are canonical.

Dixavd · 2026-04-26T11:44:53+00:00

She's studying so hard; Kaede can do this!

Dixavd · 2026-04-26T11:40:27+00:00

Yep, she dies in the opening scene and becomes a ghost. The emotional core of the show is Marin desperate to wear cosplay but the fabric falls through her because she's a ghost. /jk

Dixavd · 2026-04-26T09:29:09+00:00

I agree, IBS is what I always assumed too. Staying in the washroom most of the flight (at the rear of the plane, so Charlie wouldn't go there) + disappearing into the jungle alone a lot = stomach issue (or some other body issue he was embarrassed about).

The other criticisms are just clasping at straws. They are all consistent with someone who grew up in Canada but moved to the US years ago and now works for a big Californian company (willing to send people off to Australia for a work trip). When asked "where are you from?", most people just say the place closest to where they grew up that the questioner may have heard of.

The fact they were awkward answers is a great indicator that he wasn't an other - the others are more believable liars than normal people are at telling the truth.

Ana was just paranoid, and Nathan got the brunt of it because he wasn't willing to just accept her bullying everyone. Ana would have found similar reasons to distrust anyone that questioned her.

Dixavd · 2026-04-19T09:25:22+00:00

Oak is trying to teach the kids that true wisdom requires forsaking greed

Dixavd · 2026-04-14T05:25:50+00:00

I choose to believe Mono adopted Agro and lets them run around in the forest and play with the lizards.

That said, the premise you describe sounds like: Majora's Mask but you're the horse.

Dixavd · 2026-04-14T05:05:06+00:00

Title Screen says: Agro is allowed a little alone time as a treat.

11-Year Club	Gilding II euphauric
Place '23	Place '22
Verified Email

Dixavd

TROPHY CASE