I'm headed to Anime Banzai in Utah!

Next month, I'll be headed to Utah to attend Anime Banzai 2018. Additionally, Anne from Pikapi Podcast and will be hosting a panel covering the end themes of the Pokemon movies:

Anime Banzai Website

Geek.Kon 2018 Super Smash Bros. for Wii U Tournament Winner

Jared Van Wormer

The following is an interview with Jared Van Wormer, winner of a Super Smash Bros. for Wii U tournament at this year’s Geek.Kon.

Where are you from, and how did you get into competitive Smash?

I’m from Wisconsin and first started playing competitively when Smash 4 came out, though I’ve been playing Smash since I was 11 years old, starting with Smash 64. In fact, I’ve bought every Nintendo system specifically for Smash.

Which character did you use the most in this tournament? Why?

I mostly used Peach in the tournament because she is my main. I know she’s hard to master and even I can’t utilize her to the max, but she’s also rewarding to play as. Many people at this tournament complemented my Peach, and since many people almost never see her or don’t see her played at the level I’m at, it feels good.

During the finals, you switched characters several times. What prompted that?

When I was on stream, I first played Captain Falcon because I was against my roommate and we always start our games with a Captain Falcon mirror match. We also always taunt first because we like to think we are classy. In the finals, I don’t really know why I switched around. I played Marth, which is secondary of mine and ised Jigglypuff-I guess to get some extra hype, as I thought beating a good Cloud with Jigglypuff would be pretty awesome to do on stream.

What are your thoughts on Super Smash Bros. Ultimate?

I am incredibly excited for Super Smash Bros Ultimate and expect to play it a lot! I am pretty much interested in everything new they have shown and can’t wait to see what else they have in store. I’m rooting for Lloyd Irving from Tales of Symphonia to become a playable character, as he would be my new main for sure.

You cosplayed as Weiss from RWBY for this year's event. Why did you choose that character?

I really love Weiss from RWBY, so I decided to cosplay as a “gender bender” version of Weiss. I love her weapon, fighting style and her Semblance ability. She’s the character we see grow the most (in my eyes anyway), and she is one that most hate from early on since she acts so spoiled. At the same time, she’s fun, and I got to meet Kara Eberle, Weiss’ voice actor last year, who was really nice and you could tell that Kara and Weiss had a lot of similar characteristics.

What else did you do at this year's Geek.Kon?

I bought a few things in the vendor hall, went to panel, but mostly came for the Smash 4 tournament. In fact, I frequently come to Geek.Kon just for Smash tournaments.

Does Octopath Traveler have "better Shinji Miyazaki Music"?

I recently completed the main stories of Octopath Traveler, and noticed a loose similarity to some other music I'm quite familiar with. Is there some connection between the music of this game and Shinji Miyazaki's work on the Pokemon anime?

Poke Press Digest Podcast: Episode 19-Zoroark Movie Music

In this single-segment episode, Anne from Pikapi Podcast drops by to help cover the music of the 13th Pokémon movie, "Zoroark: Master of Illusions". Sukima Switch and Erin Bowman go head-to-head this time around, though there may be another entrant that comes in later. Also, it seems Anne had a somewhat different opinion of the movie than I did, so stay tuned after the outro:



Links:
Pikapi Podcast
Erin Bowman Interview

Pokemon Worlds/Geek.Kon 2018 Recap

I couldn't make it out to Nashville this weekend, but I still have some thoughts on the 2018 Pokemon World Championships. We also discuss what I did at this weekend's Geek.Kon in Madison, WI. Geek.kon is an annual convention focused on anime, gaming, and other similar topics:

Unboxing music from the 21st Pokemon movie

The latest Pokemon movie released in Japan last month, and with it came two music releases, one of the score, and one of the ending theme. We recently had an opportunity to open both to see what comes with them:

Discussion: The music of "Zoroark: Master of Illusions" (Part 1)

Anne from Pikapi Podcast drops by once again, this time to help me discuss the music of the 13th Pokemon movie, "Zoroark: Master of Illusions". This movie's end credits feature Sukima Switch's "Ice Cream Syndrome" on the Japanese side, and Erin Bowman's "I Believe In You" in the English version. While tonally similar, they definitely approach the movie's subject matter from different angles: