I'm writing to you as the delirium is approaching its apex. The self-inflicted deprivation of sleep has slowly driven me mad, wringing out everything that one might muse as being sane in an already unstable husk of a person. You see, it burns...it burns upon my tired mind a comic that had at once great potential...an idea rife with the fruit of laughter, snuffed out from an utterly terrible decision made at our own behest.

As the time ticked away from Friday, the pain grew. And grew. Writhing in pain at the prospect of what could have been, it became unbearable to us. So before the anguish could completely consume, we went to work to ameliorate a grievous error. We have thus finished the work, with not a moment to spare, and post it here for you to gaze upon. To ponder about. To bask in its radiant glow.

You thought the old version was great? Well, we appreciate your kind gesture, but I assure you it is unnecessary. The real version is with us now and all is right once more. The old? Well I'm sorry, it is gone. Forever. Remnants may yet remain twisted within the ones and zeroes, but I know not where.

Have a wonderful week and we'll see you on Friday!

P.S. Go watch the recent Jojo's Bizarre Adventure TV Series. Then consume ALL JOJO's media. Now. NOW!!!

Bear and I've been checking out Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch for the PS3. It was developed through the combined efforts of Level-5 (known for the Professor Layton series and Dragon Quest 8 and 9) and Studio Ghibli (known for the films Princess Mononoke and Howl's Moving Castle). I've been a huge Studio Ghibli fan since I was small so seeing them taking a huge part in developing a game with Level-5 got me excited. =)

Level-5 did a fantastic job capturing the trademark art style used in most Ghibli films! The game sports nicely done cel shaded characters with colorfully vibrant and detailed environments that look as if they were hand painted. Even the awesome music is fully orchestrated and composed by Studio Ghibli's usual composer Joe Hisaishi. Aside from the fact that you can sometimes see straight edges on the character models, it's like playing a Ghibli film! XD

If you like JRPG's and love Pokemon, this is probably one of those games you should really check out. Like Pokemon, being good at beating baddies heavily relies on catching fun looking monsters, and assembling a team to strategically take advantage of your opponent's weaknesses. There are about 400 different creatures you can recruit, including evolutions and the freedom to customize their stats and what abilities they learn and forget.

A large part of Ni No Kuni's Story revolves around the idea of restoring peoples' "broken hearts." Many people have had qualities such as enthusiasm, kindness, and courage, taken from them through a curse and it's up to you to restore them. You do so by finding people who have an abundance of the quality you are looking for and transplanting some of it from one person to the other. Oliver uses his locket to transport the "heart pieces," but you can't carry more than one of each type at a time.

Sometimes it seems like Oliver is a little too eager to suck hearts out of people. If he finds someone with an abundance of a heart while his locket is full, he'll still want to get some out of that person. Sidekick Drippy always has to butt in to remind Oliver in the end that he can't carry anymore. XD