This week and the next is going to be a mad scramble to get things done but something in me says it’s all going to be under control. Not much else to say there other than a well-earned break is almost here. I can’t believe it’s already been 8 weeks into the season. I’ll be sure to have more interesting things to say next time when things heat up and die down soon after.
This week’s tune is that of the Geofront, the underground maintenance service-ways that sprawl into its own landscape beneath the city. The Geofront’s theme is recognizable to the people who went ahead to play Trails of Cold Steel as the exact theme play during that extra parts in 2. While it’s almost treated like some training ground, the Geofront is a pretty neat area considering how well its connected to the plots when particular areas of the city need to be covered and it shows off the workings of the site underneath buildings and the likes. It hammers home how technologically developed Crossbell is.
When you think about it, Sale’s ability is pretty awesome for such a mook character. I know I’m not the only one who thinks this because Sale actually comes back in a way some of you wouldn’t expect.
My predictions were off once again as it seems we’ll get Trish’s introduction and the formal kick-off to the part’s main plot next week. While I didn’t say it, I at least thought that if they weren’t going to end it on the urinal stash, it was going to end at the funny outtro where Giorno plays up his gangster side and demands the driver to start driving again.
People have waited years for a certain set of panels to be adapted and we definitely got something.
I definitely didn’t think they’d go for a full sequence off of just on 5 panels but they went above and beyond anyone’s expectations with that dance. Even after watching it again, I’m at a loss for words on how to exactly describe it. Some clearer shots of the actual dance moves might have been better but I’m not complaining after that.
Getting some well earned vacation time for the holiday week. Jojo’s recap is all done and I’m dreading the thought of Sale’s fight taking one more week so at the very least I expect urinal gold by the end of the episode. Not much else to say other than just expecting to be one schedule for the next couple of weeks since it’s that time of the year.
As mentioned in last week’s music spotlight, the scene is set for the story to begin as Lloyd and his SSS members are tasked with repairing the image of the police force by handling the everyday requests of Crossbell’s citizens, effectively mimicking the popular Bracer Guilds and making a rather genre savvy excuse for police officers going around finding lost cats and solving domestic concerns. People being people however has the SSS a bit looked down upon, given it’s just the start of the game, and the other high-ranking investigators are skeptical of the potential the SSS carry despite drawing talent from all over. Thankfully, the police squad themselves are highly virtuous and aren’t the subject to too much internal corruption like most other games portray their profession.
Been lacking a lot of sleep these past few days but the busy times are about to get slightly less stressful once this week is over so that’s something to look forward to. One of the many things I looked forward to for Part 5’s adaptation was hoping to finally comprehend what the hell was going on in the panels because let me tell you, I couldn’t tell what the hell was going on for a bunch of fights in Part 5. Only recently did that Soft Machine fight make slightly more sense to me and the Part’s dubious scan and translation history didn’t help clarify things. I think the next “confusing” fight that’s coming is Little Feet but I think the slight confusion of constant size swapping is supposed to elicit that effect to begin with.
Lloyd Bannings arrives at police headquarters and instead of being assigned as a formal detective, he is introduced to three people who don’t resemble the closest thing to policemen. Assigned under the supervision of Sergei Lou, a former co-worker of Lloyd’s brother Guy Bannings, Lloyd is made part of the Special Support Section, a brand new division of the police created to restore the police’s image in the eyes of the citizens of Crossbell. The police’s reputation among the citizens are at an all-time low because of the recent rise of crime activity in the city as well as the community’s dependence on the local Bracer Guild for their troubles. The SSS was created for the sole purpose of “combating” the Bracer Guild’s popularity to restore faith in the city’s police and Lloyd’s ragtag group of friends-to-be are left to this task, which is honestly a very contextually acceptable excuse in making police-officers go around doing side-quests. Lloyd is introduced to the Elie Macdowell, the well-educated granddaughter of the city’s mayor; Tio Plato, the literal tech-wizard of the group representing the Epstein Foundation; and Randy Orlando, the womanizing ex-member of the militarized border patrols and the squad of four embark on an adventure that shakes the foundation of their city and their very existence, but not before improving public opinion by finding cats and fighting off thugs.
It could have been worse but looks like this will end up as a double-feature since it was a pretty busy past weekend and week. Much to my surprise, we’re still not off the boat ride even after Episode 6 so I guess they’re planning on doing Sale’s fight in one go which does fit better to my memory because they were definitely on that boat for a while. Abacchio gets his origin story a couple fights earlier compared to when the manga decided to drop this story on us. Originally, we would have gotten his story during the Man in the Mirror but I guess it makes sense in hindsight to give Abacchio his time now since Man in the Mirror is Fugo’s first and only fight so David Pro is probably prepping that for him.
Don’t think I missed Abacchio getting some cake, David Pro, I see what you fucking did there.
A busy weekend had me completely occupied so I’m a bit behind on covering Jojo which I hope I can alleviate soon, or just cover two episodes at once by this week since we technically are in Zucchero’s fight for last week and this week’s episodes. Still a bit busy this week but I’ll see if I can get last week’s episode done before Saturday comes back around.
While Trails in the Sky FC and SC came out within a year in between for Steam, the fate of the series’ continuation was iffy. This was due to the recent release of Trails of Cold Steel and the decision to focus on its concurrent localization and release while it was still on the spotlight. Some slight hope was restored as after Cold Steel 1-2 were released, Xseed came back to finish Trails in the Sky 3rd but once again, the Zero/Ao entries into the series just didn’t have the time to be focused on. This is especially vexing for a couple of reasons as for one, the Crossbell duology is considered to be the peak of the series in terms of gameplay and story, and especially where the story is concerned as it takes place within months of Trails of Cold Steel’s plot before its sequels basically have them take place simultaneously. Nonetheless, an unofficial but workable english patch has been out for more than a year and thanks to that, I was able to experience the games for myself and let’s just say that I can wholeheartedly agree that these games were simply amazing.
Kick off those dusty boots since our adventure through Liberl is over and put on a new pair of shoes to enter into a whole new setting. Back in the many political discussions within Trails in the Sky, one of the locations that come up is called Crossbell, a satellite state that is bordered and “shared” by the Erebonian Empire and the Calvard Republic, the two other major powers next to Liberl in the Zemurian continent. Whereas Liberl was considered a backwater kingdom, Crossbell reflects the look of a contemporary city with orbital cars, apartment complexes, and shopping districts thanks to its close relationship with the technological collaborations with the leading pioneers in technology with the Epstein Foundation. Set in the overarching storyline at least two years after Trails in the Sky, our new journey puts us into the shoes of Lloyd Bannings, a rookie police detective fresh out of extended training who has just returned to his native Crossbell to follow in the footsteps of his late brother. However, the news he finds waiting for him at the Police department is the last thing he expects to undertake which sets in motion events that will change his life and Crossbell forever.
Lair of the Idle 