Where things start
It's neat to think about where something started small. Alu and I watch a lot of Gundam, as we've mentioned before, and we've started watching the original series. It has me thinking about how such a massive franchise, known all over the world, started as some guy's low budget cartoon that got cancelled halfway through but got saved by an audience it connected with. The difference is clear between the original show and its sequel series, Zeta Gundam, where Tomino, the creator of the show, had earned some trust and therefore was able to get a bigger animation budget and more control over the direction of the show.
Now that I'm thinking about it, the first three Gundam series followed a similar trajectory to that of the original Star Wars trilogy. The first is a pretty simple story about a kid with burgeoning psychic powers coming into his own and saving the world from space Nazis. Nobody really expected this to do well, let alone spawn legions of fans and a multi-million dollar toy/media empire, but here we are.
The second is decidedly darker in tone, where the characters have to deal with the consequences their actions had on the world. In terms of the piece itself, expectations are higher here, since it's following a dark horse success, but ultimately those expectations are met, if not exceeded and the result is what might still be considered the best entry in the franchise.
The third is where things lighten up a bit and get a bit goofy, often frustratingly so, in an attempt to attract younger fans.
That analogy kind of broke down as it went, but it still holds up enough to me, so whatever.
This morning, I weighed 190.5 lbs.
Yesterday, I ate
~ An aloha pineapple smoothie from Jamba Juice
~ A bit of spaghetti with mozzarella
~ Several carrots and celery pieces with ranch
~ A small bag of cheez its
~ A loaded potato griller from Taco Bell
~ A cheesy bean and rice burrito from same
~ A small order of nacho fries
~ Half of a watermelon freeze, including one of the candy seeds
Mega Man also had humble beginnings as a small and rather broken side project of a few developers at Capcom, but it was fun and enough people liked it that Capcom gave the team a bigger budget and a more focused development period for Mega Man 2, which is now regarded as one of the best games on the platform (even though I personally think Mega Man 3 is where they really hit their stride, but that's beside the point).
I've mentioned this before, but it's easy to look at how huge something or someone is now and think you could never reach that level, but those people probably thought that about their own heroes and look at them now.
Take it easy!
Now that I'm thinking about it, the first three Gundam series followed a similar trajectory to that of the original Star Wars trilogy. The first is a pretty simple story about a kid with burgeoning psychic powers coming into his own and saving the world from space Nazis. Nobody really expected this to do well, let alone spawn legions of fans and a multi-million dollar toy/media empire, but here we are.
The second is decidedly darker in tone, where the characters have to deal with the consequences their actions had on the world. In terms of the piece itself, expectations are higher here, since it's following a dark horse success, but ultimately those expectations are met, if not exceeded and the result is what might still be considered the best entry in the franchise.
The third is where things lighten up a bit and get a bit goofy, often frustratingly so, in an attempt to attract younger fans.
That analogy kind of broke down as it went, but it still holds up enough to me, so whatever.
This morning, I weighed 190.5 lbs.
Yesterday, I ate
~ An aloha pineapple smoothie from Jamba Juice
~ A bit of spaghetti with mozzarella
~ Several carrots and celery pieces with ranch
~ A small bag of cheez its
~ A loaded potato griller from Taco Bell
~ A cheesy bean and rice burrito from same
~ A small order of nacho fries
~ Half of a watermelon freeze, including one of the candy seeds
Mega Man also had humble beginnings as a small and rather broken side project of a few developers at Capcom, but it was fun and enough people liked it that Capcom gave the team a bigger budget and a more focused development period for Mega Man 2, which is now regarded as one of the best games on the platform (even though I personally think Mega Man 3 is where they really hit their stride, but that's beside the point).
I've mentioned this before, but it's easy to look at how huge something or someone is now and think you could never reach that level, but those people probably thought that about their own heroes and look at them now.
Take it easy!
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