In memory of Kazuhisa Hashimoto

Author's Note: It is with deep sadness that Konami Code creator Kazuhisa Hashimoto's obituary was announced yesterday. This comic featuring sad Konami characters was created in memory of the former Konami programmer who created the most iconic cheat code while porting arcade game Gradius to the NES. The Konami Code then had its meteoric rise in the NES version of Contra, where entering the code grants players 30 additional lives. It even made appearances outside Konami's games. Kazuhisa Hashimoto's Konami Code already had a great reputation that when Hashimoto's obituary was first announced, Konami released a statement on their Twitter page.

Farewell, Kazuhisa Hashimoto. May your legacy live on in video game history books and in your creation.

Konami characters © Konami.

Gravestone Mystery

While death is not a subject covered in the Animal Crossing series, a gravestone sighting in the Animal Crossing: New Horizons Direct had people wondering if a character in the series actually passed away.

The obvious go-to candidate has to be Tortimer. He's old and retired, meaning he might not have long to live since his last appearance. Another likely candidate is Frillard, who was last seen in City Folk, and in New Leaf, Dr Shrunk mentions how much he misses him. Turnip seller Joan appears to have been replaced by Daisy Mae, hinting at the possibility of Joan being deceased, given that she had been selling turnips for over 60 years, according to one of her dialogues in New Leaf. Yet some believe that the gravestone is a hint about K. K. Slider's fate, if K. K. Slider being missing from all the Animal Crossing: New Horizons trailers was any indication. However, the gravestone is a possibility that the Deserted Island is the home of Animal Crossing's resident ghost, Wisp, who had made appearances in several Animal Crossing games beginning with the GameCube version.

Looks like we will have to wait until the game launches on the Spring Equinox to find out...

Update 1: Animal Crossing: New Horizons did launch on the Spring Equinox, and it turns out that K. K. Slider is still alive. It's also confirmed that Daisy Mae is Joan's grand-daughter, although it is unknown what happened to Joan. As for the gravestone, it turns out to be a decorative item that can be crafted.

Update 2: The Version 2.0 Update for Animal Crossing: New Horizons has confirmed that Tortimer is alive and well and enjoying his retirement.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons © Nintendo.

Perspectives on Bloomers

Bloomers are female sports shorts that happen to look like panties. They used to be common in Japanese schools until the 1990s when modesty concerns phased them out completely. Despite that, bloomers have remained a part of Japanese pop culture, and are still being worn by female athletes in athletics tournaments such as the Olympic Games.

There are many different perspectives on bloomers. While some opinions about bloomers are about modesty concerns as they look like panties, other opinions would say that bloomers are comfy and cool given their resemblance to panties or swimwear bottoms.

Modesty Boyshorts

Note to female readers: Wearing shorts under skirts or dresses would be a good idea to avoid having panties exposed. If wearing shorts under skirts or dresses does not seem right but still need to protect modesty, wearing boyshorts panties would be a good idea as well. For maximum modesty protection, wear the boyshorts panties in addition to wearing shorts under skirts or dresses.

Remembering 1942

15th of February, 1942. A day which will live in infamy on the same level as the day World War 2 started.

Winston Churchill called the Fall of (Colonial) Singapore the worst military defeat in British history, proving that Japan could actually succeed where Germany failed.

As upsetting as Snoopy losing to the Red Baron in the World War 1 saga of the Peanuts comic strip without any genuine success in defeating him sounds, Snoopy should be fortunate that his recurring nemesis came from Germany, because Britain's worst military defeat was to Japan, whose armed forces in 1942 were often seen as second-rate compared to British and German forces at that time. Talk about humiliation...

Japan's victory over the British in 1942 was also the reason Singapore conceived the idea of Total Defence 42 years later. To this day, the Public Warning Signal siren sounds away every 15th of February.

Bikinis getting wet

In the Magic Knight Rayearth Episode "A Serious Match - Umi vs. Tarta and Tatra!", Umi battled and defeated Tarta and Tatra. Both Tarta and Tatra got their bikinis wet as a result of Umi's water magic, and yet both of them were unhurt. Given how Umi used one of her water spells to save Tarta after knocking her out out hard due to Umi shattering her shield, maybe Umi could become a great lifeguard...

The text used in this comic was from a forgotten arcade game made by Cinematronics called Embargo.

Magic Knight Rayearth © CLAMP/Kodansha.

Fighters Pass Volume 2 Potential Candidates

Author's Note: These characters are my pick for Super Smash Bros Ultimate's Fighters Pass Volume 2. For those wondering why are Fighters Pass outsiders being considered for DLC, that's because Piranha Plant is currently the only DLC character who is not part of the Fighters Pass Volume 1 DLC package, as well as the fact that there will be more DLC characters after the completion of Fighters Pass Volume 1.

Given that Bandai Namco is currenty the lead development studio in Smash Bros production, Klonoa will have higher priority over the other five characters in Fighters Pass Volume 2, although his Wind Bullet would cause problems regarding character inflation.

In regards to Arle, she will be a far better Sega representative than Sonic and Bayonetta combined, especially when Puyo Puyo is the only Sega franchise doing better than Sonic.

Similar to how Terry Bogard from Fatal Fury and The King of Fighters brought in music from various SNK games, including those from Metal Slug into Smash Bros, Rit from Rod Land and Soldam would introduce Jaleco music to Smash Bros.

Just like Byleth from Fire Emblem: Three Houses, Lana from Hyrule Warriors came from another Koei Tecmo-developed game. However, I will expect her trailer to be received with more positive reception than Byleth's trailer.

Contra's Bill Rizer would be very unlikely, despite the popularity of Contra and the Konami Code on Nintendo consoles, because Masahiro Sakurai does not want any realistic guns in Smash Bros.

And finally, Sir Arthur will be yet another unlikely character because his armour break mechanic will complicate the gameplay mechanics, and being reduced to a pile of bones will be too disturbing for younger audiences.

Update 1: The first Fighters Pass Volume 2 character is confirmed to be Min Min from ARMS, so one of these six characters will not make the cut, and it's most likely the one with the realistic guns.

Update 2: Steve from Minecraft, along with Alex, a Zombie and an Enderman, are filling the second Fighters Pass Volume 2 slot, meaning another candidate will not make the cut.

Update 3: Cloud's arch-rival Sephiroth has been confirmed to be the third character in Fighters Pass Volume 2. This means yet another character will not make the cut.

Update 4: Pyra and Mythra have booked their spots, and Sir Arthur's armour is a Mii Swordfighter costume. Surprisingly enough, it does not break apart unlike the armours in the Ghosts'n Goblins series.

Update 5: Heihachi Mishima's son Kazuya is going to represent Tekken in Super Smash Bros Ultimate. In my honest opinion, the second Bandai Namco rep should have been Klonoa.

Update 6: Sora from Kingdom Hearts is the final Fighters Pass character, meaning the leakers' claims that Sora was going to get that final slot were right all along. This means none of Neo Retro Union's candidates for Super Smash Bros Ultimate's DLC character slots qualified at all...

Klonoa © Bandai Namco. Arle © Sega. Rit © City Connection (Because they currently own the rights to Jaleco's Franchises). Lana © Nintendo. Bill Rizer © Konami. Sir Arthur © Capcom.