VGAfanatic (RIP, Eric Bauza)

Commission Prices return to normal today. But worry not, I am always open. If there's ever something you would like me to draw, just message me, and we can talk business. Thank you for your continued patronage, as always.

Always glad to see these show up. Looking forward to watching! Not sure if I'm gonna stream a reaction, though.

In the interest of making sure I don't blow out my hand, I'm thinking a few drawing sessions planned for this week won't necessarily be canceled, but rather taken slow. To that end, I'm thinking a few drawings I planned on will be delayed to later dates.

Drop some SWEETS 🍫🍩🍪🖤🍨🍰

Crunchyroll not having active captions when we're looking exclusively as Japanese text is very annoying. Like, having to turn on subtitles just to understand what's going on can be a real pain sometimes.

The one mega fan of the Idol group in Odd Taxi kind of reminds me of Launchpad for Darkwing Duck; a huge fan despite very little initial or declining media interest.

I think we can get away with watching one episode of Odd Taxi per morning throughout the coming week. I think I'll watch them before I begin my drawing sessions for the day.

All right, here's what I'm going to do; I'm going to get everyone up to Chapter 10 by Ocarina of Time's release. Once I'm done playing that, I'm gonna do some Chapter looping for everyone in order to accumulate Support levels between everyone who needs them. Then, in December, we finish Part 1.

Hmm... I'm wondering if, during the time I spend completing Part 1 for all four Flame Lords and waiting for the Story Expansion DLC, it would be prudent for me to take advantage of Chapter restarting in order to keep building Supports between everyone. I see that most players seem to do it.

Sofia's one of my favorites in this game because of how much she loves food. Girl, I can totally relate.

Similarly, I think I recall him liking a post I made where the General could have been Toadsworth with Bauza still doing the same voice, and nothing would have changed. Man... I really wish I could've gotten to meet him.

I was 32 when my doctor had to tell me my high cholesterol was a problem. It took three years, when she had to tell me fat built up in my liver, for me to start taking it seriously. Don't wait. Take care of yourself.

I want you see Alex Rochon announce this as Caine.

Very happy to see that Dice got to be involved in this. And hey, music composed by an absolute legend makes this absolutely worth checking out!

Wii U era Nintendo was so bad that friggin' Reggie had to come out and say "Nah, man, shit was fucked and I'm tired of pretending it wasn't." Wii U revisionist historians are some of the most self-gaslit, miserable fuckers in any Fandom, and they have my pity.

Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash was basically a tech demo that built up to Fever, Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam started the slow decline of Alpha Dream, and Star Fox Zero is the reason people lamented the Switch 2 remake. Devil's Third at least made one of the funniest Game Grumps playthroughs.

Not even remotely fucking true, and you know it.

This team really has a propensity for making Roguelike modes as DLC. Makes me wonder if next year's DLC (which, let's be real, is totally happening) is capped off with a remix album of the game's soundtrack.

The fact that the Cop REALLY wants to pin Odokawa as the suspect in the Missing Girl case, and is willing to collaborate with the known criminal to do so, makes me start to think the person hiding in his closet might be a red herring.

Well, I've officially had my day off, and I'd like to think my hands got enough of a break for one weekend. Plus, I'm feeling a little more content emotionally, so I think I can return to drawing and Fire Emblem tomorrow. I'll be sure to take it easy while doing both, of course.

Well, I do believe that's gonna do it for today's In Memoriam Marathon. May all those we lost this year rest in peace, and I hope we continue consuming the media you all brought to life for us. I truly am gonna miss you all. You're all truly irreplaceable. Especially you, Eric.

The Mummy breaking Bugs while played to Night on Bald Mountain is exactly the kind of direction I would expect from the likes of Pete Browngardt and Mike Ruocco. And of course, tying it back to the initial confusion by turning it to chiropractic treatment is a great "Nah, he's fine" punchline.

Using the preserved organs of the Pharoah for gross-out humor is another great example of translating culture to comedy. It may be unappealing for some, but man, is it funny.

The various Egyptian iconography the short plays with are very clever; making for solid understanding of the culture while also translating it the gag Bugs needs at the time. "Newfangled cryptocurrency" from the Ra statue used as a slot machine is a GREAT multilayered punchline, for example.

Mike Ruocco, who also boarded this short, really wanted to push the envelope on "how clueless should Bugs appear in this setting he mistook for another?" Honestly, I'd say the team pulled it off quite well, given the various dangerous spots he finds himself in and casually eases out of.

The first short, I glazed up Beaky more than Bugs, so let's try this again with Mummy Dummy, where Bugs is the proper focus this time. Eric's portrayal of Bugs is a huge part of how he wound up being referred to as the modern Mel Blanc, and it always shone in places like this.

It definitely seems like there's a go-to guy for creature voices in every era of animation. Whether it's Jimmy MacDonald for Disney's golden era, Frank Welker for the 80s & 90s, Dee Bradley Baker for the early 2000s, and Fred Tatasciore for nowadays. These are the guys that make the beasts roar.

Storyboard Artists are the unsung heroes of televised cartoons. After all, who else would come up with the various visual gags that the animators must bring to motion?

Eric's portrayal of Daffy was always one of the best in his repertoire, particularly when the short calls for him to be Bob Clampett Daffy, who was always known for being absolutely unhinged. I'm gonna miss this so much, y'all...

Next, I think we'll focus on Daffy Duck with the series' first short; Curse of the Monkeybird. One of many Daffy & Porky cartoons that would eventually lead to The Day the Earth Blew Up. Interestingly, back when Bob Bergen was the primary voice of Porky... and now probably will be again.

I hate when telemarketers open with a line that tries to play into the conscience of who they're calling, such as "Oh, thank god, you picked up." Frankly, I've had enough phone calls for one year.

"You'll never need this stuff [math] in the real world, anyway." That is a BRILLIANT modern joke for a Looney Tunes short.

Mike really did have Beaky nailed down to a tee, from the sillier cadence of his chuuckling "Nope nope nope" to those precious moments where he REALLY starts to show his colors and get unhinged. Stuff like this is why artists doing voice acting always makes me smile. They just get their characters.

A defining trait of Beaky's character that Mike always stood by was that he just wants to make his mother proud. He may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer, and he is very much the antagonist that Bugs must overcome, but he is, at least, good intentioned.

I'm kicking this off with one of my personal favorites; Buzzard School, a Bugs Bunny & Beaky Buzzard cartoon boarded by one Michael J. Ruocco, who also voices Beaky. As one who was most inspired by recording alongside Eric, one of his shorts is the perfect place to start.

All right, let's wrap up this In Memoriam Marathon with the very man who this is about that we lost just yesterday and has been THE topic of mourning today. Let's watch some Looney Tunes Cartoons to honor the memory of Eric Bauza, shall we?

Mmmyup. There's the rub. The cop who confiscated the SD card containing Odokawa's camera data is, in fact, crooked. Now, I definitely have to see where exactly this is going. But that will be for a little later on.

Yeah, Odokawa (I finally learned his name) is definitely harboring the missing girl, but it doesn't seem like she's his hostage, but rather she's hiding in his place by choice. Makes you wonder if this has anything to do with the cops' mistrust of taxi drivers.

Before the Driver gets his first passenger, we do get a brief montage of characters we can expect to become regulars during the show, some with problems they may want to talk about, others with ill intentions. The Mandrill the police were looking for is one such example.

Bringing up the missing girl on the radio more than once definitely tells us this is going to be a connecting thread throughout the series. Right now, it makes you wonder just how involved with the events taking place offscreen the Driver will become.

Well, they are setting up that the Driver has history with the law enforcement. That does bump up the intrigue the show is going for. For a total of thirteen episodes, we'll certainly learn where exactly it leads.

I like that, from the get-go, they establish a very serious, chill vibe from the world these characters live in, with any topic between driver and passenger feeling like a conversation anyone could have. It does feel like Mike McFarland and Zeno Robinson are just chatting about social media posts.

Realistic human hands on anthropomorphic animals never sat right with me in anime, and I don't know why. I'm generally just more appealed by big cartoony hands or actual animal anatomy like paws or feathers. This one's got a more cartoony look, so it doesn't bother me here.

It may not be a Pumpkin like I thought, but I fully expected a Halloween event from this game, and I am totally taking part on Friday.

This makes me want to see Wildwood more than ever, both to support actual artists and animators, and to spite this garbage.

For the penultimate show of this In Memoriam Marathon, let's honor the memory of Mike McFarland by following through on a previous statement; time to watch Odd Taxi. I'll stick with Episode 1 for today, but I'll definitely watch the rest in the coming weeks between One Piece and others.

Scaring trick-or-treaters for entertainment is a good use of his power for community service. And giving him a home in the form of the abandoned mansion that he can now Haunt is a great way to keep him active every other day of the year. Classic Lilo, planning for the long term with these guys.

Spooky's transformation being used for practicality is also a great detail. Like, if he needs to escape, turn into a bat. Can't always use his power for the offensive.

I love Nani checking in on the house rules, assuring Lilo isn't unsupervised, before giving everyone the okay to pursue the Experiment.

Spooky turning into Cobra to play on Nani's fear of losing Lilo is a great excuse to get Ving Rhames back in the booth. He does appear frequently throughout the show, so it's not exactly a surprise, but it's still cool.

Two things I love; 1: That the Experiments aren't afraid of directing their fire on Jumba. 2: That Stitch is boarding up the house like he's preparing for a zombie hoard.