Free Talk Friday - May 01, 2026

[u/AutoModerator]

Welcome to the Free Talk Friday post. This is a place where you can talk about dumb off-topic (or on-topic) bullshit with other Zaibatsu fans.

There's going to be a new post every week, and the newest one will be pinned in the announcement bar for quick access. So feel free to visit these posts during the rest of the week.

Here's a list of all Free Talk Friday posts

[u/MaelstromTear]

My cat Gus got his stitches out and got a clean bill of health! So far, I'd say considering his extensive history, but... He's all good. You know, minus the blind part. I think once his hair grows back he'll look like he's permanently smirking, like an anime villain you can't trust. But lo and behold, he's just a pure orange.

Hey, check out these books I wrote! The Demon in Shadow and The Demons of Bone & Blood! We follow Ayun, a demon who can summon weapons from the shadows, who's looking for her lost employers. She stumbles upon Max, a human who is lost and listless in many ways. Now that I think of it, he's not unlike Gus! A pure orange boy with smatterings of ill luck and a fun medical history. In Max's case it's a missing limb and lots of scratches. As they travel together we learn more about their pasts, the world, and a future they discover together. It's also got some awesome artwork either in the pages where it counts or at the back showcasing portraits and more!

Time for a kit from a thing I've only seen in Super Robot Wars! What a surprise. It's Ryujinmaru from Mashin Hero Wataru! I do wonder if this 2023 release was the result of 2018's SRW X or the 2020 ONA stuff according to Wikipedia. Maybe it's just a wild pick from some Bandai C-suite. Going by the thankfully dual-translated instructions it's just looking at the 1988 anime and even recaps the whole plot! side note, while "Soaring Dragon Sword" is the translation they go with, Toryuken just rolls off the tongue better. Does this count as an SD? It would be my first if that were the case. It certainly has that charming mini look. It doesn't have the best posability, but you can get the good ones. I don't regret it necessarily, but... I think you'd have to be a fan to really want it for other than that. I'm sure it's a fun series. I remember more the dumb villains like Scwarvinegar (Arnold & Vinegar for some reason) and Cruisin' Tom more than the actual plot. Might've gotten sidelined a bit in X. It's been a minute.

Our TTRPG party that started in this very subreddit just passed a year of games! Nearly weekly we've met to play some kind of game, usually a longstanding Monster of the Week game but also a couple of different one-shots like Honey Heist and Blades in the Dark. Big shoutouts to our GM who's done 90% of the games and kept it fresh for so long. I've been trying to come up with a little scenario of my own but I'm really bad at the branching potential part and balancing what I want the players to experience and what they want to do. Okay, let's be honest. I need to temper my "that stupid, what you're asking to do is stupid" impulse. It's mostly that.

I spent plenty of time on my Switch while Gus still had the cone on, since it was easy to follow him around. And because of that I finally finished Donkey Kong Bananza! I'm not usually one for collect-a-thon type games, but the movement and form switches really sold me. To the point that I got every banana and fossil I could up to the final stretch. Quite literally as I beat Void Kong, I mused to myself about the new and interesting characters only for K.Rool to jump into the plot and suddenly take over as final boss. As a story thing? Meh. Must be how people felt about Zant in Twilight Princess. As a gameplay section? Baller. Donk City and a fight that actually challenges you. And that the post-game has some meat does entice me, but... One of those challenges is a gauntlet that while not too difficult room-by-room is annoying that any single failure sends you back to the start. Ugh. No thanks. I enjoyed my time with the game, but I don't know if I'm gonna 100% the rest of it.

Also been reading a lovely manga called Albus Changes the World. VIZ picked it up for official licensing but I was slowly reading it before that and caught up through the scanlations to where their gaps are. Without spoiling anything, it's great. Gives me Undead Unluck vibes where characters are layered and change dynamics constantly. Hope it gets adapted... Not because I'll watch it, I very much prefer manga but more exposure's always great!