Burrowowl

I’ve been watching the first few episodes of Mahou Tsukai ni Taisetsu as translated by AnimeHaven lately. It is by far the most mellow, realistic show I’ve seen to date featuring a young witch (mage, sorceress, whatever) in training. With silly shows like Mahou Tsukai Tai out there on the US market already, I’m somewhat curious as to whether this show will ever see the light of day in the US commercial market.

The show’s lead character, Yume, is a bumkin from Japan’s back country that has just moved into Tokyo to study under a master mage. She lives with her sensei at his place, which in addition to being his home and office is also a salsa nightclub/bar. The challenges she faces are largely internal in nature as she comes to terms with how her magic affects the people around her and society’s sometimes grudging acceptance of the supernatural.

Once again, people have been snarfing bandwidth off my directory, so I’ve re-implemented the totalitarian image policies of the past. Thank you Dias from kaihaku.net, and austinight from ubbforums.ubi.com for raising my ire in this matter.

Kiddy Grade’s depth and breadth expand quite dramatically around Episode 8. My previous review was prior to the release of these later episodes. My viewing of the series is currently at episode 19 of 26 total, with episode 20 downloading as I type this.
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The game word of the Iron Kingdoms includes a pantheon that is in some ways unusual for a Dungeons & Dragons high fantasy environment. This is no great suprise, as the Iron Kingdoms is a significantly unusual D&D campaign setting.

In the similarities column, you’ve got some old standbys: Dwarves and Elves have separate pantheons and religious traditions entirely. The Dwarves revere the literal founders of their race, the Stone Fathers, which the Elves have their own mysterious religious tradition (they don’t like to talk about it).

Humans have yet another pantheon, unrelated to the Elves and Dwarves (we’re still in “similar to other campaigns” mode here). The uncivilized humanoids of the world have yet another religious tradition, and there is your obligatory Dragon Cult.
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Ah, the kind of help from TSR that players and DMs alike can benefit from (as opposed to yet another book full of feats and prestige classes). TSR has started posting a series on helping you put bards to good use:

Being second best at everything makes you first best at nothing. In a party with a skull-cracking fighter, a fireball-throwing wizard, and the greatest pickpocketing rogue in three counties, finding your place in the party can be a little intimidating. Don’t let this distress you. There’s quite a few ways a bard can make his or her unique abilities felt.